I'm at the resort now and before coming over, I stayed on Hulhule island at the airport hotel. I spoke with several people here that opted to stay on the main island of Male and they felt their stay there was poor and that if they were to do it again, they'd simply stat at Hulhule.

Other than their stories, I don't have much to contrast my stay with. But it was far from "crappy"; it was a good hotel experience that was probably comparable to any good room in any good Hilton elsewhere. My room had a flat screen HDTV, the room was of a nice size, and the toiletries in the bathroom were nice (I think Molton Brown.) Plus I had a small deck with steps down to the beach at the hotel. Yes, it was expensive -the Conrad charged me $300 for the night, but considering how expensive everything else is, it was worth it. Plus the transfers around the island were painless... the Conrad agents took my bags to my room, took them back out when I was ready to go, brought me bottled water every step of the way, and brought me around in air conditioned comfort between the airport/hotel/seaplane port.

If I return to the Maldives and needed and overnight stay before heading over to the Conrad, I'd definitely stay at Hulhule again.