The Big One! Introduction and United Club Pass Giveaway!

Last week we returned from our whirlwind trip to D.C, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the Maldives (with adventurous layovers in Munich and Istanbul).  To celebrate, I'm giving away 4 United Club passes (giveaway will be two pairs of two).  The first pair includes one pass that expires August 31st, 2016 and one that expires September 30th, 2016.  The second pair includes two passes that expire September 30th, 2016.

Not in the best of shape, but they'll do!

The winner will be chosen at random on May 3rd.  To be eligible, all you need to do is comment on this post and tell me whether you'd rather spend a week in the Presidential Suite at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai or a week in a Park Water Villa at the Park Hyatt in the Maldives. (Feel free to watch my tour of the GH Kauai Presidential Suite here).  One entry per person.

This trip was 3 1/2 years in the making.  But all the planning and research in the world could not prepare me for how incredible it would be.  Some highlights include.

  • Sharing an incredible dessert wine with my girlfriend while in bed at 4 A.M, 40 thousand feet in the air.
  • Accelerating from 0-150mph in 5 seconds on the worlds fastest roller coaster.
  • Drinks and Canapes at the worlds tallest observation deck.
    Afternoon tea with an ocean view at the Ritz Carlton.
  • A perfect-weather desert safari trip in the Dunes of Dubai.

Desert Safari Dubai

  • A private boat trip down to the equator, with a crew of five to tend to our every need. (and a lot more adventure to go with it!)
  • A romantic dusk dinner catered on the beach.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa Sunset Beach Dinner

  • A sunset yacht cruise that became more than we bargained for when nobody else booked, making it a private trip.
  • Snapping photos of my girlfriend scuba diving while I was 16 feet below sea level in an underwater restaurant.

I have a ton of photos and videos to share (I have to narrow down ~250GB worth), and thousands of words to write, so please be patient with me, but feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments section (comments/questions are welcome, but only comments answering the question listed above will count as an entry for the giveaway)

Whirlwind Trip 2016:

-The Big One! Introduction/Giveaway
-Day One: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Review
-Day Two: United First Class B737-800 SFO-IAD summary
-Days Three through Six: D.C Area recommendations: Smithsonian, National Harbor, Baltimore Aquarium
-Day Seven: Lufthansa Business Class Lounge IAD summary, Lufthansa First Class A330-300 IAD-MUC Summary
-Day Eight Part 1: Six hours in downtown Munich, Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich Summary
-Day Eight Part 2: Lufthansa First Class A330-300 MUC-DXB Summary
-Day Nine Part 1: Dubai Exotic Limo brief review part 1 & Abu Dhabi recommendations: Ferrari World, the Grand Mosque
-Day Nine Part 2: Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Review
-Days Ten through Twelve Part 1: Park Hyatt Dubai Review
-Days Ten through Twelve Part 2: Dubai Exotic Limo brief review part 2 & Dubai recommendations:  Burj Khalifa Sky
-Days Ten through Twelve Part 3: Dubai Recommendations: Tea at the Ritz Carlton Jumeirah Beach, Atlantis Monorail, Dubai Mall
-Days Ten through Twelve Part 4: Dubai recommendations: Platinum-Heritage Falconry Heritage Tour.  The Dubai Museum
-Day Thirteen: Emirates 777-300 DXB-MLE summary, Moonima Lounge MLE summary, Park Hyatt Maldives transfer summary
-Days Thirteen through Sixteen Part 1: Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa Review
-Days Thirteen through Sixteen Part 2: What to do at the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
-Day Seventeen: Maldivian Dash-8/Boat Transfer Park Hyatt-MLE summary, Conrad Rangali MLE Lounge summary, Trans-Maldivian Twin Otter transfer MLE-Conrad Rangali Island
-Days Seventeen through Twenty-One Part 1: Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Review
-Days Seventeen through Twenty-One Part 2: What to do at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort
-Day Twenty-Two Part 1: Trans-Maldivian Twin Otter Conrad Rangali Island-MLE summary, Conrad Lounge MLE summary, Leeli Lounge MLE summary
-Day Twenty-Two Part 2: Turkish Airlines Business Class A330-300 MLE-IST summary.
-Day Twenty-Three Part 1: Turkish Airlines IST Lounge Summary, six hours in Istanbul
-Day Twenty-Three Part 2: Turkish Airlines Business Class B777-300  IST-SFO summary
-Day Twenty-Four: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Embarcadero Review
-Trip Summary/The Numbers
-The BIG Question: Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa or Conrad Maldives Rangali?

You may notice from the above outline that I'm only reviewing the hotels I stayed at, and not the flights.  I didn't take nearly enough photos or notes during my flights, nor do I have nearly enough comparable experiences to thoroughly review any of the flights, but I will post summaries.  My blog focus is on Hyatt hotels, but this trip was so massive and amazing that I feel the need to share many more details than that.

Stay Tuned!