Rare is the person who hasn't complained about the price of gas in the last few months: with driving and flying becoming steadily more expensive, the numbers at the pump can curb even the most severe case of wanderlust.

Here's a novel idea, though: what if you could actually use the fluctuating price of oil to your advantage? Believe it or not, the Victorian Inn in Monterey, California wants its guests to do exactly that. From Monday through Thursday, August 18 through September 30, room rates at the hotel will be dictated by the price of a barrel of oil.

Yup, you heard that right: these crazy old gas prices might actually be a good thing. Each Friday, the price of a room will be set for the following week based on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s price for a barrel of light sweet crude oil at the final bell of the New York Stock Exchange. And the payoff for you? (Apart from thumbing your nose at the oil industry, we mean?) Well, you might just save a few bucks. And in the current economy, that's nothing to sniff at.