For us, hot pot is the kind of meal you have on a cold, rainy day. The rainy part was there for one of the days we were there. Cold? Not so much. The food quality wasn't bad, but next time I think we'd look to spend more money on activities or perhaps an upgraded villa rather than food. I don't think there are any incorrect choices, and it's a matter of personal preference of what you want to prioritize, sort of like the decision to spend the first night in Malé or the resort.

Mrs. Majuki and I got back stateside Thursday afternoon, and now that I have reliable Internet access, I can make this post. We felt the departure was a little too much like a cruise ship with staff rushing people off to departing seaplanes. It felt like they were implicitly saying, "Yeah, we've already got your money, so we're going to do the bare minimum now." We were given bottles of water, but there was no towel service or slush drink like upon the arrival. That being said, we were given a late checkout without asking until 3 pm resort time, and our seaplane was punctual at 4:10 pm. By the time we got to the main reception, we already noticed others had been waiting for the return transfer. Half of these people got on the 3:30 pm seaplane, which was running about 20 minutes behind schedule. Furthermore, when we returned to the seaplane terminal, we noticed people who had departed on the earlier flight were waiting and took the same bus with us back to the terminal. All things considered, we preferred waiting things out at the resort rather than at the seaplane terminal.

Also, my one last request for the complete stuffed animal set went unfulfilled. We managed to get the dolphin and manta ray from our host, but I called the concierge asking if they still had the set. They said they typically only give one out to children, and, "the stuffed animals are not a common request," which was since every other Conrad where I've stayed either has left the stuffed animal upon check-in or gladly provided one upon request. Perhaps guests are unaware these are a feature of Conrad hotels?

Upon returning to the airport we initially opted to do the Malé tour. However, things were somewhat chaotic when we got back, so we decided to stay in the terminal. I got the impression that once the bus dumps you and your luggage off at the terminal, you're more or less on your own even if you've arranged a tour. We never considered the Conrad Lounge package since from reading here this used to be an elite benefit that they removed. While we wouldn't mind paying for a nice place to sit, the fact that it used to be a benefit left sort of a sore spot to ponying up the money. It would be like if they did away with the afternoon tea and started charging we would be unlikely to pay for it.

We went to the food court to have some food and cold drinks. The Conrad representative who was on the bus with us back to the airport informed us of the Wellness Spa, which is before check-in and accepts Priority Pass (via a manual imprint!) for up to two hours. The Wellness Spa does have two showers whereas the Leeli Lounge, which is the contract lounge Cathay Pacific uses airside, does not. We didn't feel bad about not doing the Malé tour since we had booked one night at Hotel Jen on the outbound, and our seaplane transfer wasn't until later in the afternoon. We had enough time to walk around for a bit and visited the National Museum, which is worth a visit if you are interested in learning about the history of the country. (I know I'm in the minority here, and almost all of you prefer to maximize your resort time. )

While at the resort we sampled the following restaurants for dinner:

Koko: Lots of food and friendly, attentive staff; Mrs. Majuki found the experience underwhelming, but I enjoyed it.
Ufaa: Good quality food and nice location for dinner, and we found the area over there provides a nice breeze at night. However, unless we really had a longing for Chinese food, I think we would hold off until we got back to the Bay Area or Taiwan.
Ithaa: This was a highlight for us, and we had great staff and cuisine. It also helped that the restaurant was only half booked with 7 guests initially he evening we were down there. Another couple did arrive well into the meal, but for the first five courses we were the only people sitting on our side of the restaurant, which made for great photos. The restaurant didn't seem to enforce the dress code, and Mrs. Majuki and I were the only couple who both dressed up for the occasion. The other men were wearing jean shorts with two wearing t-shirts with another wearing a polo shirt. The women were all wearing dresses, however.
Sunset Grill: Great meal, and I think this would be one of our go to restaurants if we return to the resort in the future.

For breakfast, you can't go wrong with either Vilu or Atoll Market. We did Vilu the first morning only. The advantages of Vilu are that there are fewer people and one can order off of a menu, but we preferred the variety of the different buffet stations at Atoll Market. For our last three mornings, they didn't have the outside tables set up due to the weather. However, only on one of those three days did it actually rain during the time we were there for breakfast, and there was a bit of a wait to be seated. (They compensated by leaving the breakfast buffet open until almost 11 that day.)

For activities, we mostly waded in the ocean near our villa in the early mornings and used the small pool on our deck. We transitioned to the main pool or Quiet Zone pools for later in the morning and afternoon. One thing I was a bit surprised by was the fact that both pools close at 6 pm. I understand it's probably to create a better ambiance for the nearby diners at each location, but we felt like this was a bit of a limitation. In terms of other facilities, the fitness center is excellent, and the locker rooms on the upper level have showers and towel service. I was able to keep my gym shoes free of sand and stones and wear my water shoes everywhere else, not an easy feat considering the location! We did not sample the spa services this time around.

For the room, we were in villa 327. We didn't request any villa in particular, and after referencing the post by MaldivesFreak I was a bit concerned that we had gotten the equivalent of the room by the ice machine at the resort. (You know that at any hotel there is always that room that even management feels bad for the people who are staying there.) I think there were some concerns about the view and being able to see the other villas because of the angle. We actually enjoyed this location since it was an end unit for our cluster of villas, and aside from one day didn't actually see anyone swimming in the water and had unobstructed views from within the room. Here are some photos I took of the villa, which includes some from the deck to highlight the angle. Hopefully this provides a good data point to supplement the water villa selection post from MaldivesFreak.





















Finally, here is a video of me video of me on the Jetblade, courtesy of Mrs. Majuki:


She didn't get any videos or photos near the end of the session as I was able to get higher or the outtakes where I kept falling into the water at the beginning. (She said I did get many laughs from those watching on the beach though each time I fell into the water. )