For foodies and wine lovers, Crete is the unrivaled culinary capital of Greece legendary for exquisi

TweetThis contest has ended. Thanks to everyone who entered! It s finally here. We re thrilled to announce the launch of our biggest travel giveaway ever! From now until August 22, 2011, American Express is offering new cardmembers the opportunity to sign up and earn up to 30,000 Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. Benefits [...]
From now until August 22, 2011, American Express is offering new cardmembers the opportunity to sign up and earn up to 30,000 bedford hotel london Starpoints with the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card . Benefits bedford hotel london include:
Choose from free nights or free flights. Redeem Starpoints for free nights at over 1,000 hotels and resorts in nearly bedford hotel london 100 countries and for free flights on over 350 airlines all with no blackout dates.
Get more Starpoints for stays. Receive bedford hotel london up to 5 Starpoints for every eligible dollar spent at SPG hotels resorts 2 Starpoints per dollar spent on the Card in addition to the 2 Starpoints you can get as an SPG member. Plus, 1 more Starpoint with SPG Gold or Platinum status.
To help promote this amazing offer, we ve partnered with American Express, to give one lucky Vagabondish.com reader 100,000 Starpoints to travel to their dream vacation destination! A few examples to put that in perspective:
Or secure a stay at nearly any one of Starwood s Category 5 hotels for as much as ten full days . Among this list of properties are Hawaii s beachfront Sheraton Waikiki , downtown Paris s Le Méridien bedford hotel london Etoile , and the uber modern W Hong Kong . Just to name a few.
Or, for the ultimate money is no object vacation , splurge on a 3-4 night stay at any Category bedford hotel london 7 hotel. These are Starwood s uber hotels and resorts offering awe-inspiring surroundings in some of the world's most spectacular destinations, including Bora Bora and Dubai .
After countless hours of searching, we decided that we d splurge on a five-night stay at Greece s stunning Blue Palace bedford hotel london Resort Spa . Situated on the famed coast of Elounda, with exceptional charm, architecture, style, and sweeping views to the relics of Spinalonga Island, it s the perfect hideaway resort for an authentic, luxury island vacation.
This would of course be a proper vacation complete with much relaxation, adult beverage sipping and refining of our skills in the delicate art of doing nothing . We d spend our first couple of days wrapped in luxurious, 320-thread bedford hotel london count satin sheets and arbitrarily sampling options from their pillow menu .
The next full day would be dedicated to slipping into our own private, heated infinity pool overlooking the Mediterranean. We would sample fresh fruits and native delicacies while clinking aperitif bedford hotel london glasses and pretending we never had to leave.
But we d be remiss if we didn t acknowledge the wealth of exploration opportunities available outside the resort as well. Crete is renowned for its rich history, crystal clear beaches, traditional villages bedford hotel london and dramatic landscape. On an exclusive patch of coastline in the island s northeast region, Elounda encompasses a breathtaking landscape that combines towering palm trees with endless citrus groves.
Nearby archaeological sites offer afternoons of exploration among ancient Minoan ruins, while secluded beaches and mountain plateaus provide exquisite immersion into the essence of these timeless natural environs.
Just a short boat ride from the resort, Spinalonga Island is covered in enchanting ruins, emblematic churches, and colorful reconstructed storefronts. Pebbled beaches border high protective walls where desert grass grows from cracks in earth-colored brick. A circular fortress rises impressively from a rocky hillside, overlooking the open sea.
The nearby village of Archanes is acclaimed as one of the most exceptionally restored in Europe. Its landscape is filled with Venetian mansions and picturesque cafes where simple wooden chairs offer a place to enjoy spanakopita and stuffed grape leaves beneath blue striped awnings.
In Olous, the crumbling remains of ancient walls take shape beneath the azure waters of the Aegean Sea. Once a thriving city of thirty thousand inhabitants, it mysteriously sank into the sea over twelve centuries ago and is now a fascinating underwater setting for snorkeling.
For foodies and wine lovers, Crete is the unrivaled culinary capital of Greece legendary for exquisite olive oil, fresh produce and hearty cuisine. We d opt for a drive to Boutari Crete Winery for a unique local tour that presents the region s winemaking history and a look at its processes.
We d follow the coastline south past the red-hulled fishing bedford hotel london boats of Mirabello Bay. We d round out our exploration in the small town of Agios Nikolaos, which promises myriad discoveries, from magnificent coves, to pine-fringed footpaths and a glimpse of the island s history at the local archaeological museum.
