Terranea Resort opened on Friday in Palos Verdes, in southwestern Los Angeles County. We snagged this photo of the terrace from our intern's mom, who was there for the opening party (thanks, Mrs. Waung!).

Photo: Betty Waung

by Katherine Hottinger on Travel Deals

We at Deal of the Day normally refrain from writing about any hotel that's so spanking new that no Condé Nast Traveler staffer has stayed in it yet: Soft-opening jitters can make for too many kinks for some travelers to put up with. In this case, however, we felt we could make an exception to the rule, thanks to our intern's mom.

Terranea Resort is offering special debut packages of 50% off for weekday stays. The property stands on a small peninsula (once the site of Marineland, for SoCal history buffs), so 90% of its 360 hotel rooms have full or partial views of the Pacific. With the special introductory rates, a king room with a view of the waves costs $219 a night (including taxes and fees) from Sunday through Thursday. On weekends there's still a discount, but it's not as steep: Friday and Saturday stays are 25% off.

Although nobody from Condé Nast Traveler has spent a night incognito in the hotel yet--our normal test for whether or not we recommend a property--our intern Blessing Waung, who hails from Palos Verdes, sent her mom to the resort's opening party, and Mrs. Waung reports that it's terrific: There are three separate pools (one is dedicated to the spa), and seven restaurants, and the nine-hole, three-par course opens for play next month. The resort is managed by Destination Hotels, the folks behind Houston's Hotel ICON--a property on our 2004 Hot List.

Caveat: All reservations are non-refundable and non-cancellable.

For stays through: December 30, 2009. Blackout dates may apply.

Book by: June 28, 2009.

Book through: This reservations page on the hotel's Web site or by calling the reservations line at 866-802-8000.