ScubaRoo

The RWVs get a Big vote from me, we've stayed in 404 & 405 on both our visits.

Fantastic if you like snorkelling on the main reef, 405 was v good for privacy and sunsets

Plenty of pics in my latest review from Feb 2017

http://triprep.WordPress.com

thefiverivers

Yup I have been reading your review for the past few days. Thank you for posting that, it is detailed with lots of info and pics!

I did like the RWV, especially after reading your review however I don't know how much use we would get out of the spa treatment room especially since we plan to go to the spa anyways. Is there a difference in prices in-room vs the spa? It is convenient to have a treatment room in the villa. But I agree, the RWV looks spectacular.

Can you comment more on the privacy/noise aspect especially since they are located in the family section of the resort? Also, how does the numbering work on that side of the island? I know that the room numbers increase as you go farther south where the SWV/DWV's are located, but dont know how it works on the other side.

I didn't think choosing which villa to upgrade to would be so difficult haha. I think I have narrowed down my choices to the DWV (more spacious and privacy, good sunset views) and the PWV (larger, but privacy an issue, sunset views)/RWV (spacious with treatment room, and dont know about privacy/noise issues and which rooms have sunset views).

Thanks again to everyone who has been responding to my posts or offering info and advice. I appreciate it very much and just want to be prepared and make a good decision when I call to upgrade.

MaldivesFreak

Hi thefiverivers.

First a question. Presumably you are upgrading for all 5 nights?

1. Based on the upgrade rates for low season in the wiki, choose an SWV only if you wanted to save a bit of cash. Remember that they have been polished up just a couple of months ago so that gives them an advantage over the rest in addition to their price. If you were to choose an SWV for all 5 nights, the money you'd save could probably cover a Private Beach Dinner for your honeymoon. If you have one of those, ask for it to be on the Sunset Water Villa end of Rangali Island. That location is more private and far less windy. ^

2. As per the recent conversation here in this thread, I'd avoid the PWVs as you don't want anything in the way of noisy neighbours to spoil your stay.

3. If you go for a RWV you'll have a 50% chance of being on the sunset side. And in regards to that, and since it's your honeymoon, if I were you I'd ensure that I chose a villa type with a guaranteed sunset view as it will be far more romantic, which means the RWVs are out (you can request a sunset-facing RWV but there's no guarantee you'll get one). Note that almost all of the sunset-facing villas on the smaller island (SunWVs, PWVs, SWVs* & DWVs) have an unadulterated sunset view, i.e; ocean views only, with nothing to break up the view. From the RWVs which have sunset views you can see the other island and the OWVs.
* Note that some SWVs don't, their view is partially obscured by the OWS. See my post a while back about that.

I also suggest having dinner on the deck for one of your five nights there. Have the food delivered at 6:45 at the latest, as sunset is between 7:10 and 7:30.

So, if money is not object then SunWVs are your best choice. Otherwise I'd recommend the DWVs, with the northern 3 or 4 having the least strong current outside.

thefiverivers

Hi @MaldivesFreak, and thanks for the response!

Yes, we will be upgrading for all 5 nights. Thanks for the info on PWV's, based on what you provided and other info in this thread, those are out of the discussion.

Sunset view is extremely important as is unobstructed views and privacy, so RWV's are out.

Thanks for info about dinner on the beach (which I didnt even know you could do) and getting dinner on the deck as well. How much is the private dinner?

So looks like its down to SWV or a DWV, with the price being either 147-210 (grand total of 735-1050) or 420 (grand total of 2100). Ill induldge the Conrad about the SunWV upgrade price, but most likely those are out based on price alone.

You make a very good point about money being saved and being allocated to a private dinner if we go with the SWV, so that is something I will consider. We were already planning on going to the Ithaa restaurant for Lunch as well and enjoying some spa treatments, so will have to budget accordingly.

