Regular readers know that I love the Maldives. I’ve been 5 years in a row. It’s the only place I’ve found where I can really unplug. The distance is a feature not a bug, by the time I get there I’m really ready to relax and the time difference helps me to do it — I can answer work emails in the morning, and everyone is gone from the office the rest of the day so I can just enjoy myself.
I’ve gone to the same place each time, because I could use points, but there are some fantastic properties that I’d love to try some day. One that’s really worth checking out is Loama Resort.
A new property, a 45 minute sea plane from the airport in the capital, this was a Buddhist refuge dating back centuries. Artifacts from the Ching dynasty were unearthed during the construction of the hotel. The property was listed in Conde Nast Traveler Middle East as one of the Best New Hotels in the World.
A beach villa here runs ~ $840 plus taxes. And I’m giving away 3 nights there with breakfast.
The resort looks fantastic, and gets a certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor.
Whether you want to dive, snorkle, spa or just relax this is going to be tough to beat. Combine it with a points stay somewhere else in the country, or drop in on nearby Sri Lanka (flights from Male are cheap and it’s less than 500 miles) and make a bigger holiday of it.
This is a very special giveaway, thanks to my good friends at Luxury Travel Diary. Regular readers know them as a high-end travel blog with great reviews. They’re based in the UK and run travel auctions with real bargains.
As I’ve said before, folks who already know about these auctions don’t like this added attention, because there don’t seem to be enough bidders for many of their best offerings relative to the value available. Some of their items go way too cheap.
- Here are their auctions. The auctions in Asia are super deals.
- Here are their auctions in North America for those who prefer to stay on this continent.
- And here are the auctions ending soon which are probably the best to check out right now – to get an idea of just how good a deal you’re likely to get.
Seriously, these deals about to end are insane
This prize is being given away by the hotel and Luxury Travel Diary, I’m just helping to highlight it and randomly select the winner.
To enter: leave a comment on this post with your favorite item up for auction at Luxury Travel Diary, or why you would choose to stay at Loama Resort. You may enter two times if you wish and answer those two questions one time each in separate comments.
Contest deadline and drawing winner: Entries close Sunday, September 4 at Noon eastern. I will draw winner with the assistance of random.org.
The fine print: Advance booking is required and it’s subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply. Winner will have one week to respond to email notifying of the prize, otherwise the prize will be forfeit and made available to another reader.
For avoidance of doubt, I have no affiliation with Luxury Travel Diary or Loama Resort. I am not getting anything in exchange for running this giveaway other than an opportunity to share the place with readers.
The hotel is solely responsible for providing prize to winner. All decisions made in the course of running this giveaway are final and unappealable and your entry signifies your acceptance. The goal here is to make readers aware of a pretty cool auction opportunity, and to give away a stay. So please don’t make it hard on me for doing so!
Thanks for the info, Gary! I would totally stay at the Pool Villa at the Milaidhoo Island in the Maldives. My wife would go absolutely bonkers for it. I didn’t even know stuff like that existed outside of movies until I started following your posts a few months back. Thanks again!
Maldives!! I’m trying to decide where to go. This place looks just about right!
The auction for the 3 night stay at the serene aava in Thailand looks amazing!
I’d love to try somewhere other than the PH Maldives!
Loama not only offers authentic dining but cooking classes. Looks amazing!
The resort seems like a wonderful place to relax and get away from the busyness of urban life!
Right now my favorite prize is the 3 nights at Fort Bazaar Galle Town House Hotel, Sri Lanka. Also looking at the other Sri Lanka properties as I am going to be in Southern India next week for a while and contemplating a long weekend in Sri Lanka!
Definitely the auction at Fort Bazaar Galle in Lanka! I’ve never been but had several cousins of mine compete there for swimming and rowing competitions. It looks gorgeous!
Would love to stay there to get away.
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Looma looks like a perfect place to get away from it all and disconnect!
My favorite auction on Luxury Travel Diary is the 2 Nights At Villa La Tosca 5-Star Villa Hotel In France…my husband and I spent our honeymoon in France last year roaming the countryside and we couldn’t have loved it any more! Our second part of our honeymoon (six months later) was spent in the Maldives…I’ll get to why Loama Resort in the next post!!
It sounds cheesy but I would love to stay at the Loama to experience the sunrise and sunset hand-line fishing! Would take me back to childhood days in South India fishing on the beach with my grandfather. Would love to compare and contrast ☺️
I’d love to return to Morocco, I had a connecting flight there as a teen but 20 years on I’d love to stop and visit.
