Originally Posted by
justlaz
Thanks for the great overview. We're going to the Maldives for the first time in February (hopefully some of the service quirks would be worked out by then), since you've been to both recently, how would you compare the two properties and experiences? It sounds like you had a slight preference towards the Ritz, but I'm just wondering if I'd get FOMO if we didn't stay at the SR. I'm glad to hear you thought the food was overall very good, it was personally one of the big draws for us and hence we're leaning towards the Ritz as the options look interesting and expansive. How was the breakfast selection at the Ritz and how did it compare to the SR?
They are both great resorts. If you want a slightly more authentic feel and better wildlife/snorkeling experience, do St Regis. Breakfast at both are very good...hybrid buffet plus order hot items off menu to order. St Regis had some things like Maldivian omelette or lobster omelette that the ritz didn’t, but I’ll give a slight edge to the ritz for quality.
This may not matter depending on the length of your stay, but keep in mind, for St Regis you have to wait for a sea plane to get there and will most likely have to leave the resort at 1 or 2pm. When we arrived in Male, we literally walked across the street and got on the boat to take us to the resort which left immediately. We checked out of the Ritz at 6PM to take the boat back to the airport for our late flight. I’m not sure what the norm is for early checkin/late checkout….but I am an Ambassador and I booked through STARS, so I’m sure that did it. They did move us to an over water the last day as someone was checking in to our beach villa in the morning the day we left to accommodate. But that was great as we got to check out an overwater villa which we wouldn’t have gotten to experience otherwise.