And the fun part: in the comments bedford hotel london section below, tell us in 200 words or less why Crete is the perfect destination OR share your own dream vacation! Given 100,000 Starpoints : Where would you go? What would you see there? And which Starwood bedford hotel london hotel would you choose? Be as creative, funny, quirky, or strange as possible!
Vagabondish founding editor, Mike Richard, is a Rhode Island native, professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person. His professional credits include " Woman's World magazine contributor" and having once been interviewed by Tyra Banks ( seriously ).
Crete would be our (my beautiful wife Jing and I s) perfect bedford hotel london vacation destination because we absolutely love the culture, beauty and food of Greece!! bedford hotel london We used to live in Baltimore, MD where they fortunately have a large Greek population. We met some wonderful fellow students at the University and have fallen in love with their food and culture ever since. They truly have a LOVE for life, music, dancing and eating bedford hotel london and we love to share that. Unfortunately, we now live in beautiful albeit land-locked Arkansas which of course has little to no Greek influence (unless you count the fraternities hah!). We moved here to take care of my mother who is now in the nursing home but have come to truly love and appreciate northwest arkansas natural beauty and great southern charm and people. Thanks for this opportunity and keep traveling!!
As two best friends who adore traveling, it s always difficult for us to narrow our dream spot down to one location. Between the two of us, we ve taken Europe by storm, and would love to branch out and explore Africa, staying at The Westin Cape Town. We d spend our time taking in the views of the historic Victoria Alfred waterfront, exploring the world-famous beaches, wine-tasting in the Winelands and of course, a safari in the Cedarberg Mountains. We d perfectly document our trip, live-tweeting bedford hotel london blogging photos as we went!
I d pick the Turnberry Resort in Scotland, and I d take my husband and two sons with me! My five year-old bedford hotel london would have a blast flying kites and riding ponies, and we could all enjoy quad bike riding. My son is also somewhat of a hotel pool connoisseur, bedford hotel london so I m sure he d enjoy the indoor pool, especially the underwater lighting. A falconry demonstration would be fun too. My husband could play some golf, I could hit up the spa and we could all rent bikes to explore bedford hotel london some of the local castles bedford hotel london and ruins. This would be the ultimate family vacation!
I d go to the St. Regis Bora Bora. So far, I ve only traveled in Latin America and Italy, and I m itching to visit another part of the world. Travel should challenge you, surprise you, push you to reflect and become a better person, and I can t imagine a better place to do that than surrounded by the incredible bedford hotel london scenery of Bora Bora.
Hawaii bedford hotel london to take in a luau Maybe a little gliding and surfing, to start off healthy, Then fly to New Zeeland to ski and sight see,then hop over to Australia to see Opals and surf and cruse to Fiji/Bora Bora to relax on the waterlevel hotel and watch the sun over the water Now that sounds like a 100,000 Point vacation to me how about you?
The heart of salsa, bedford hotel london pina coladas and art deco architecture it has to be Puerto Rico and the W hotel on Vieques Island ! I d love to go swimming in the bio-luminescent bay where you can glow blue in the water and discover bedford hotel london the old haciendas and villages along the coast. Maybe a hop over to Puerto Rico mainland for a night of salsa dancing on the rooftops of old san juan, followed by some bargains in the designer outlets. If its good enough for Johnny Depp
Hotel Danieli in Venice !! I am a newlywed and a (very!) recent uni grad. I am also about to receive my green card in a few months. After a decade of immigration problems and being an international student, I will finally be able to leave the US under leisure instead of sure deportation (jk) It would be an absolute dream to go to Italy! I have been playing Assassin s Creed 2 to placate this dream instead. I am also a journalism minor, and dream of being a travel writer one day, and Italy would be a great start! It will also be a great honeymoon spot
I have just been diagnosed with a rare version of a rare disease that is incurable and largely untreatable. Already I ve had triple bypass surgery, a stroke, lost my kidney, had four brain aneurysms, and a gastric rupture. I ve been putting together a bucket list of things to do before I die. Traveling represents a large part of that list. If I won, I would use the points to cross off places on my bucket list and visit as many of these places as possible: Sheraton Prague Charles Square Hotel; Hotel Kämp, Helsinki; Le Méridien Bristol, Warsaw; Sheraton Stockholm Hotel; Sheraton Park Tower, London; Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens.
My 100,000 Starpoints bedford hotel london would definitely be spent somewhere in Asia. And I would stretch the points as long as I could to make my trip last the longest possible. I don't get chances to visit Asia everyday, bedford hotel london so I would definitely