First off, I'd like to extend my hakaras hatov to the many dedicated DDFers who contributed valuable insights to the planning of this trip. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate a milestone anniversary and it certainly did not disappoint. Planning for the tip started in earnest in January 2016 when we conceived the idea to visit the Maldives as a once in a lifetime experience and plan a short stopover in Venice on the way out there. While MLE was our destination, my wife had always wanted to visit Venice and if there was a way to make it all work, we would try. Travel is generally a bit easier for us in the summer as our kids are spoken for between sleepaway camp and in-laws.
FlightsWith that said, in mid-February I was able to secure EY-F (pre-devaluation) using 90k AA miles per ticket for our return trip MLE - AUH - JFK. With EY-F serving as my anchor, in March I used some leftover Delta Skymiles (that I really had no intention of using) to book DL-Y from JFK to VCE for 30k per ticket (was upgraded at the gate to exit row seats so had sufficient room to stretch out). Booked in April, our VCE-MLE flight took us through Istanbul on TK-J booked using 45k UA miles per ticket. Our trip took us through IST about two weeks after the attempted coup in Turkey and needless to say, that made us somewhat nervous.
HotelsOur first night (Sunday night) was spent on a DL 764 putting us in Venice the following morning (Monday). Booked using 20k SPG points per night, our home for the next two nights was the Westin Europa and Regina in Venice. We were booked into a Deluxe Double room which was sufficient for our needs. More on the room later. Wednesday night would be spent on-board a combination of TK flights (A321 and A333) on the way to MLE, arriving on Thursday midday. The combination of TK's lounge in IST and business class accommodations on-board made the long trip bearable. Beginning Thursday night, the next five nights would be spent at the Conrad, booked into their basic Beach Villa using a combination of 3 weekend night certificates and 190k HHonors points. I accumulated the certificates and points over a 3 month period and was anxiously awaiting for everything to post. Six weeks out and I was still waiting for my certs to hit. They eventually hit my HHonors account and I quickly turned around and made the reservations. [
Sidenote: I had 4 of my 5 nights booked while waiting for a weekend certificate to hit my account. When it finally hit, the last night was no longer available. After several repeated attempts, Hilton still refused to help me, even though the night had been available. I then called the Conrad Rangali directly and they were able to open a revenue room for me for that day which I immediately booked. Over the following week, award availability opened up so I snagged the room for my last night and cancelled the revenue reservation so it all worked out in the end.] Immediately after making my reservations with Conrad Rangali, I reached out to their reservations team to ask about paid upgrades to an OWV and was advised that there weren't any paid upgrades available for my stay. They would keep an eye out for me but couldn't guarantee anything. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed but what more could I really do. I wasn't about to postpone the trip although I did consider it at one point.
FoodIn addition to our canvas cooler (more on that shortly), we brought a separate suit case for non-perishable foods. Yes, maybe we went a bit overboard, but better safe than sorry. In the suitcase, we had our non-perishable items (breakfast bars, protein bars, Trader Joe snacks, chips, Horizon shelf-stable milk, packages of tuna, mayo, challah rolls for Shabbos, box of matzos, grape juice, Pam spray olive oil, plastic silverware, paper plates, etc.). Our plan in Venice was to make sure of places like Gam Gam, Gam Gam Goodies and Ghimmel Garden. We are generally OK with a coffee/protein bar for breakfast, small snacks and either a late lunch or early dinner. We also ordered 12 Pom meals mostly for dinner in MLE. We transported the Pom meals in our 48-pack AO Canvas Cooler (
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YKQC56/ref=twister_B01HG5KTAC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) and three Cooler Shock freeze packs (
https://www.amazon.com/Lg-Cooler-Freeze-Packs-x14/dp/B00V9ITMYC/ref=pd_sim_468_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51srLPizjgL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=SN9B9YPDYRB8GX1Q7FNS). In Venice, the folks at the Westin were happy to store our Pom meals in their freezer. Upon our arrival at the Conrad, our meals were still frozen nearly 24 hours after leaving Venice. We also brought a couple of packages of vacuum-packed deli and cheese. I had connected with the Conrad in advance and they were happy to store and reheat our Pom meals. They also provided, at our request, a brand new frying pan, chef’s knife, spatula and cutting board, primarily so that we could take advantage of the Conrad’s “free” breakfast.
To be continued with more details and pictures (hopefully sooner than later...)
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