Have you ever heard of Richie Farmer? Neither had I until I read some articles out of Kentucky about his alleged abuse of power as the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Kentucky. Richie was a born and raised in Kentucky and played for the Kentucky Wildcats from 1988 to 1992. His jersey was retired after his college career and he eventually ended up being elected as the Commissioner of Agriculture in 2003.

A recent audit was performed in conjunction with his time as the Commissioner of Agriculture which found some pretty heinous abuses of power:

- Purchased rifles to give to staff members and kept a bunch for himself
- Reserved hotel rooms in the name of employees that was then used for his family members
- Had state workers construct a basketball court at his house
- Had an employee drive him to go hunting where Richie shot a deer from the car and made the employee field dress it for him
- Stole a VCR(??) from his office
- Had state workers mow his yard, chauffeur his dog, move a gun safe to his basement.
- Purchased a couple of 60 inch TVs for his office and a conference room so that he could watch March Madness and expedited the wall brackets costing $60 so it could be mounted before the tournament
- Lastly, Richie is accused of earning 55,000 Marriott Rewards points in conjunction with a 2008 convention held for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture at the Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington.

The last point amuses me. There is a list of pretty blatant abuses of power, but is earning Marriott Rewards points for a convention really against the Kentucky state law? Shouldn’t that be a benefit to the employee? The company I work for allows us to accumulate our own hotel points and airline miles. The assumption is that we are using the lowest priced airline and not picking flights based on airline loyalty. In turn, the company allows us to accumulate points and miles. Luckily, living in a Delta hub, Delta is usually the lowest price option flying internationally.

The moral of the story is, don’t shoot animals from your state vehicle, don’t have state workers build a basketball court, and lastly don’t you dare steal Marriott Rewards points.

Miami Marriott Biscanye Bay
My cruise on the Liberty of the Seas part 1
My cruise on the Liberty of the Seas part 2

I finally decided that it was time to take my talents to South Beach back in February and we chose to stay at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. The hotel has a gorgeous interior.

We were staying here a few days before our Royal Caribbean cruise.

As a Gold member, we were given an upgrade to a club room with free internet. The room itself was quite small though nice. There was a flat screen TV in the room.

We had dinner at Catch restaurant on the bottom floor. I ordered the Churrasco steak and my wife ordered the Grilled Filet Beef with black pepper sauce. We both enjoyed our entrees.

One of the highlights was the small shops next door that were between the Marriott and the Doubletree. They had a lot of sundries including Sprite in a glass bottle which is one of my all time favorite treats. There is also a shuttle service to Dolphin Mall that can take you to and from the mall for a small fee and a free shuttle provided by the hotel to South Beach. Both can be arranged at the concierge desk.

Overall it was a very nice hotel and very worth recommending.

Marriott is offeringfree Gold Status for 90 days for both new and existing members with the ability to keep the status if you stay 12 nights during the 90 days.

The offer expires February 28, 2011.

One of my best Marriott experiences was as a Gold member staying at the JW Marriott in Bangkok. The lounge was incredible with a full breakfast in the mornings and fantastic appetizers at night.

Thanks to View from the Wing and TM Travelworld.

Bloomberg reported that Moscow tops the list of most expensive average hotel rates.

Having stayed in Moscow quite a few times, this comes as no surprise. This is certainly a shortage of good quality hotel rooms in Moscow.

I have overpaid and stayed at all of the Marriott properties in Moscow and can recommend that you stay at the Holiday Inn Lesnaya. It is down the street from Tverskaya, the main road in Moscow and right by a subway station, Belorusskaya. There is even an airport train that leaves from Belorusskaya.

Average rate at the Holiday Inn is about $250 per night which is a bargain in Moscow.

If you tire of eating traditional Russian fare, there is even a TGI Fridays and Benihanas down the street from the hotel.

If you want amusement, head to TGI Fridays on a weekend night. Here you find 40-50+ aged American men sitting at a table with a 20+ aged Russian woman. It is all so obvious it is laughable and sad at the same time.

The Wall Street Journal writes about a $35,000 hotel room at the Four Seasons Hotel New York.

For $35,000, you do receive butler service, almost free room service by from the hotel’s restaurants (including one by Joël Robuchon), and a waterfall.

I stayed at a Marriott in Moscow once that included butler service. It was one of the most awkward conversations ever. After greeting me and showing me to my room, he called a few minutes later to ask if I needed any help unpacking my bags. I wasn’t even sure what to say and therefore told him that I didn’t need any help. How much do you even tip a butler that unpacks your bag? What about drawing you a hot bubble bath?

