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 like the 7 NIGHTS AT ACANTO BOUTIQUE HOTEL, PLAYA DEL CARMEN listing at Luxury Auctions

  2. I would love to go to Al Maha when I am in Dubai in April to experience luxury in the desert.

  4. I’ve looked the Luxury Diary Travel auctions, I would bid for 2 Nights In A Luxury Apartment In Florence.

  5. I’d stay at the Al Maha Desert Resort because I’m done with winter. I live in Philly and my car is still plowed in…ugh

  8. My wife and I are having our first baby soon and would love to have some downtime at an all inclusive resort! Thanks Gary!

  14. Favorite item up for auction would probably be the 2 Nights At Bay House In Lizard, Cornwall, just caught my eye and something I would probably never choose to do myself.

  16. Having visited Dubai in Nov. 2015, we missed seeing the desert and would love to return to see that area and experience seeing all the wild animals and camels as well.

  17. Just about to head to UAE. My wife would flip if we stayed at the Al Maha Desert Resort – we have never stayed somewhere that beautiful!

  18. Would love to win the safari tent auction – maybe I’ll be able to convince my wife that camping isn’t all bad!

  22. Most interesting auction: 4 Nights At The Vintage Luxury Yacht Hotel, Myanmar. I’ve always wanted to visit!

  30. Favorite auction item is “2 NIGHTS AT THE GRAND HYATT SINGAPORE”. I have family and friends at Singapore and never been there. It will be nice to visit.

  32. I would love the 4 Nights At The Vintage Luxury Yacht Hotel, Myanmar. I’ve always wanted to visit Myanmar.

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