frudd38

True, was thinking that as well. Get a whole fresh day starting right from the villa.

UnitedConnection

Just got back from a 5-night stay here. Incredible property. Some quick highlights, as most of the details of this property are well-documented in this thread already:

Arrival. We arrived on CX601 from HKG. As others have mentioned, this puts you at the resort at around 1:30-2am, which is tough, though with jet lag it didn’t bother us much. The only thing truly lacking is the beautiful view on the flight/boat ride in. Our boat trip in was dark and, as we would learn on the way out, uncharacteristically choppy. We flew JFK-HKG-MLE there and MLE-AUH-JFK back, but in the future I plan to do, and would recommend, the reverse. The AUH flight arrives MLE at 2:30pm, giving you a nice evening arrival at the resort (you get there around 7pm), and CX602 to HKG leaves MLE at 11:35pm, meaning you stay at the resort until around 5pm on your last day. I’d also consider the morning KE flight, if only to minimize the layover at MLE (where there is truly nothing to do but sit and surf the (slow) internet in the uninspiring domestic lounge).

Room(s). Ended up doing 2 nights in a park villa and 3 nights in a water villa; after reading the mix of reviews here I actually wanted to try both. Ultimately, while I agree with others that it isn’t necessarily a no-brainer, the water villa was definitely the way to go for us. The standard villa is substantially bigger, especially in the bathroom, and has an outdoor shower/tub that the water villa lacks. The standard villa can feel somewhat more private, and the direct beach access is very nice. For us, this was all outweighed by the incredible setting of the water villa. We quickly discovered the snorkeling was far beyond our expectations, and having a room directly over the reef really can’t be overvalued. Depending on the tides, we would wake up, snorkel before breakfast, eat, and then snorkel again most of the afternoon before dinner. The rest of our time was spent on the private deck/sun bed overlooking the water. These two features alone made the water villa worth it IMO. We didn’t have the issues others mentioned regarding A/C in the water villa, but we are likely a bit more tolerant of warmer indoor temps than average.

Food. Breakfast is effectively unlimited. Though the staff explained we were limited to 3 “entrees” each, this was never enforced and we generally ordered whatever we wanted. For dinner, we ate at the Dining Room for the first few nights, until we discovered that room service is effectively no more expensive than eating at the restaurants (service charge is the same and mandatory for both), and in fact can actually be cheaper. (There are several cheaper entrée options available only on the room service menu- you can also order things off the Dining Room menu that aren’t on the room service menu, giving you more optionality with room service.) Once we discovered this, we had room service on the villa’s deck for the remainder of the stay. The sunset view makes this a pretty amazing way to dine every night.
Service. Service was very friendly and genuine if a bit unpolished at times. Orders were occasionally mixed up / forgotten (especially at breakfast, where we ordered quite a bit) along with other inconsistencies (parts of the table setting were missing from room service one night, etc.). The language barrier was sometimes an issue with wait staff, but was frankly more endearing than annoying.

Other notes:
- We were (unpleasantly) surprised by the number of families at this property, especially considering how kid un-friendly it is. Our experience may have been anomalous, but there were at least 3 families with young children that cycled in and out at some point during our stay. The only time this really detracted from the experience was at breakfast (kids were running around and jumping into the pool, etc), but it just puzzled me why anyone would think to bring kids to a property like this.
- With the exception of our first day, the water was unbelievably calm, almost lake-like. This makes for great snorkeling.
- One drawback of the water villa is you will likely not be able to stay in your room past check out time (eg if you have an afternoon boat departure) due to demand. Water villas were 100% occupied throughout our stay despite the resort being at less than half occupancy overall. We were given a spa villa (basically a massage room with an outdoor shower and couch) after some coaxing of the staff- otherwise our only option to be out of the sun would have been to sit in the reception area.
- It is apparently possible to be sunburned in the shade in the Maldives.

macdonaldj2

I've been doing some reading and thinking about going here, while I have pretty much made my mind up about the entire trip, I am married to an accountant she needs things broken down in spreadsheet format for ease of understanding. We'll be staying on points and upgrading I believe to an OW villa, but from reading the thread, we're coming in on CX601 so a night in a OW villa doesn't seem worth it on the first night, as well as the last day/night as we wouldn't be able to stay in it. Since we'll be on points we won't be getting breakfast, with the cost of the food/upgrade/flights/activities etc...I am looking at 1k realistic spend per day? Does that seem on average?

canyonleo

Way too many variables to answer that question...
- day activities, boat or shore diving, spa, etc.
- meals, 2/ or 3/day, interested in bringing snacks to avoid a meal, do you order expensive
- drinking at meals, bar, etc.

ma91pmh

I've stayed multiple times and never gone anywhere near going over $1k a day and that typically includes dinner for two, some time at the spa, at least two boat dives each day, a few lunches, drinks etc.

