Not having a merry little Christmas? This hotel wants to know why

My e-mailbox is exploding with deals from hotels and travel companies guaranteed to ratchet up the jolly factor this holiday season. Except one.

Custom Hotel near LAX seeks people with “the most deflated of Christmas spirits, i.e., those who are ‘over it’ and just need a little escape.” Post a no-ho-ho tale on the hotel’s Facebook page by Dec. 25 and you might snag a $12 hotel room. (As of Thursday, Custom had 10 more rooms to give away.)

Winners from the previous day’s entries are announced around 6 p.m. PST each day, and vouchers for $12 rooms are good through the end of March.

Joseph Paige Jr. won with this story:

“I need a $12 a night stay at the Custom honestly because this year getting laid off from my job and still trying to go the extra mile for my family for Christmas has been extra daunting. Not to include the amount of stress I’m going through trying to study for finals as well. Staying at the Custom will be the ultimate pay off for all my hard efforts and definitely motivation to achieve even better in the next year.”

That touched my heart. And isn’t that what the holidays are all about?