Originally Posted by
Chinatrvl
No, you won't pay taxes at all, except for the 8 USD/pers+night "bed tax".
Service charge is a concept mostly seen in Asia. This basically means a 10% serivce charge is added to everything you purchase at the resort (diving trip, can of coke, dinner). This should not apply to the room rate though, as it is 0 € for a reward stay.
Cash and points at IHG is different; you get charged by IHG for the points immediately at booking. The hotel does not know that you used cash and points but sees it as a regular reward stay.
That said, another question to those that stayed there. We have never been to the Maldives and considering making a detour there next year for a couple of days. I'm not sure whether I should make a reward reservation at the HI or rather spend big €€€ for the Taj etc. Will the HI give the "Maldive-feeling" you expect from Maldives photos and pictures?
Google earth shows a fisher's village (
Guraidhoo/Guradu) right next to the HI island - is it possible/advisable to go there for a visit or some dinner?
The Maldivian government actually regulates which islands are allowed visits from outsiders. I don't think that "westerners" (or "outsiders") are allowed at the island across the way, though I can tell you that a lot of people who live there actually work at the hotel (we stayed in a villa right across the way, and watched a boat pick people up and bring them over every day). The hotel does offer "local island excursions" but we gave this a miss, figuring it was going to be a sales pitch.
Whether the HI gives you a "Maldivian" experience versus the Taj I think is a matter of expectation. This island was virtually wiped out during the tsunami. Dunno about the Taj island (about 1/4 of all of the resort islands were closed after the tsunami) but given the price difference between the two, your expectations I think would really dictate the "experience" you expect and will get. If you go to the HI Maldives expecting a HI Resort experience, I don't think you'll be disappointed (and in fact we were actually quite pleased). But if you expect a level of service of the Taj at HI prices, you won't be happy.
You know how that goes. Based on your previous posts though I think you are pretty level-headed about such things. For 15K points/night, I do think it's an absolute steal and absolutely worth it.
To the other poster asking about the garden view villa, they're nice, and I was jealous as we walked around seeing them with a hammock out front (which our sea view duplex lacked). They were also nicely shaded, which many sea view villas were not. In any event, the sea is really not far from you at all, as the island is very small, and the "garden" is really a mass of mangroves through which you make you way in less than 2 minutes to the beach, so it is not like you're in the boonies or anything.
As a platinum (royal ambassador) we were not "upgraded" on our reward stay, but rather, "allowed" to stay in our paid room as a "courtesy". I didn't ask for a further upgrade but got the impression that they aren't given easily.