Once thought impossible, some hotels in Waikiki have slashed their rates by 50 percent or more in an attempt to re-ignite demand for their rooms, according to online retailer Travel-Hawaii.com. The epitome of this trend is the first-ever “;Second Night Free”; offer at the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel.

“;Earlier this year, we thought we'd seen the limit when some Hawaii hotels started offering Third Night Free,”; said John Lindelow, owner of Travel-Hawaii.com. “;Now there are 51 hotels located on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Big Island offering Third Night Free. Back then, just a few months ago, we announced Third Night Free as the new pricing norm in Hawaii. Little did we know that even this would be outdone by the hotels.”;

The discounting of Hawaii hotels is going into an even higher gear as the usually slower fall season approaches. And it's not just “;free nights”; that are pushing down overall hotel stay rates. A plethora of new, never-before-seen rates have been released with names such as “;40 percent Off Promotion Rate,”; “;Limited Time Offer Vacation Bailout Rate”; and “;48 Hour Sale Rate.”;

According to Lindelow, Travel-Hawaii.com has nearly 400 different special rate names in its database of Hawaii hotel rates.

The Second Night Free offer is available in Ocean Front rooms at the excellently located Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. The normal nightly rate is $311 including hotel taxes, so four nights would cost just $622. “;Each night is then just $155, which is spectacular for an Ocean Front room at one of Waikiki's most popular hotels,”; said Lindelow. This rate is good now until Sept. 25 and Oct. 8 to Dec. 23 on Travel-Hawaii.com's web site.

This and most of the Third Night Free offers can be found on Travel-Hawaii.com's hawaii hotels specials page.