FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - [ARCHIVE 2014 to 2017] Conrad Maldives Rangali Island {MDV}

Aug 10, 2017, 5:32 am

#4796

Land-of-Miles

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Join Date: Dec 2003

Location: MAN and LON

Programs: Mucci, BAEC LT Gold, HH Dia, MR LT Plat, IHG Diamond Amb, Amex Plat

Posts: 13,773

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwh3m

I have a predicament and would love some input, especially from (but not limited to) people who have stayed at both the SR and CR (@joecool1885)

TL;DR: Is the Saint Regis significantly better than CR and worth blowing all my SPG points on?

I booked (the same) six nights at the CR and St. Regis Vommuli for a stay this January on points and am having difficulty deciding on which to actually take. Either reservation will essentially wipe out my Hilton or SPG accounts, respectively, and I've switched jobs and now travel very little, so I will not be rebuilding either set quickly.

From a status perspective, I'm SPG plat and Hilton Diamond, so breakfast is covered at both.

Pros for SR:
-I'm getting close to 7 cent value per point using the latest resort promo, which is great
-6 nights in a water villa that I think will be significantly nicer than a BV/SWV
-Better overall facilities and supposedly amazing breakfast
-Less cash out of pocket (i.e., I'm paying to upgrade to SWV at CR for three nights).

Pros for CR:
-Bigger island(s) and nice common facilities (i.e., quiet zone pool looks nicer than common pool at SR) -- note that I don't value the wider array of F&B venues
-Get great redemption value from Hilton points that would be hard to recreate while saving my SPG points
-Complimentary happy hour drinks, which adds up

Really, my question is whether the SR is truly an "out of this world" experience far beyond CR that is worth blowing all of my SPG points even when I can do the CR as an alternative. I'd much rather use my less valuable/less flexible Hilton points on CR and get one of the better Hilton redemption values and leave my bank of SPG points for other trips if the SR is not head and shoulders better.

Any thoughts?

SR Vommuli in a heartbeat. I have done both. The bigger island and far higher occupancy at CR is not in itself a virtue, it's made into a positive by the large number of dining choices which naturally result.

Even paying $$$$ in supplements doesn't get you anywhere close to the quality of the WV at SRV. The dining choices are also pretty broad and they seem to be buffing out some of the minor imperfections (far more minor than my experience at CR which was good but with a fair number of niggles). The accommodation at the CR is just a world away from that at SRV The WV becomes your centre point in a way that we never found the DWV at CR did.

SRV isn't cheap mind you even with a redemption stay and we only spent about $4k less than at the CR which was mainly down to the fact we didn't need to pay anything extra for the WV at SR.

Last edited by Land-of-Miles; Aug 10, 2017 at 5:40 am