UnitedConnection thanks for the review it was interesting, though not sure what your beef is with kids. I look forward to taking my (10 and 12 year old) kids to this place. My boy is already a diver and my younger girl will get there soon enough and they are both avid swimmers so not sure why I wouldn't want to take them to such a beautiful place?

macdonaldj2

Mostly Spa/Food, and sometimes yes we may splurge on something, but I assume everything is around the same price (food wise) when I calculated it out and this does include the cost of the upgrade and flights for 2 we're at 561USD per night, with massages and food (twice a day/breakfast and dinner + some drinks) This was based off of 5-6 nights, but I haven't taken into account not getting an OW Villa for the first and last night

Cohall

I'm not UnitedConnection and won't speak for him, but I do agree with him.

The Maldives, and specifically the Hyatt, are destinations that cater towards romance and serenity. Kids running around the pool playing marco polo, yelling, having meltdowns and timeouts, whatever, ruins that romance for many people, myself included.

Obviously some kids are perfectly well behaved, courteous, quiet, etc. But some are not.

I'm flying to the other side of the world to escape reality for a week. If I wanted to be surrounded by screaming kids, I can just go to my community pool on a Saturday .

I'm sure my comments will anger some, but before you reply with disgust, please understand I realize you can't type-cast all children as being ill-behaved in public. Many are very well behaved. Many.

In general, however, the Park Hyatt targets an audience and markets itself as a romantic peaceful getaway, not a family resort.

If I'm paying $1,600 a night and thousands in flights to get there, that's what I'm after. (Of course, I'm on flyertalk, so I'm not doing either of those things). Tranquility and romance, as advertised.

m0hamed

When we were at this property there were lots of families. We look for luxury destinations for peace and quiet and were pleasantly surprised that all of the children during our stay were extremely well behaved.

When we did see them it was only for a short period in the pool before the families went back to their villa. Most guests do not spend the day in the sun at this property.

At other times the families were all engrossed in their electronic devices and not a sound was to be heard.

Children have a right to be an any property, just as they do to fly first class. If you think otherwise than perhaps you should buy your own hotel or private jet.

canyonleo

How many points would that take?

RTW1

Sorry, but that's all in your mind. They target people that will spend a little money, nothing more nothing less. They don't advertise as an adults only resort and there's nothing that discourages visiting with children (they are pretty neutral about it).So tough luck when you encounter children there.

The same BS arguments as no children in premium classes etc. Everybody that pays is welcome here, even cheapskates on points :-).

ma91pmh

I can tell you in our visits their we have been actively encouraged by management to return with our children. While this place is not as obviously child friendly as say the Conrad Maldives, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever kids should not come here and I find it bizarre some people think that somehow they shouldn't be here.

nsmn4945

I'll be heading to the PH Maldives Dec. 31 - Jan. 4 and will be upgrading to a Water Villa for one of the nights. I was thinking to upgrade on my last night to end the trip on a high note, but seeing how I probably can't stay in there past checkout time (I have a late afternoon flight out of MLE), should I just upgrade the first night instead of the last? Thoughts?

Andrea Waters

Of course children have a right to be there.

But the fact of the matter is that not everyone wants to be around kids. It doesn't make me or anyone else a bad person. I don't have kids. I don't want kids. I don't want to be around kids. I'm kind of surprised that people don't understand this.

With that in mind, I fully expect children to be at my travel destinations and i most certainly don't begrudge seeing them. That's just how the world works. If I expect an adults only vacation, I book an adults only resort.

taipeiflyer

i agree... i don't see people holding the same sort of view at the four seasons wailea, and so am unsure why, just because they have to travel further, they somehow think that they deserve the property almost entirely to themselves.

for those that don't have kids and don't want kids. well, vacation at senior citizen facilities. it is not the family that needs to alter their plans on your behalf. there are vacation places that are adult only. seek those out. and i don't even have kids, just not quite sure where the animus towards them is rooted.

RTW1

That's what was missing here... Like it or not, if you don't book an adults only resort don't expect only adults to be there...

But I think I would still prefer children to just honeymooners :-). And all that free booze at the adult only full service resorts can't be very nice either...