Originally Posted by
scaplan
Well we got back last week from what was the overall best vacation of our lives. While I have never stayed in any other over water bungalows before, I am confident this room cannot be beat. The indoor and outdoor space seems to exceed what i've seen on some of the bora bora property sites. Only 87 rooms I believe, and they strive to never go above 75% occupancy. While the island and dock isn't huge, because of how few other guests there are, hot and cold, made to order - quite the way to start the day.
W Retreat & Spa offers loads of daily activities and excursions. Diving trips, snorkeling, all varieties of motor and hand powered boating, etc... If you ever didn't want to just relax on your gigantic private deck on the Indian Ocean with your own plunge pool, there are almost too many activities to choose from.
There are 200+ staff on the island. When we arrived there were only ~25 units occupied, so the staff:guest ratio was 4:1!! The staff are top notch, the type of personal custom service that could put Ritz and Four Seasons to shame. Never have I seen a staff so wanting to go above and beyond for their guests. The GM makes a point to greet and meet all of the guests.
It is not easy to get to the Maldives from the US (we had to fly through Germany and Dubai), so most of the guests were coming from Europe and Asia. It was well worth the near 2 days of travel to get there.
Bottom line: the level of service at this property, the facilities and the location are unbeatable if you can finesse the transportation to the Male.
I'm very pleased that you had a terrific vacation, but you've unwittingly hit the nail on the head here.
Basically, the hotel is dying on its feet because:
1) It offers an idiosyncratic experience which only appeals to Americans, and its location ensures that hardly any Americans go.
2) Room occupancy is negligible, with the hotel charging even higher rates than planned to compensate, and extras like breakfast thrown in.
3) Unlike Bora Bora, there is no spectacular mountainous island to visit: there is the hotel and its lagoon and nothing else.
So for those 28-35 year-old fashionable Americans lucky enough to visit before Starwood pull the plug, it's well worthwhile. For those of us from closer markets, whether English-speaking or not, the experience is ruined by the pretentious and vacuous "FIRE/FISH/POOP/WHATEVER" nonsense.
I live in Australia, so getting to the Maldives is easy and our culture is strongly American-influenced, but I'd go instead to Bora Bora or the Le Meridien Isle of Pines instead every time, and even if I was going to the Maldives the use of W-speak (like WHATEVER) jars so badly with those of us with British cultural influences that I'd stay at the Four Seasons instead.