Freezing them off

Right now it’s -15 degrees Celsius in downtown Toronto (-24, if you believe in windchill.)

Toronto’s weather is pretty nice, generally speaking, but you have to be prepared for summer peaks of +35C and winter lows of -30C. Closet space comes at a premium.

Anyhow, last week a colleague of mine (who gives me all my blog ideas, lately - thanks!) found a way to profit from the cold.

She took a trip to Washington D.C., and stayed in a hotel that charges you by temperature.

The Georgetown Suites Hotel has a special rate called, “Baby, it’s cold outside!”:

Check out Georgetown Suites’ Cool Deal: Stay the first night at the regular package rate, and the second’s night rate is the temperature outside at check-in! First-night rates start at $185. Promotion valid November 17, 2006 to February 28, 2007, subject to availability.

Washington’s an expensive town. So her first night’s fee was a touch over $200 (which is apparently typical). But on the second night, it was 21 degrees F outside, and she payed $21.

I was quick to remind her that if the hotel was in here in Toronto, with Celsius temperatures, the hotel would actually have to pay her $15 to stay another night (though that’d be Canadian dollars.)

And she pointed out that after a day of walking around D.C. in the cold, she would have been happier to fork over another $20 and have it pleasant outside. Unfortunately no such reverse deal is possible: the weather won’t get better depending on how much you can pay.

Still, at least it isn’t -45F, as it was in Fairbanks, Alaska last month. Be sure to check out the YouTube videos of what happens when you throw boiling water at such temperatures. Instant snow!

Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 02-13-2007 | 05:02 PM
Posted in: Blather