At left, Brightkite Starbucks badges, at right, a Starbucks Mayor Offer on Foursquare

For those who don’t know Foursquare, it is a social network based around your location.  Using the Foursquare app on your smartphone of choice (native apps available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm WebOS phones) you “check-in” to locations, and can see other people who have visited and what they say about it.  By checking in more than anyone else, you become the mayor of a location.

Mayors have typically been given special advantages, being able to cut in line, a free drink or two, and other discounts to name a few.  Now, Starbucks is offering discounts to any mayor of a specific Starbucks.  The deal is $1 and “NEW however-you-want-it Frappuccino blanded beverage.”  The deal is good until June 28.  It may not seem like much, but Starbucks isn’t exactly known for frequent discounts.

If your allegiance is with Starbucks and not a particular network, Foursquare competitor Brightkite was actually first to partner with the coffee mega-chain on Frappucino focused badges, though initially there were no special discounts. {TechCrunch} If one Frappucino isn’t enough, check in with both services though, and in the future you could find yourself with double discounts. Brightkite wouldn’t get into specifics, but hinted that there was more to come beyond the profile decoration. {Brightkite blog}

It seems that Starbucks is really going all in with location/mobile focused social networks.  It will probably be a few months before results of the programs are announced, but it serves as great publicity for both Starbucks and the networks.  As the networks start battling it out to be the mobile check-in app of choice there’s bound to be some overlap, but it will be interesting to see how they differentiate themselves going forward.

Foursquare screenshot via {Mashable}

Hotels are offering deals on everything from rooms to tours and nightclub access to ensure out-of-towners the same posh experience Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda experience on a daily basis.

First up is New York’s Waldorf Astoria. Their package, which was announced in February {Hotel Chatter}, doesn’t start until May 1st, and is seemingly being hidden from website visitors until the date draws closer. If you can wait until then, you can grab a suite in the Waldorf Towers (the super-luxe boutique hotel on top of the Waldorf Astoria) with Magnolia Bakery cupcakes waiting for you on arrival. You’ll also receive two cosmos at the Bull & Bear, two spa treatments and tickets to the movie.

If Charlotte was never your favorite, and the Waldorf is too traditional for your tastes, the Gansevoort hotel is offering a cooler, downtown package from April 30th that includes valet parking, pool access with 2 complimentary cosmos, and your choice of a Sex in the City book or DVD (go for the DVD). The package also includes shopping discounts at neighborhood boutiques like Cynthia Rowley, Bond No 9 and Lulu Guiness among others. If you’ve lounged by the pool, and the drinks and DVD have gotten you in the mood for a bit of socializing, the package will also get you into Marquee, Provocateur, Pink Elephant, PM, Cielo, Dirty Disco or Guest House with 2 VIP passes. And because lounging by the pool sipping cosmos, shopping and partying don’t usually go hand in hand with an early morning, the package includes a late checkout.

If you can’t handle the $545/night city experience at the Gansevoort, five budget hotels are offering “Sex and the Big Apple Core” packages. You’ll forgo the valet parking (but really, how often did you catch any of the girls dealing with the headache of a car in Manhattan?) and trendy nightclubs, but the package does include the same complimentary DVD and passes to the Sex and the City hotspots tour.{Luxist} At a more affordable $215/night, you’ll have enough left over to buy your own cupcakes and cosmos to round out the experience. The Apple Core packages are available from May 28th.

If the Apple Core packages are gone, but you’re still on a pre-Mr. Big Carrie budget, Affinia offers another moderate hotel Sex option. Ranging from $219-$289 per night, Affinia’s package is less exciting as the Gansevoort’s, but as builds on the Apple Core offering, with a few more bells and whistles. There’s a 20% online discount on Cosabella’s range of Sex and the City lingerie, a champagne toast to split with friends and a canvas stiletto bag. You’ll get the same tour offered in the Apple Core package, a copy of the book instead of the DVD and the same promotional kick-off date of May 28th.