Originally Posted by
kyushuman
Wow thanks so much for all the details, MargaritaGirl! That's so great.
A few questions--
**Room: We have 6 nights booked just before Xmas, and managed to get them all with a mix of points (5th night free) and Amex Bonvoy vouchers (35/40K+15K points).
Both rooms are under Titanium accounts. Not counting on any upgrades in high season, but luckily it does seem like even the base room is nice. Yes?
** Transfer: My partner and his family are arriving in the late afternoon and will stay over in Male, and I arrive at 7AM. What time should we request seaplane transfer? With a group of 4, I guess we should book ahead (whoever is complaining about the 7 days advance booking should know that for mid December check in, I'm being told there's a THIRTY day advance payment request (requirement?) for the seaplane transfer.
** Costs: I was barely able to convince the partner to go because of high costs, and for 4 adults the F&B will cost a decent amount. We are OK with spending money on F&B-- but we are wondering-- Are there any ways to save some a bit of money while not feeling like we are going without (like, just do half board on arrival day but full board on the days we are there 24 hours?
**What to bring: Snacks? Very often when on a big vacation, we end up only eating a big late fancy breakfast and then being out all day, then having an early dinner-- so bringing some snacks for the afternoons might be enough. Guess I need to check the Maldives customs rules on bringing food
Anything else you didn't bring that you wish you would have?
** activities: we have some snorkel gear, which works well. But no flippers. Does the resort still have snorkel gear for guests? Is it free or charged?
Sorry to bother you on vacation-- feel free to answer later. Thanks again!
I didn’t see the beach bungalows but everyone I know says that once you’ve done a stay in an OW Villa, a beach bungalow is usually better. I did OW Villa at LM Bora Bora and it was incredible with a glass floor and water deep enough to dive in from your deck. At the Sheraton, the beach bungalows were clearly superior to the OW Villas which were small and in knee deep water. I’d say LM was somewhere in between those. I quite liked the LM OW bungalow as it was a decent size and water was about chest deep (for me). Beach bungalows have outdoor showers which I think are fantastic.
The hotel and TMA will decide what time your transfer is at. Unless you are all arriving at same time, there’s a good chance you’ll be out on separate planes. I think the capacity is 15 people and they rarely go out with empty seats. Yesterday I transferred from LM to another non-Marriott property. My flight was late leaving LM. When I got to MLE, 7 of my friends were already there, and had been for at least 2 hrs. They had arrived in two groups, 5 and 2. We were there together for 90 mins but sadly, the 7 of them left on one plane and I had to wait an extra hour for another plane.
I did a la carte dining which saved me money but I probably wouldn’t recommend it for anyone else. I am a veg so my food tends to be cheaper. (My average spend over 5 meals was $35/night plus tax, service charge and tip.) At Tabemasu, chef wanted to make a special meal for me plus some spring rolls. I turned down the spring rolls and said I wanted to spend about $30 for dinner. Chef said no problem. He brought me a tofu/veggie/rice dish and some spring rolls and still only charged me $30.
I think once you sign up with a meal plan, you have to stick with and it has to be same meal plan for everyone in room. Also meal plan has to be for a minimum of 4 days.
You’re fine to bring snacks. There’s nowhere to buy any at the resort. They sold cookies for $5 each at Latitude but that’s all I saw. Not allowed to bring alcohol into the Maldives however.
Snorkel gear and kayaks are free. I also did all the 08:00 classes at the gym which were free.
Enjoy!