The Best Giveaway I’ve Ever Done, Comment Here for Chance to Win 2 Nights at Al Maha!

by Gary Leff

I’m going to visit Al Maha Desert Resort next month. Lucky called it his favorite Starwood Starpoints redemption ever. It’s an all-inclusive with standalone villas and infinity pools in the desert outside Dubai where rates can exceed $1700 per night and is consistently deemed one of the world’s best properties on TripAdvisor.

For bookings made by March 8 Starwood is offering awards there for ‘only’ 39,000 points a night instead of the usual 60,000. And I’m going to use some of my points there.

And I’m going to give away a couple of nights there, too! And it’s thanks to Luxury Travel Diary.

Luxury Travel Diary is a high-end travel blog with great reviews based in the UK that has a bunch of travel auctions with real bargains.

I suppose that folks who already know about these auctions don’t like this added attention, because frankly there aren’t enough bidders relative to the value of the offerings and some of these items go too cheap.

Luxury Travel Diary wanted to highlight some of their deals, and offered to help organize a giveaway of a 2 night hotel stay at Al Maha Desert Resort. As I said, it’s an inclusive resort. So you get breakfast, lunch and dinner. That even includes room service. And you even get two desert activities per night stay at the property. This is a giveaway worth ~ $3000 or 78,000 – 120,000 Starwood points.

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 Al Maha Desert 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 Friday, January 29 at Noon eastern. I will draw winner with the assistance of random.org.

The fine print: The winner will be able to pick when to redeem the nights within 6 months. It’s not available on public holidays, Eid, Christmas and New Years (both of which are beyond 6 months anyway, but in the terms I was given). Advance booking is required and it’s subject to availability.

For avoidance of doubt, my own stay next month is paid for with my points. I have no affiliation with Luxury Travel Diary or Al Maha Desert Resort. I am not getting anything in exchange for running this giveaway other than an opportunity to share the place with readers.

I will put the winner in touch with the hotel for booking. They are 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!

You probably won’t fly to Dubai and back for a 2 night stay, though you might add onto it and do other things in the region (great opportunity to spend American AAdvantage miles and fly Etihad first class at 90,000 miles each way before the March 22 devaluation, and Etihad even provides a car service anywhere in the UAE… or to spend Alaska miles and fly Emirates).

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  2. Easy choice for me – Anything Africa, so it’s 3 NIGHTS AT PUMZIKO SAFARI & WELLNESS LODGE, TANZANIA.

  3. I would select 2 Nights In A Luxury Villa At The 5-Star Viceroy Bali from the Luxury Travel Diary – it looks incredible!

  4. My favorite item on Luxury Travel Diary is “Belgrade Apartments In Serbia”. I’ve always wanted to explore the “white city”!

  6. Al Maha looks like an amazing place to relax…and believe me, I need to! Would also be great to spend time exploring!

  7. My favorite item up for auction at luxurytraveldiary.com is 3 Nights For 4 In A Luxury Private Villa In Goa, India. I’ve always wanted to travel there.

  8. I would love to stay at Al Maha Desert Resort because it looks so surreal from the photos on their website.

  12. Auction i’m excited about is 3 LUXURY NIGHTS AT THE ICONIC SANTORINI, GREECE, always wanted to be in Santorini and have heard wonderful things about the Iconic Santorini alas lots of days to go and lots of people have same favorite as me..might be out of my budget once it gets closer to end 🙁

  13. I would love to stay at the Al Maja and try all of the daily activities. I’m also fascinated in the desert and would love to stay at a hotel right smack in the middle of it.

  14. My favorite item is 4 nights for 6 guests at Villa Sungai, Cepaka, Bali. Would love to go back to Bali!

  16. I want to stay at Al Maha to experience the middle east of yester year before the high rises and tha glamour 🙂

  17. With a toddler and another child on the way, an ideal stay would be at a resort where one can enjoy the resort itself. Also, my family lives in the region so it would be a great stopover! That’s why I’d love to stay at the Al Maha Resort

  18. I really want to stay at the Al Maha. I’ve always had beach or tropical vacations. But i’ve never had a stay in the middle of the desert. This would be an amazing experience if I won.

  23. Favorite item in the auction is the 7 Nights At Aquila Porto Rethymno Hotel In Crete, Greece. I’ve never been to Greece and I’ve heard its beautiful and I would love to go.

  30. I would go for the 4 night Luxury Yacht Hotel in Yangon. The auction price is up to £4.00 now, but that’s still a decent deal 🙂

  31. I would love to stay at Al Maha because I’m looking for some inspiration for my honeymoon and a chance to try out Etihad Apartment before the AA devaluation.

  35. Al Maha looks brilliant- luxury in the desert with activities and some cultural interest.

  37. 3 Nights For 4 In A Luxury Private Villa In Goa, India looks like a pretty nice trip. I’d pick that auction because I’ve never been to India and it’s not as much of a hassle to get there as the Maldives.

  38. I’d stay at Al Maha not because it’s an all-inclusive but because of the included “desert activities.” I’m too curious about what they are

  39. 7 Nights At Aquila Porto Rethymno Hotel In Crete, Greece. Would love to go to Greece for first time!

  40. I would enjoy how remote it is. I once stayed at Wolwedans in the Namid desert, and this remind me of that.

  41. I would want to stay at the Al Maha to get away (far, far away!) and truly have the chance to relax and unplug in the desert. Dips in the endless pool? One of many icings on the cake!

  42. I have to say that if one auction catches my eye it would be the 3 SUITE NIGHTS AT BOND MOVIE “SPECTRE” LOCATION, AUSTRIA — who wouldn’t want to stay in the building bond visits up in the Alps with the melting ice cube architecture and the amazing mountain views?

  44. 7 Nights At Aquila Porto Rethymno Hotel In Crete, Greece! Have always dreamed of going to Greece!

  46. All I can hope is the al maha is so remote my cell phone won’t have any reception.

  47. Bond, James Bond. How cool is the concept of staying at Bonds Alpine retreat. I would bidbon that one.

  48. Grand Hyatt Doha. It’s been on my bucket list, so that’s the item I would love tonwin in the auction.

  49. Al Maha would be an awesome birthday destination. I would love to know more about their inclusive desert activities.

  50. I would choose to stay at 7 Nights In A 2-Bed Best E Villas Condo, Barbados! Never been to Barbados and would love to spend a week there!

Comments are closed.