Rancho Bernardo Inn is a luxury resort in San Diego. You can normally expect to pay $250 a night, at a minimum, to stay there. In these tough economic times, people aren’t aren’t travelling as much as they used to and it’s effecting the luxury accomodations industry. What’s the solution? For the Rancho Bernardo Inn, it’s offering cut-rate prices, along with cut-rate services.

A room at the Rancho Bernardo Inn can be had for as little as $19 a night, if you don’t mind a little inconvenience. For that price you get a room. That’s it. They call it the “Survivor Package” and it sort of like Gilligans Island. No phone, no lights, no toilet paper, no nothing.

Here’s how they do it: a normal room is $219 for two. That includes deluxe accommodations and two breakfasts. From that point they start whittling it down. No breakfast? Knock off $20. No honor bar? Another $20. No air conditioning or heat? You just saved another $20. And on it goes as they drop pillows, sheets, lights, linens, toiletries and finally the bed itself. For a mere $19 you can have a room at the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Most people realize when they hear about the “Survivor Package” that it’s a gimmick. There’s a limited number of room available and it’s for a limited time, but it’s a great way for the Bernardo Inn to generate some relatively free publicity. Plenty of news organizations and bloggers are writing about them and it costs them next to nothing.

Most of the people who take advantage of the package aren’t going to take the lowest price available. Don’t get the free breakfast or the honor bar and you’ve cut $40 off the price of the room. Air conditioning? In San Diego in August. That’s something most people are still going to want so the price cutting stops right there. The people running the Rancho Bernardo Inn know that so it’s a smart move on their part to put air conditioning near the top of the options list.

There will be a lot of people who do take advantage of the lowest price available though. It’s a chance to visit San Diego and it’s tourist attractions without having to spend the majority of your travel budget on a place that you’ll only be sleeping in anyway.

Your best bet? Bring along your camping gear, no campfires allowed, and you’ve got most of the benefits of a luxury resort with none of the cost. You still get to use all the facilities of the complex, three pools, three tennis courts, a spa and restaurant, you just don’t have to spend a lot on your room. How much time do you spend in your hotel room when you are on vacation anyway? Sleep, shower and change your clothes. That’s pretty much it for me. For $200 I’ll bring my own cot, lantern and towels.