special offer — a mistake in a hotel booking system which offered a romantic four-star

weekend in Italy’s lagoon city of Venice for 1 cent.The offer, a tiny fraction of the Crowne

Plaza Quarto D’Altino’s normal rate of up to 150 euros ($214) a night, was quickly withdrawn

when staff realized the mistake, Italian state TV reported.In just a few hours, some 1,400

nights had been booked under the tariff, costing an estimated 90,000 euros for the hotel,

part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, the world’s largest chain, media reported.Staff

at the hotel, some 25 km (16 miles) outside Venice, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for

Intercontinental Hotels Group was not immediately available.