Introduction We stayed at St.Regis Maldives last year and since our honeymoon was affected by an unfortunate accident which prevented us from enjoying the resort to the full extent, we decided to return this year. Our stay last year was quite good to begin with especially given the circumstances, but this year I can say as return guests the service was fantastic even by St.Regis standards anywhere else in the world, and we will for sure return once again in the future. Room I already commented on the room in my review last year; this year I could mention a few things which are different, first of all the water is now in glass bottles instead of plastic. In the same vein regarding the Marriott green movement, shampoo and shower gel are now in dispensers rather than the small Le Remede bottles. I don’t mind dispensers if the purpose is to avoid plastic waste, as long as hotels continue to use brand standards but unfortunately those dispensers are not filled with Le Remede products which is a bummer. I noticed they still have Le Remede products in the hotel spa so in retrospect I could have asked for Le Remede bathroom amenities to be brought to our room and I am quite sure they would not have objected. This year our stay was split between an Overwater Villa (514) and a Sunset Overwater Villa (533). In the past there have been a few reports on FT about the resort not accepting paid upgrades for part of the stay (requiring guests to move mid-stay). That was perhaps not the most client-centric policy but it looks like the resort might have become more flexible in that regard. During our stay we heard about guests who were in one of the first few Sunset Overwater Villas which are less private due to being exposed to the Whale Bar, and they got moved after a couple of days to a SOWV farther down the bridge. We were upgraded mid-stay proactively without asking anything when a SOWV became available which was great given that in our opinion the SOWVs are significantly superior as explained below.Staying in both room types OWV and SOWV back-to-back I can easily comment on some differences. The water in the plunge pool is noticeably warmer in the SOWVs than in our inward facing standard OWV. From OWV 514 the pool was exposed to the sun until about noon, whereas the SOWVs get the sun all afternoon when the sun is stronger. In fact only the SOWVs have a sun umbrella on the terrace next to the lounge chairs, because in the standard overwater villas you are in the shade all afternoon anyway. Not only sunset views from SOWVs are great, but in addition for us the main advantage is that privacy is far superior on the sunset side: you just don’t see your neighbors at all. Conversely, from the deck of the inward facing OWVs, you see the Beach Villas and other OWVs. They were not very close to us, but it simply does not feel the same as having uninterrupted water views from the SOWV side with nobody in sight. Another advantage of the SOWVs is that snorkeling is better on that side. In front of our inward-facing OWV the snorkeling was so-so. The house reef is in front of the outward facing SOWVs and that area is more suitable for snorkeling so for someone lazy who doesn’t want to swim far, it is better to have a villa on the sunset side. Another interesting feature as returning guests is that the “license plate” on the bicycles is not the villa number: instead they made a wood tag just for us with our initials engraved on the plate, which we thought was a nice touch! By biking around the resort we noticed that most guests were first timers (= room number on the bike, no initials) and we only saw a handful of other couples during our stay who were returning guests. This is not surprising given that St.Regis Maldives is a once in a lifetime kind of experience for many and the resort has not even been open for 3 years yet. Dining Breakfast at St.Regis Maldives is still one of the best we have seen anywhere in the world, if not the very best, in part due to the combination of the buffet plus the very extensive a-la-carte menu. I enjoyed special fruits such as mangoes and mangosteens which are not in the buffet but you can ask staff and they will bring to your table. The a-la-carte menu is mostly the same as last year and includes luxury options such as the Maldivian Style Eggs Benedict (with crab and tuna) which we love, omelets with lobster, and sushi. The buffet has several kinds of curries which changed daily for example local tuna, pumpkin, etc. There are a few cold salads available, the most memorable being mangoes and scallops which was delicious. There is also an extensive ice cream station for those with a sweet tooth, and all of that with free flow Prosecco of course, in a nice setting by the pool and near the beach. Service in the restaurant is still as good as before, for example last year the chef prepared some off the menu items for my wife, and this year when staff noticed that we were looking at our breakfast pictures from 2018 we noted that one of the few items which disappeared from the menu was foie gras, then staff proactively brought it to us without having asked anything.Last year we missed on several of the special dinners due to my accident, so we were certainly not going to miss again. This year we tried most dining options including the private beach dinner, Decanter, Cargo, the beach BBQ, and Orientale. All dining venues we tried were memorable in their own special way, perhaps Decanter being the most unique. I guess the experience at the wine pairing dinner at Decanter can depend on who your table neighbors are, but fortunately for us we had very friendly and sociable people next to us and we had a great evening although we had to cut our dinner short – more on that below regarding service. Decanter’s price is going up from $395 per person to $495 per person this month and while it’s not cheap, with the very generous non-stop refills all evening long and the great service I cannot say that the price is out of line, particularly not when considering the price of alcohol in the Maldives and also compared to the wine pairing dinner at Waldorf Astoria ($750) then the dinner in St.Regis remains acceptable relatively speaking. The second most expensive was the private beach dinner $365 per person and this one had the largest quantity of food of all dinners we had. We chose the seafood option and enjoyed our small feast. As a side note, while we did not do the beach dinner when we stayed at St.Regis Bora Bora last year, my Ambassador told me that she has a client who did both BB and Maldives and the latter was better in their opinion. This beach dinner is now held near the Iridium spa and near the arrivals pier because resort staff thought that stretch of beach is more quiet in the evening than the beach near the Alba restaurant where the private dinner was held in the past. The most similar dinner to the private beach was the beach BBQ dinner, minus the privacy, and you can choose whatever you want from the “market” and you pay by the weight. I guess depending on what you select and how much you eat, the price can be manageable but since we ordered a full 1 kg lobster it amounted to almost half the cost of our entire dinner; we had a full lobster during both the private beach dinner and at the BBQ dinner, and given the moderate difference in the final bill my takeaway was that I would rather pay extra for the private dinner if I had to pick one of the two. Cargo is of a different style than other dinners, I would say semi-private as there were not many other guests and tables were more spaced out than the BBQ dinner. You are effectively dining on the sand but inside the island (in the ‘jungle’) instead of being by the ocean. Finally Orientale is a more traditional sit-down restaurant style and I thought most of what’s on the menu was good value for people who want to avoid the more expensive options. