Fly613

To me it sounds like the hotel is trying its luck at raising prices when it can. I asked for a babysitter quote. Was quoted $35++ until noon and $45++ after noon. I have friends who recently staid there and paid $25++ through the afternoon.

At the end of the day it's a rounding error on the total bill. But it's just annoying, especially for us member of this forum who have attention to details

I had a chat with a manager as to why I wasn't entitled to the benefits listed above.

He basically explained that these aren't available to points bookings (and supposedly that was never the case), and only to a dedicated 'packaged' cash rate, which is more expensive than the regular cash rate...

iluvdoco

Is that $750/night or for the entire duration of the stay?

Peetyrd

Per night.

akleopard

I can make a play for Gold/Diamond before my trip and I’m trying to assess if it’s worth it. Anyone know how they check your status to let you in for Happy Hour?

JK

They ask for your room number, which of course will show whether your status is attached and active for this booking.

There are likely to be non-members/paying customers around at the time too - the area is not exclusive to the HH HH.

/JK

jphripjah

That's remarkable considering that when this resort opened just a few years ago, the beach villa was the base villa and the reef villa was the upgrade.

Peetyrd

To be fair, the "paid rate" difference between a reef villa and beach villa over my dates is about $1000, so i suppose asking $750 is a 25% discount on what they would normally be getting if one booked in to that room directly. I think it was just mis-categorized. Beach Villas are surprising popular. The ritz carlton has their beach villa as the highest category. The St Regis recategorized it to a higher category sometime after they opened. They do feel a bit spacious as you have more outdoor space to deal with, you have sand after your deck etc...

Just curious, for diamonds, at check-in if there is availability, do they upgrade at all? Or is it the luck of the draw? I've read trip reports being upgraded from a reef villa to a grand reef villa etc.... But I'm just thinking they did them a favor since they new they were a blogger and would write up a publicly posted review.

Jimgotkp

They pre-block villas based on your arrival times since they have that information in advance due to the yacht transfers. I asked to change my villa to something else while my butler was giving me a tour of the property, but even at the conclusion of the tour there were no updates if a villa change was possible. So, I think it's a bit of a luck of the draw when they do the pre-blocking of the villas and how full the Reef Villas are at the time of your scheduled arrival.

Peetyrd

But is there a method to their madness? Such as Reef Villa to Grand Reef Villa? Or Beach Villa to Grand Beach Villa? etc... I opted to pay for an upgrade to a beach villa for the first few days of my stay and will then drop down to a Reef Villa. I'm just wondering if I should ask if they have any Grand Reef Villas (if that's what they upgrade to) when i'm already there in my beach villa.

jphripjah

Didn't someone post here a few months ago that there is a specific time of day that award nights are released for availability? Does anyone remember what time and time zone? I don't remember if it was midnight Maldives time or midnight Pacific U.S. time or what it was?

Rano91

(Firstly, I'm sorry this is really long, I actually cut it down!)

I wanted to do a trip report after all the help received on this forum which definitely helped our stay. I booked a 5-night stay for early April at the old rate (120k) with the 5th night free as we're Hilton Gold Members.

For context, we're a couple in our early 30's with no kids who have also stayed at CMRI in 2019 (pre-refurb).

Transfers

I know the transfer cost has been a bone of contention for a while and I thought I would resent the cost but as it turns out, it was one of the highlights of the trip. Whilst I agree everyone should experience a seaplane at least once, If you were to ask if I wanted to get a seaplane or a yacht for an extra few hundred $ more, I'd take the yacht every time. Not only do you not have to wait very long but you get to truly relax. On the way out, there was only 1 other passenger and they decided to rest up in one of the rooms which left my partner and I to enjoy the rest of the yacht, we went upstairs and enjoyed a few glasses of champagne. Maybe we got lucky as on the way back, we were the only ones on the yacht and both times we were traveling around 5:30 pm. So whilst it wasn't a sunset cruise, it was as near as dammit and a darn sight cheaper than the private cruise excursion. I actually thought for the price, it was well worth it. If you're traveling in darkness and don't drink champagne, perhaps it wouldn't be.

Villa

Not much to say about the villa other than that it is as good as everyone says. We stayed at CMRI pre-refurb and upgraded to a superior villa and the WA is head and shoulders above that. Everything worked well and we had no issues. I desperately want a toilet seat that opens automatically now! The bottle on arrival was a bottle of Reisling which we actually like and was on the wine list for $75++. The 2 x services per day were great and we enjoyed the snacks in the evenings.

We stayed in 309 which was opposite Li Long. I was initially concerned it would be noisy but we didn't hear anything from the restaurant. 309 is right next to a bridge so on the one hand it's good because you only have 1 "neighbour" but on the other, you do get the noise from the buggies on the bridge. Honestly though, I'm not sure there are any bad villas on this resort and I wouldn't request one next time and just leave it to chance. I can definitely see what people mean about seeing Male in the distance. It's quite phenomenal how much light pollution there is but it didn't bother us too much, just look the other way!

Concierge/Host

Hmm, where do I start. This had the potential to put a real dampener on our trip but fortunately, the response from the hotel more than made up for the mishaps. Our host seemed nice enough but she seemed more concerned about what dining reservations we were making rather than building rapport (I'm assuming they're on commission?). She also said during the room tour the toiletries were Salvatore Ferragamo but they were Aesop. I have no experience with either so can't comment on that but that was obviously a bit of a red flag for what was to come.

