Just finished up an absolutely stunning trip at the St. Regis Maldives. I wanted to write down some lesser known tips that may help future travelers!
- Best snorkeling: The coral reef here is actually much better than what I expected from prior reports. I've been snorkeling/diving in Fiji, Thailand, Vietnam, Africa, Bahamas, Mexico, etc and I thought this was on par if not better than most. I think many reviewers must have stuck to the areas without coral. You need to find the spots with beautiful coral with lots of fish. These are located off the shore where the shallow sand drops off. It is easy to see from the shore as the part where the "light blue meets the dark blue ocean" It's hard to describe but you can clearly see it on any drone shot of the resort. If you don't swim there, you won't see coral. As you can tell by the aerial shots, if you have an inward facing Overwater villa you are a little bit further from the coral. I recommend snorkelling on the coral 'shelf' in front of Alba or off the first few Sunset Villas.
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...ommuli-resort/
- Best beach: The beach by Alba is nice but has lots of shells and generally not the best beach. The best hidden beach stretches from Orientale past the check-in lounge and up to/including the Garden Villas. It is generally very very empty, the sand has no shells, and is definitely the most picturesque.
- Be sure to open ALL the cabinets in your villa otherwise you will miss nice goodies: St Regis Maldives engraved nail clipping set. Full writing set with letters pens, mosquito repellent bands/spray, beautiful glassware, etc.
- Be sure to mention if you are celebrating a special occasion. We mentioned anniversary and had champagne waiting for us on arrival and also had a cake delivered the second day.
- You will get free bottle water in your room. At first it wasn't heavily stocked but once we asked for more, they consistently made sure to place almost double quantities every day.
- Best place for sunset is the Whale Bar. Get there early if you want a prime spot (5:15pm)
- Be SURE to ask your butler to unpack/pack for you. It felt weird to ask but they do this daily and they did such a phenomenal job. I can't explain it, but it really sets the mood.
- There are 2 fruit bats in the trees directly in front of Alba on top of the tables. Keep your eye out and you will probably see them flying overhead in the day.
- There is free SPF 30 and SPF 50 sunscreen at the main pool.
- If you elect to do the private snorkeling tour via speedboat you can structure your time however you want. We did snorkelling for an hour and then the last hour was on a private sandbar in the middle of the ocean. We got some amazing drone photos from this! The other option was dolphin spotting.
- If you elect to do a massage, ask them via email to throw in some time in the Blue Hole. We got 30 mins free in it and it was amazing.
- To save some $$$, you can split a pizza at the Crust Restaurant and feel quite full.
- You REALLY should bring an inflatable pool toy/raft. We really wanted to just jump in one and float to the middle of the lagoon area to relax. They sell them at the boutique for $135 but much better to bring your own.
- Make ALL reservations ahead of time. Especially for massages and dinners, they get booked fast. You can always change it when you get there!
- If you want to do the free yoga, you should also make reservations and be sure to choose a spot in the shade of the building (closer to the door). Otherwise you'll soon find yourself sweating and getting hot.
- If you tip someone via adding it to the receipt it will be added to a general pool for the staff. To reward someone particularly, consider a discreet cash tip.
Overall this property set the standard for what a hotel can be. I was amazed at every turn especially towards the attention to detail.
Edit: Another tip:
- They have a very very cheap photoshoot option for $15! The island's professional photographer meets you on the beach and does a 10min photoshoot at a few different spots. You then have 10 mins to review the images and you get 3 of them edited by him and emailed to you. Total cost is $15 and the photos came out fantastic. Almost like engagement photos depending on how you want to pose. It's great value and it is quick.
- Pay extra attention when walking on the walkway between the island and the overwater villas. Initially we never looked into the water from there but another guest told us to. AFter that we saw saw reef sharks and eagle rays quite a few times as we walked across it.
- You can request the Bentley. I didn't actually get it on my trip, but still worth requesting.
- You are given your assigned overwater villa number when you check-in at the Great Room lounge. If you are not satisfied with it, let them know! We were initially given a villa we didn't think we would like. We asked them if we could change and they accommodated us. I initially asked for a sunset villa (I'm plat) but they were all booked up but they tried to find me another suitable one.