Thank you very much for your response and advice, and if you can think of anything else to contribute I would appreciate it and welcome your input. I am going to give them a call later and ask about the upgrade prices and availability.

joecool1885

I was able to negotiate SunWV down to $2K++ the night before, given that it wasnt booked. But only 349 was available, and didnt consider it worthwhile given its position and the view. Would have for villa 350.

MaldivesFreak

You're very welcome. I spent between two to three hundred hours reading up on Rangali, choosing the villa type (same preferences for privacy, views etc as you), restaurants, food etc etc etc before our first trip there and boy, if I had all the info in one place I could've saved most of that time!

I've edited my last post for clarity. BTW. There were a couple of things that I didn't explain as well as I could have, mainly about the SWVs' views. And regarding that, and based on what you've just said now about how important unobstructed views are, I would say the only real choices now are the DWVs and the SunWVs. If either of those categories are in line with your budget, then by all means go for one. If you choose a DWV and aren't worried about a little strong current outside your villa, then ask for 348 as it has the best and most expansive views due to the left hand deck wall being unclad (all other OWVs have timber cladding on both sides for privacy but only the right hand wall on 348 has cladding). If you are sitting in the pool right at the edge of the deck of an OWV you've got about a 170 degree view, whereas if you're lucky enough to get 348 you'll have something like a 220-235 degree view. ^^

If budgetary constraints force you to go with a SWV, it won't be a bad choice of villa by any means but do send an email to Moli the reservations manager about 2 weeks out and ask for any of the two southernmost groups of 4, i.e; 335-342, with end units being preferable for maximum privacy, i.e; specifically villa numbers 335, 338, 339 or 342.

The Private Beach Dining option is $350++ and that's not including drinks, even non-alcoholic drinks. The price for this dinner may have risen though. We found out on our last trip there a couple of months ago that the Beach BBQ, Champagne & Lobster dinner and buffet prices had risen by $10 or $15++. Ask the resort to send you their Weekly Planner (which has all the special dinner options and prices) and also spa menus and maybe the water sports brochure if you're going to be doing a lot. All the PDFs have prices but the actual restaurant menus don't. (I can send you the menus if you want to know exatly how much each dish costs. PM me and I'll email them to you.) That way you'll be able to budget right down to the last couple hundred dollars.....usually, haha.

If you're wanting suggestions for dining for a 5-night stay I can suggest the following;
1st night: Take advantage of the free honeymoon dinner at Mandhoo (make sure it's not on a Monday, as that's the day they're closed)
2nd night: Private Beach Dinner (since you're going in low season, be prepared to change the day if the weather is unfavourable)
3rd night: Vilu (closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays)
4th night: Dinner in the villa
5th night: Sunset Grill
Last Minute Option/Spur-of-the-moment recommendation: Do the Cheese Fondue. It's great and very reasonably priced. They will do it any day if you ask.

That way you'll get to experience both the best of what the resort has to offer as far as restaurants go and have a couple of private dinners as well - one cheap and the other, well.....not so cheap. With a couple of non-alcoholic drinks it'll cost you at least $900 inclusive of taxes.

We always do Sunset Grill on our last night (and pretty much Mandhoo early on in the stay and Vilu somewhere in the middle) and have never regretted it. Note that I've interspersed the private dining with the restaurants and put the Private Beach Dinner on the second night just in case you need to re-book due to the weather. Everybody has a different idea of what they want to do as far as dining goes though, so the locales and order above may not necessarily suit you both.
I do suggest, however, taking a good look at the map, the pictures of, and views from, the restaurants (which you can find on their webite and via the links in the wiki to the reviews of the restaurants on TripAdvisor) and the menus and prices to familiarize yourself with the dining options to help with your overall planning and budgeting. Shame you aren't staying for 10 nights as you could do most of the other restaurants and special dinners too, but I'm sure you'll find Mandhoo, Vilu and Sunset Grill to be more than satisfactory. Oh, and if you have dinner at Sunset Grill, get there right on 7 when they open to secure the best table (which is the one closest to the beach, sunset side)!

