I had another amazing stay at the Al Maha. Location, staff and cuisine, everything was really spotless and lived up to our expectations, Funny enough, even if one considers that rates can be as high as 2000 USD per night, I believe that this property is worth this money and considering the quality of the cuisine and the activities offered is even good value for money. With a bit of research you will find by far better rates than offered on SPG.com, but.....
.... HOWEVER ....
Here the problem started. My accepted BRG claim gave me a rate close to 40 percent of the published BAR. I saw online that the hotel was playing around with the rates and even after my ambassador contacted them they were not willing to return to the confirmed BRG rate (but something in between the BAR and the BRG rate). It took another long and pretty strict letter to clarify this and it worked at the end of the day....
.... HOWEVER ....
When the points posted they had obviously treated the rate as non qualifying points were only given for incidentals, not for the room rate. I had to involve my ambassador once again to get this settled....
Conclusion: a fantastic place, however, they appear to have some problems with the SPG world....