The Detroit Marriott is giving you a free honeymoon in the form of 200,000 Marriott Points and free airfare for two anywhere in the US, Mexico, and Virgin Islands for booking your wedding with them before June 20th.

You can choose either airfare or hotel with a $15,000 to $25,000 spend or get both free over $25,000.

For more information about hosting your wedding, call 313-568-8300 or visit www.weddings.detroitmarriott.com.

Marriott International has launched a new weekend sale for stays at Marriott properties throughout the U.S. and Canada. Rates start at $89 per night for Friday and Saturday night stays through April 18.

Snag a great deal in top destinations and save over 30% off comparable hotels in each city during this time. Sample deals:

Atlanta: TownePlace Suites Buckhead … $89
Denver: Renaissance Denver Hotel … $89-$99 through April 11
Seattle: Courtyard Seattle Downtown Lake Union … $99 through March
San Francisco: Courtyard San Francisco Downtown … $99 (not available March 12-14, April 9-11)
Orlando: Orlando Marriott Downtown … $109-$119 from March 19 – April 18
Boston: Boston Marriott Cambridge … $109-$129 through April 4, excluding March 26-28
Scottsdale: Scottsdale Marriott Suites Old Town … $129 from April 2-18
Houston: JW Marriott Houston … $139-$149
Washington D.C.: Renaissance Washington, D.C. Dupont Circle … $149-$159 through March 14

Plus, guests who pay with their Visa credit card will receive a complimentary Visa gift card per stay up to $50 in value. Note: this cannot be applied to discounted advance purchase rates.

Link on Visa Card

This deal is valid at all Marriott brands. The gift card value varies by brand:

$50 gift card per two-night stay ($25 for one night) at Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Hotels and JW Marriott
$30 gift card per two-night stay ($15 for one night) at Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn & Suites and TownePlace Suites

With all of the programs out there, it oftentimes can get confusing keeping track of all the programs. Especially the ones that are seldom used.

I’ve done quite a bit of research on the easiest ways to keep track of all of your miles and points.

My new favorite website is Award Wallet. You can add all of your frequent flyer numbers and accounts and it will send you emails with your balances. The best part is that it will also tell you your expiration dates as well.

You can also enter in your whole family to track their accounts as well.

I spent this afternoon submitting everyone’s numbers in. Here are our balances:

My Delta 250,000
My American Airlines 200,000
My HIlton 200,000
My Priority Club 260,000
My Marriott 120,000
Both of my kids Delta accounts: 20,000 each
My wife’s Delta account: 40,000
My wife’s American Airlines account 200,000
We’re also in the midst of earning enough points with British Airways to fly anywhere in the world in first class.

The point of this is not to brag, but just to show what flexibility I’ll have for our next trip(s).

We’ll have Marriott, Hilton, and Priority Club properties to choose from and three airlines to get the best tickets on.

While it certainly helps that I travel quite a bit, I also take advantage of every offer I can to earn more miles. I’ve switch to DirecTV, opened up bank accounts, and bought gold coins all for the sake of miles.

There are some great offers out there to get rewarded for your generosity to charities. Several of the airlines and hotels are currently offering bonus points for your charitable contributions. Here is a run down of the current offers:

American Airlines
* Offer valid on contributions made online at http://american.redcross.org/americanairlines-pub

** Minimum donation of $50 required in order to earn bonus miles* Members can earn a one-time bonus up to 500 miles* Promotion dates are January 14 through February 28, 2010* Donation receipts from the American Red Cross forwarded to ReliefMiles@aa.com. Miles will post to the member’s AAdvantage account approximately 14 days after the receipts are received. Please check your AAdvantage account on aa.com to verify the award.* The name on the donation receipt must match the name on the AAdvantage account.* You must be an AAdvantage member to receive the bonus miles.* Bonus miles do not count toward elite-status qualification.* American Airlines reserves the right to change the AAdvantage program at any time without notice.* American Airlines is not responsible for products or services offered by other participating companies.* For complete details about the AAdvantage program, visit www.aa.com/aadvantage* The American Red Cross name and emblem are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, opinion or political position.* For more information about the Red Cross, please visit http://www.redcross.org/

Delta Airlines
5000 Skymiles for a minimum donation of $100 to the Martin Luther King Jr National Memorial Fund.

Spirit Airlines
A $5 donation equals 5000 Spirit Airlines miles.

Marriott Hotels
18,000 Marriott Hotel points for a $50 donation to the Red Cross.

Point donations
Starwood will match your donation of your own Starwood points to the Red Cross. A 4000 Starwood point donation equals $50.

United Airlines
You can donate United miles here to Haiti.

Hilton Hotels
You can donate Hilton points here.

Sign up here to receive information about Boston area Marriott hotels and receive 500 free Marriott Reward points.