We stayed at the aspirational Conrad in the Maldives, but we opted to leave a day early and spend it seeing Male. I know this place gets a bad rep, but it was definitely a much welcomed change of scenery getting to see people in their daily lives. We are also history buffs so we stopped by the National Museum in Male and it was surprising to see for such remote little islands how so many different cultures had influenced theirs through exchange, including the Chinese. Hence, Loama would be a great place to stay not only for the amazing sea life (we snorkeled about 10 times the 4 days were in at the Conrad) but also for the history!
Loama looks like a fantastic place to unwind and swim!
I would love to stay at that resort or any in Maldives just to get away from the rigors of law school.
Who wouldn’t want to stay at Loama Resort where you can fall out of bed into a a pool off your suite. Sounds like heaven and I would love to go and be unplugged for a few days. Also really impressed they are licensed by Maldivian Department of Heritage to operate a museum. As a culture and museum “nut” I would be sure to take the museum tour conducted by the resort’s Culture and Heritage team!
2 NIGHTS AT COTTAR’S 1920S SAFARI CAMP, MAASAI MARA, KENYA Would be just about perfect.
I would choose to stay at Loama Resort because it is a newer resort.
Would love to visit the Maldives as a first anniversary trip for my wife and I! Thanks so much for the promotion.
–S
Id definitely choose the Maldives. About as far from work as worldly possible!
Loama offers cooking class. That sounds a fun thing to do during vacation. Would like to try it
3 NIGHTS FOR UP TO 4 GUESTS AT GAL OYA LODGE IN SRI LANKA sounds very exclusive!
I would choose to stay at Loama Resort because they offer cooking classes.
Loama would be the perfect place to spend the last few days after our African safari.
This looks pretty tempting: “3 Nights In A Stylish Beachspoke Cottage Retreat In Cornwall.”
My favorite auction item is 5 Nights For Up To 5 At Villa Koru, Koh Samui, Thailand
I’d like to stay at the Sleeping Giant in Belize because we have a Sleeping Giant (mountain) here in Helena.
Would be great to try an independent property in the Maldives. The pictures of Loama Resort are breathtaking!
I’d love to stay at the Loama for the opportunity to have a luxurious stay in total seclusion. The ocean water is bluer than the pool water!
I hadn’t heard of the Loama Resort before you posted this, Gary, but the Maldives is on my list of places to go before I die. Having looked at their website and some of the photos posted there and by others online, I will have to give serious consideration to staying there, regardless of whether my post gets selected or not.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Great adventure item on the auction site: 3 Day Kasbah&Trekking Lodge Full-Board Experience In Morocco
How perfect would it be to jump right in the ocean from your room at Loama Resort? Ahhh…..
The wife and I went to the Maldives for the first time this year, and absolutely loved it! We would love to go back for our anniversary and stay at Loama. And we have enough points to get us there!
The other item on luxurytraveldiary.com that strikes my fancy, of all things, are the round-trip Eurostar tickets between London and Paris (because I’ve never had the chance to take the train through the Chunnel).
For the snorkeling and the spa!
I’d pick the Twr y Felin hotel in Wales.
I’d stay at the Loama Resort to enjoy their cooking classes and dive center!
My favorite item up for auction on Luxury Travel is “4 Nights In A Pool Villa At The 5* Milaidhoo Island Maldives” That would be awesome!!
The 2 NIGHTS AT CASA DE UCO VINEYARDS & WINE RESORT, ARGENTINA looks pretty sweet to me!
I’d definitely do the 2 nights at Hotel Da Vinci in Paris as I think it’d be a great romantic adventure for my gf and I.
my favorite item up for auction on the Luxury Travel Diary is 3 nights at the Riad Palais Amani in Fez, Morocco.
I would choose to stay at the Loama Resort, for starters that blue blue water!
I would love staying at the Loama Resort to experience the amazing serenity as well as the great experiences they offer.
I would choose to stay at the Loama Resort simply as it looks like it has amazing amenities and also getting there by sea plane would be pretty cool 🙂
I’d want to go, because reasons.
I would stay at the Loama Resort for the beautiful beaches and swimming. It looks amazing!
The Maldives is pretty close to the top of my bucket list and Loama Resort looks incredible. Id stay for the beautiful white sand beaches and luxury service
I’d love to stay at the Loama Resort, because it’s not a plaindrome and I’m tired of spending my vacations in plaindromes (Serres, Greece and Oruro, Bolivia last year.)