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

  1. I’ve always been intrigued by the rather cheap minute suites packages they have for DFW/ATL. I find myself sitting in those airports a lot and that sounds like it would be fantastic.

  3. 4 Nights At The Vintage Luxury Yacht Hotel, Myanmar would fit our travel plans nicely and make a stop at the Al Maha not too far away.

  4. I’ve always wanted to go Dune Bashing in Dubai and Ride a camel. I believe both of those are activities at the Al Maha!

  8. Why to stay in Dubai: always wanted to explore this city! Was there only once for a short connection on Emirates but think it will be a nice place to see and explore. Like everything new and unusual! 🙂

  14. I’d definitely use the $200 voucher for Stoned Crab Key West for my upcoming Valentine’s day trip!

  15. I would love to stay at the Al-Maha. The activities, including the falconry, seem incredible. And two nights seems a perfect length of time to experience the resort, and then go on to some other activities in the Middle East.

  17. I’d like to stay at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore. A friend recently traveled to that country and found it intriguing, so now I’m interested. Honestly though, there are so many other places I want to see that I don’t know when I’d go to Singapore…so winning this contest would be the impetus I need to get me there sooner than later!

  24. I would stay at the Al Maha for the private residence. Getting to stay at such a high-end, unique hotel in an exotic locale – who would say no?!? Not me!

  25. Some of the auctions look pretty interesting, but I would choose Al Maha after reading Ben’s trip review. Anyone who’s traveled as much as he has and gives a resort that strong a praise must be worth a visit.

    I’ve never been to the UAE but would love to fly one of the ME3 and check it out on a stopover to South Africa. Would gladly do a guestpost as well if I’m selected. Who wouldn’t want a “view from the wing” of a falcon?

  26. Why Al Maha: been wanting to go back to use ever since living there 6 years ago. I can’t wait to see how much has changed!

  28. 2 Nights At Villa Le Maschere, Near Florence, Italy since I’ll be there next month and don’t have a hotel booked yet!

  42. Wow! My in-laws have stayed there and I never thought we’d be able to afford it. My wife and I will be in Dubai next week and it would be awesome to have a little side trip!

  44. I’m already heading to Dubai for my wife’s birthday (in EK and EY first!) and I’d looked at staying here until I saw the price. Would love to win this and be able to stay there!

  46. 4 Nights For 6 Guests At Villa Sungai, Cepaka, Bali would be my choice. I’ve never been to Bali, but heard how amazing it is. I want to stay at the Al Maha for a similar reason: I’ve heard and read how amazing it is and would love to experience it. Also, it will be *by far* the nicest hotel in which I’ve stayed!

  47. I would love to stay at the resort in Al Maha because two activities are included! And the food in reviews look amazing.

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