kt85

Off topic but I booked a non-refundable flash sale rate with Conrad Seoul for Mar 2017. However, my wife will be 7 months pregnant then.

I emailed their reservation desk, and they were more than happy to move to another date FOC.

Kudos to them..

mb123

l

Hi, we arrived at CM a few days ago.
Neither have we got any dresscode
information pre-arrival nor on arrival.
At breakfast at Atoll Market we saw several men
wearing sleeveless shirts with boardshorts.
We haven't seen any style police or any
guests covered with towels.

MaldivesFreak

Why doesn't that surprise me.

Hey mb123, care to go topless at Atoll tomorrow and see what happens?! That's provided you are male, of course!

mb123

Unfortunately we go to Villu for breakfast tomorrow.
But just returned from the Mandhoo Afternoon tea and it seems that also a bathing robe is an appropriate attire there
At the moment there is heavy rain at the Island all day long.

MaldivesFreak

Yeah, I see the weather's not looking good for the next two days as well. Hope the rain misses you there!

silvergirl

We left yesterday after a 10 day stay and I didn't hear or notice anything regarding any dress code different to other years (our third stay in Rangali).

We had great weather throughout - rain started on our last day.

During this stay we were in the WV for 5 days (complimentary upgrade from redemption) and SWV for 5 days (paid upgrade from redemption), plus visited the beach villa. (On previous stays had been in deluxe beach villa and SWV)

- the interior of the WV is much nicer, more recently refurbished and overall more spacious than the SWV.
- the SWV interior seemed a bit dated in comparison, but the location, space away from other villas and the jacuzzi though for us still made the SWV our preferred choice, just about. Would love for the SWV to be refurbished, that would make it the perfect choice.
- the King beach villas look very nice, the refurbishment has been great. Upon visiting though I am glad we didn't stay there, not much privacy, they feel more like rooms in a terraced building than a villa. And I just don't like the outdoor shower and open bathroom.

On food:
- overall the food is excellent. Pricey, of course, but great quality.
- by far my favourite remains sunset grill, visited several times
- Vilu I like for breakfast, but dinner just didn't do it for me (same as last year).Tries too hard with strange ingredients and mediocre food.
- ufaa was nice, ok, service a bit too much for us
- the beach bbq was excellent, I would very much recommend it, plentiful of seafood and meat options, excellent lobster
- the champagne and lobster dinner was also good, unlimited champagne, but the lobster more limited (smaller) than in the beach bbq
- room service I am not so keen on the selection, I wish they would improve it. The grill options were the best choices.
- we had done koko and ithaa and atoll buffet in previous years so didn't this time.

Vilu cocktails were nice, but as I mentioned above, no longer has cocktails on the menu, just spirits with mixers, beer, wine and soft drink and a mocktail. Also the snacks are more sparse than I remembered them from last year.

Service, as always, was excellent, housekeeping fantastic and fulfilling all we could ever have asked for.

Nice stay once more and can't wait to go back^

MaldivesFreak

Thanks for the report and confirmation of the dress code issue.

Both the deck and interior of the SWV are larger than the WV, 13% overall.



See my 'Standard Water Villa vs. Superior Water Villa' comparison which is linked below for more details.

Wow, just checked and their website is still listing the sizes for the two types the wrong way round. Must be nearly a year now.....


BTW, forgot to ask. Did you go to afternoon tea at Mandhoo? How were the sandiches, cakes etc?

hyperzulu

Great review! Thanks. It's good to hear that despite the dated feel of the SWV in comparison to the WV, you still preferred it. I wonder if had you not split your time between accommodations, if you'd have been as critical of the SWV. I have five nights booked for May with paid upgrades to a SWV on my honeymoon so I think the extra privacy is preferable

mb123

Diamond members now get complimentary acces to Conrad Lounge and buffet dinner, when taking late evening flights from 19.00hrs.

This was written on our welcome letter, maybe Maldivesfreak can add it to the Wiki.
This benefit is only for Diamonds not for Gold!
(got another letter with Gold Benefits in the room, as my wife is a Gold Member)

MaldivesFreak

Awesome! Will add it right now. And about time they started differentiating between the two tiers at this property. People have been complaining about it for quite some time. Good on them.

Edit. Just tried to edit the wiki and got a database error. Will add it later.

FlugE

Just an update regarding Pre-Bookings - I was adviced (by the hotel) to book excursions and dinner reservations 30 days in advance, and even earlier for Ithaa. The wiki states "up to 2 weeks before arrival" but this might no longer be the case, at least for high/peak season.

Now, a little more than 30 days before our stay, we already have confirmed reservations for Beach BBQ, Lobster & Champagne, et cetera.

goliath

I assume this is for departing guests?

We have just booked our next trip to Rangali in October (looking forward to it!) and this would come in handy as we will be on a flight departing after 8 PM. ^

silvergirl

Not disputing the accuracy of what you are saying, but the interior of the bedroom of the WV definitely felt more spacious than the SWV.

Yes, we went to Mandhoo afternoon tea twice. It was very nice, two types of sandwiches and four types of cakes / biscuits each time, including scones with cream. Plus obviously the tea and water.

Yes we had the same, we got complimentary lounge and buffet dinner at evening departure (last year we had to pay for the dinner)

You are spot on. Last year we only stayed in the SWV and we loved it, hence we booked the same paid upgrade again for the second part of the stay.
The WV (unexpected upgrade) was a positive surprise for us, and it was some small things like power outlets etc that were a bit better.
Overall I would go with the SWV again though as the chosen paid upgrade.

You will enjoy the SWV for your honeymoon! ^

MaldivesFreak

Thanks for the heads up. Will double check on that in upcoming correspondence with the resort.


It has always been free for arriving guests, so yes.

MaldivesFreak

I know it's probably a redundant question but just want to make sure it applies to both you and your wife (2 adults), even though one of you is Diamond and the other is Gold, getting different welcome letters with differing benefits, correct?

And did you get a $25 Spa discount card on arrival? AFAIK this is still a gift for Diamonds only.