PLTHOO
Feb 4, 08, 11:43 am
We have a few award stays coming up and wanted to share some experiences and ask a few questions:
1. Mrs. PLTHOO and I are headed to the HWV and HHV in two weeks and were reading up on some reviews on Tripadvisor for the HWV. I was amazed at the number of negative reviews from the last 6 months, basically they said 1. This place is the pits, transferred to another property ASAP, 2. Paid for their room, and for the $$, this place is the pits, 3. Stayed previously and they are now amazed at how far the property has fallen, and 4. the place has quirks and is OK for the pools, etc. Has the HWV fallen this far? Any tips/tricks on enjoying the property (we are planning on touring extensively throughout the big island...but needed to redeem points for the stay)?
2. Mrs. PLTHOO and I are traveling for a long exotic vacation this June/July and wanted to head to the Maldives...like everyone else found out there is no availability...not even a Diamond Force. We were told by the diamond desk (after calling for three straight months) to give up and go to one of the other nice places...so we booked a trip to Mauritius with a stop in Capetown.
The miracle:
2a. I was on-line Friday evening making reservations for business travel and checked for awards in the Maldives (no idea why...maybe feeling sorry for myself) and voila.....about 1.5 months of completely available standard award inventory. Called the diamond desk immediately, the agent even apologized ahead of time for no availbility when I asked, but sure enough she was amazed at seeing inventory in the system. She even said they had a "pool" running in the res center for the agent able to book the first award stay at the property. We are now booked for 7 straight nights in the Maldives this summer - miracles do happen.
Questions:
-The hotel indicated they would set up the sea plane transfer and overnight hotel in Male (we arrive via SIN)...which hotel is it and should I look for one on my own? Is Male the type of place I should let the hotel take care of things?
-Is there only 1 air taxi operator----Maldavian Air Taxi?
-Any other tips/tricks for making the transfer in/out of Male successful?
Thank you.
1. Mrs. PLTHOO and I are headed to the HWV and HHV in two weeks and were reading up on some reviews on Tripadvisor for the HWV. I was amazed at the number of negative reviews from the last 6 months, basically they said 1. This place is the pits, transferred to another property ASAP, 2. Paid for their room, and for the $$, this place is the pits, 3. Stayed previously and they are now amazed at how far the property has fallen, and 4. the place has quirks and is OK for the pools, etc. Has the HWV fallen this far? Any tips/tricks on enjoying the property (we are planning on touring extensively throughout the big island...but needed to redeem points for the stay)?
2. Mrs. PLTHOO and I are traveling for a long exotic vacation this June/July and wanted to head to the Maldives...like everyone else found out there is no availability...not even a Diamond Force. We were told by the diamond desk (after calling for three straight months) to give up and go to one of the other nice places...so we booked a trip to Mauritius with a stop in Capetown.
The miracle:
2a. I was on-line Friday evening making reservations for business travel and checked for awards in the Maldives (no idea why...maybe feeling sorry for myself) and voila.....about 1.5 months of completely available standard award inventory. Called the diamond desk immediately, the agent even apologized ahead of time for no availbility when I asked, but sure enough she was amazed at seeing inventory in the system. She even said they had a "pool" running in the res center for the agent able to book the first award stay at the property. We are now booked for 7 straight nights in the Maldives this summer - miracles do happen.
Questions:
-The hotel indicated they would set up the sea plane transfer and overnight hotel in Male (we arrive via SIN)...which hotel is it and should I look for one on my own? Is Male the type of place I should let the hotel take care of things?
-Is there only 1 air taxi operator----Maldavian Air Taxi?
-Any other tips/tricks for making the transfer in/out of Male successful?
Thank you.