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed all our dinners and they do a great job at making dining at the resort a memorable experience. Activities The free hour at Blue Hole in the Iridium Spa is no longer offered (unlike last year), but since we missed it last year when I got injured, they offered it for free this year. In addition they gave us a free one-hour massage in the spa which was great, in my opinion on par with St.Regis Bora Bora. Last year both our dolphin tours were cancelled due to weather but this year we had great weather every day so our dolphin tour went ahead as planned. As unlucky as we were last year, it was at the other end of the scale this year: we literally saw more than a hundred dolphins, many of them playing right next to the boat and jumping around several times including back flips. This year we also tried para-sailing which was quite an experience with fantastic views of the resort and islands around on a sunny day. The only negative is that it’s only 15 minutes – next year we will book a longer ride! Service We have been to several St.Regis hotels in the past, some of them with excellent service such as St.Regis Florence and Bora Bora, but in my opinion St.Regis Maldives is on a different level. First of all the pre-arrival arrangements via e-mail were excellent, including an advance welcome e-mail from the general manager Mr Pauchon. The transfer at the airport was swift and we were escorted to the seaplane with the St.Regis SUV and we did not even have to wait in the lounge. Upon arrival at the resort we met our butler Hussein who was excellent during the entire duration of our stay. Upon departure St.Regis had arranged a seamless transfer for our next destination Waldorf Astoria Maldives; staff of the two resorts were both there in MLE airport to a meeting point for us to go to the WA yacht. Unlike at arrival where we had the St.Regis SUV, after departure we were brought to the airport terminal with the St.Regis Bentley… nice! Some people write hotel reviews and give generic statements about a hotel providing good service without giving specifics, but at St.Regis Maldives they constantly get ahead of client requests before you even ask which is great. I mentioned above our server bringing foie gras at breakfast and also our mid-stay room upgrade, in addition below is a sample of some ways that St.Regis Maldives goes above and beyond regarding service:Our butler specifically asked what fruits we would like for afternoon tea, instead of just bringing something “standard” for the day. Last year we ended up having in-room dining every night since I could not walk, which prevented housekeeping from preparing a special honeymoon surprise for us in the room. This year they knew that it was our second version of our honeymoon so they made up for it with multiple nice surprises, on the bed, bathtub, and multiple towel arrangements on different days with kind handwritten notes left in the room. One afternoon Hussein brought our afternoon tea as I was applying sunscreen. He asked if I was enjoying the sun and I made a remark that I did enjoy and in fact maybe a bit too much because I got a light sunburn. Without me asking anything, Hussein went to the hotel garden to cut some fresh Aloe Vera and he left pieces in our fridge so that I could apply it to my skin before going to sleep.When chatting with our server at the Orientale restaurant we mentioned that we were moving to Waldorf Astoria Maldives after our stay at St.Regis. He said his brother works at Waldorf and that he would call him to inform him of our arrival and ensure we are well treated there. Lo and behold, upon our arrival at Waldorf, his brother was there to greet us.The St.Regis Maldives GM Mr Fauchon was very visible to guests either upon arrival or departure of the sea planes, during breakfast buffet at Alba, and during dinners. I guess the size of the resort allows for a GM to have an active presence but he clearly sets the tone for all staff to make guests feel at ease and ensure they have all they need for a great stay.My wife caught some stomach bug a couple of days before we arrived in the Maldives, and it lingered a few days after our arrival. Rather than stick to the standard afternoon tea, Hussein brought her congee to help her feel better. Despite my wife not being 100%, we did not want to miss the Decanter dinner. In part because she was not in perfect shape and in part because of the combination with wine, after 3-4 courses she started feeling a bit unwell so we went back to our room before the end of the dinner. To make up for it the restaurant sent our main course to our villa as room service, and the next day they brought a very nice bottle of red wine to our villa since we had missed on the red wine at Decanter. And as if it was not enough, they only charged us for half the price of the dinner, all of it without us asking for anything. What a great service and fantastic way to build loyalty and make guests leave the resort happy about their stay even when not everything goes according to plan. It’s the exact opposite of resorts where nickel & diming is prevalent which can leave a bad taste in your mouth.After the Decanter dinner some guests were chatting with hotel staff how much they enjoyed it and that it would be great if there could be a second (different) version of this dinner. Staff decided to schedule a whisky pairing dinner a couple of days later out of the blue and just improvised. Talk about being flexible to meet guests’ wishes! Overall All in all our stay was great at St.Regis Maldives once again and we will vote with our feet and we plan on returning next year. While we have not been to all hotels in the Marriott group worldwide, of the numerous resorts we have been this one provides the best all-around experience full stop, in large part due to exceptional service, the best breakfast, and unique dining. Knowing they treat returning guests so well, we will have no hesitation coming back and we know we’ll be in good hands.