One last thing. Book every dinner at least 2 to 3 days in advance if you can (2 weeks in advance for Ithaa). You don't want to be in a situation where you're really looking forward to a restaurant and there are no tables left.

thefiverivers

Thank you again my friend. This is a very informative post and helpful when it comes to location and budgeting. I sent you a PM as well. I am going to email the property right now and inquire about an upgrade to either a SWV or DWV (to see what the price difference is and try to negotiate on the price).

You have made my preparations that much easier! Thanks again!

And yes, we wish we could stay for longer than 5 nights, but we are off to Dubai after for the remainder of our honeymoon! Maldives will get an extended trip next year hopefully!

alanslegal

With these prices, I could dine at Eleven Madison Park (assuming I can get a table) .... however is it really worth it? Do they have regular buffet restaurants there?

ducksaucei3

Wow, this is pretty much what I'm doing, except Dubai is before Maldives in July. Hoping the weather is good for us!

Except I have 3 nights in BV, and 3 nights in WV. Prefer to save more cash to do other things

drekin

@MaldivesFreak thanks for your info on this thread. I am here now on an AXON award (rip), two more nights remaining.

Just a quick report. I'm Gold status with Hilton. When we arrived be received an upgrade from a BV to a DBV. I inquired about a paid and complimentary upgrades before and asked for BV 213-216, not sure if this helped or not. We stayed at Hilton Bora Bora Nui before in a OWB so we didn't feel we needed the water villa experience this time. The DBV is absolutely amazing, huge and close to everything. The private pool I use every time I get back from snorkeling, nothing like a dip in freshwater after an hour in the ocean. One minus is that one can hear kids playing next door but that did not really bother us.

The coral here is nearly all covered with algae, far worse than Bora Bora 4 years ago. However, there are more varieties of fish here and the resort has a larger reef. In two days I saw eels, triggerfish, and several sharks within 50m of the villa, and of course 1000+ fish. The gear the resort provides for snorkeling is very good. Tip for anyone who plans to snorkel here a lot, wear a pair (or two) of socks with your fins, helps to keep blisters off.

We did the island hopping excursion so far and plan to do adventure snorkeling tomorrow. The island hopping was ok but not quite worth the $170++p/p. Will report on latter next time.

Gold and Diamond benefits are amazing here. One could potentially eat and drink here everyday solely from the free breakfast, afternoon tea (sandwiches), and happy hour. We are celebrating a honeymoon (they do check the marriage license) and a birthday, received a champagne and free Mandhoo dinner for the former and a medium sized cake for the latter.

Ok that's about it, after tomorrows excursion its probably just back to snorkeling until they kick us out the day after. If anyone has other suggestions what we can try do let me know.

hyperzulu

Seems like Dubai/Maldives are hot for honeymooners. I'm also going to be in Dubai for a couple of days before going to Rangali. Just over two weeks to go before my trip begins. I'm hoping for a bit of sunshine, but we're good lounging around all day if the weather turns.

Still trying to decide where to eat. I've read MF's extensive review on the restaurants there, which helped a lot. Trying to decide on an outdoor beach dinner or not - my biggest concern is the weather, and booking something on a day where it's too windy or rainy. I guess I'll just play my hand and hope for the best on the flop.

ScubaRoo

Drekin - hope my recent review and snorkel map and snorkel route have proved useful, have a safe trip home.

Cheers

SR
http://triprep.WordPress.com

ScubaRoo

TPG covers a few reward options here, you'll see my comments at the end

http://thepointsguy.com/2017/04/st-r...vs-park-hyatt/

hyperzulu

I read that and wondered why TPG didn't round all three bases, since he had previously visited the Conrad. Probably has everything to do with too few hot credit card offers which can get you a redemption at an Honors resort at the moment. As soon as there's a bump in one of the Hilton branded cards, the Conrad will be the best place to go ever.

thefiverivers

Hah thats awesome! When are you going to be there?