With the recent Hilton devaluation, it seems like the Conrad Maldives has been a popular destination to spend down those points balances. That would probably explain the multiple FTers that we ran into while visiting last month
Getting There/Check-In
After what seemed like an eternity, our SIN-MLE flight landed and we were one step closer to paradise. After clearing immigration we headed into the arrivals hall and were greeted by a Conrad representative. He walked us over to the hotel's booth, where we checked-in with another representative who then took us over to TransMaldvian booth to get the boarding passes for our seaplane flight and weigh our luggage. Then another representative took us out to the parking lot where we hopped in one of the Conrad's minivans and drove around the airport to the seaplane terminal just a few minutes away, and were led up the top floor where the Conrad's lounge is located.
We were one of the first to arrive in the lounge and it actually got quite crowded over the next couple hours. We were told that our estimated departure was approximately 2 hours away, but were also told to hang close since the seaplanes just come when they come. Our first example of island time
The lounge had a decent spread of food and offered a great view of the seaplane tarmac, which was just a long strip of water. But it was amazing to get the first glimpse of that gorgeous turquoise water that the Maldives is famous for. We also each had a quick 15-minute back massage which was nice after a long day of traveling.
Even though we were coming from Australia, it really did feel like a long journey to get to the resort (approximately 20 hours total), so I can't even imagine how long the journey would be if we had come from straight from the US. When we travel my wife and I generally like to move around to different places after just 1-2 nights and looking back even we felt that 5 nights was barely enough, but personally couldn't have seen ourselves staying too much longer beyond that. When we come back, I think that 5-7 nights will be what we target.
After only an hour, we were pleasantly surprised to hear that our seaplane was ready and we were led out to the dock for boarding. They load both your normal and hand luggage into the back of the plane, so if there is anything that you want on your person (like cameras) make sure to take that out ahead of time. The plane ride was just over half an hour and provided great aerial views of the atolls and other resorts.
Conrad lounge
View of the watermac
Seaplanes waiting to take passengers to paradise
View of other resorts
The time actually passed by quickly, and before we knew it we had touched down at the Conrad! The resort has a seaplane dock located on a platform on the bridge that connects the two islands, and there was a whole gang of staff members waiting to welcome us, including our island host. He greeted us, and took us over the check-in where we were given a welcome drink and an overview of the island.
Finally here!
Welcome drink
Our Villa
Shortly after finishing up our check-in (for the honeymooners, don't forget to bring a copy of your wedding certificate as they take it as part of check-in to validate your honeymoon benefits), we hopped in a buggy and headed over to the room. I had used 200,000 Hilton points (pre-devaluation) to book the standard beach villa, and decided to upgrade to a water villa for 3 nights and superior water villa for 2 nights.
Both the water villa and SWV are located on the same island which can be accessed via a long bridge from the main island. In general, we found that walking from one end of the other island to the main island took around 15 minutes. Alternatively, there is a boat that goes regularly between the islands.
We found both villas to be extremely spacious and comfortable, but the SWV definitely felt a bit more worn than the newly refurbished water villas. The villas are largely comparable otherwise, with the other key differences in the SWV being a hot tub instead of the plunge pool, the sunset view instead of sunrise (although some water villas do have sunset views), and enhanced audio system with surround sound.
It varied by day, but we probably spent just a couple hours on average in our villa relaxing as there is just so much to do around the resort. While we did get to experience both the sunrise and sunset sides of the same island, it wasn't a big enough change to feel like a separate vacation. Next time, if we are going to change rooms I think that I'd look to experience both islands. Also, personally I would not recommend the superior water villa and would either stick with the standard water villa or upgrade beyond the superior villa as we didn't really feel that the marginal benefits were commensurate with the marginal cost over the standard water villa, but of course that just comes down to personal preference.
Row of water villas
Our water villa
Water villa bedroom
Water villa living room
Water villa bathroom
Water villa wardrobe
Water villa outdoor deck and plunge pool
Superior water villa bedroom
SWV view
SWV hot tub