The first "mishap" was on my partner's 30th birthday (the reason for the trip). I had Yasmeen booked for 7pm but our host suggested we push our reservation back to 8pm and go to Amber for sunset. Great, sounds like just the thing for a milestone birthday. Our host was a couple of minutes late picking us up and took us to Amber.

No tables

We had to sit on a swing right at the back with an obstructed view and barely saw it. I wasn't expecting special treatment but I would expect a host to have the knowledge and forethought to inform us when might be a good time to get there so we get a good table/seat? We then had to wait a further 45 minutes for our original reservation. Not the streamlined evening you want on a 30th birthday.

The second "mishap" was the night after when I asked for the menu for The Ledge which we had tentatively booked based on what was available. The host sent over the menu via WhatsApp and my partner and I decided what we were going to have. We rocked up to The Ledge... completely different menu. I even showed the waiter and he said the menu was "very old". As it turns out, what we had chosen on the menu wasn't there and there was nothing else we wanted so we got up and left. We would have booked somewhere else had we known but it was too late. We ended up eating at Peacock Alley which was the only place available. By this point, I got quite frustrated by our host's incompetence and made a complaint. On 2 occasions the host had given us poor information that actually made the stay worse rather than enhancing it.

The hotel were very apologetic and I definitely felt like a bit of a target as everyone seemed to be all over us from that point. The breakfast manager gave us a bottle of Taittinger at breakfast and apologised even though it was nothing to do with him (he was great). To be honest, I feel this would have been an adequate response. Later that evening we went to Amber to see the sunset properly. We were met by the Food & Beverage manager (Brian D'Souza) who apologised and offered us a bottle of Veuve Cliquot on the house whilst enjoying the sunset. So you're talking $385++ combined of champagne which we felt was more than generous and more than made up for the issues we had.

You might see that as being a bit petty but when you're staying at a resort like this, you don't expect to be left in the lurch on multiple occasions, especially when it's a special occasion.

It was not a 5-star service but it was a 5-star response.

Happy Hour

We went to the 4-5pm happy hour every evening and the late-night happy hour a few times too. Compared to Vilu at CMRI, I'd say the cocktails are better, the service is on par (v. good) but the snacks and location are not as good. There was live music most nights which gave it a nice ambiance.

The late-night happy hour (50% off) had a different selection of cocktails as well as many more spirits. Interestingly, the menu had the prices for bottles of spirits but not sure if they were 50% off too? If you're looking to save money on alcohol I wonder if it might be an idea to buy a bottle during happy hour on the first night?

We thought the cocktails at the free happy hour were better than the ones at the late-night but that's subjective.

Dining

Breakfast was probably the best meal of the day and ironically we found the food at the buffet to be better than the food off the menu which you can also order FOC. It's definitely the best breakfast we've ever had with a huge selection of food. Taittinger was served and rarely did you finish a glass before it was topped up. Overall service at breakfast was very good and the breakfast manager was excellent. He was clearly very passionate about his job and seemed to be genuinely interested in speaking to us.

Yasmeen was very good and we actually didn't think the set menu for 2 was too much food. It seemed like it would be after the hot/cold mezzes were brought out as it completely filled the table but the main course was smaller than the starter and the dessert was even smaller still. I think if you were to plan a long, slow evening of eating and you skipped lunch, it's a good amount of food and I think represents good value. The only thing that irked me was the $5 charge for house water. On a $450 bill to then be charged $5 for house water just seems odd and I'd suggest it's much better to just work that into the price. It's one of those unfortunate reminders that makes you realise you're staying at a resort that has margins.

We had in-villa dining on the last night and shared a few dishes that were good but not mindblowing.

We also had the cheeseboard ($68++) a couple of nights from Peacock Alley which was the same selection of cheese you would get at breakfast. Having said that, at least they were generous with portions. It was a bit inconsistent though as it would often not come with what was stated. For example, it said it came with fruit bread and homemade chutney, neither of which was to be seen. We queried that and they brought us more crackers as they said they had no fruit bread. They were the cheapest crackers you would buy in a supermarket so that wasn't great (especially considering my partner loves fruit bread!).

Honestly, I've never rated the food in the Maldives regardless of where we've stayed so I don't hold this against them. I think like everyone else you expect more for the money but we knew that before going. The food didn't blow me away but I also didn't feel completely ripped off either.

Snorkeling

We were told by a few people that the best snorkeling was off the 6-700 series villas by the dive centre. Be that as it may, the issue you then have is that everyone is snorkeling in the same spot. We actually found the snorkeling off the back of our villa much better and even managed to swim with a sea turtle. As you look off the back of 309 you can see a light blue spot which we swam over to and was decent snorkeling. Perhaps not quite as "busy" as the Conrad in terms of fish quantity but certainly a good variety of different fish and better than expected. We saw several reef sharks and rays off the deck of our villa and a stork sat at our villa several evenings.

Spa / Aquatherapy

I redeemed 100,000 points for my partner and I to have a massage on her birthday. I've read others say it's not a good use of points and perhaps it's not but I wince at the thought of spending $220++ for a massage and points are like monopoly money to me i.e. it's not real lol. The massage itself was very good though. We had a couples over water treatment room and we could watch the sea life below through the glass floor whilst getting a massage.

There was also an offer for a complimentary 30 mins in the aqua therapy pool which was actually quite good fun. It is effectively a large swimming pool with lots of jets both underwater and overwater which massage certain areas of the body. It's good fun and if you want to have a relaxing but more casual experience without the cost of a massage I'd recommend it ($70++ for 30 mins).

Tips/Other

- Whilst each restaurant/bar has its own wine list there is also a "Master Wine List" which you can order from. For example, at Amber, the cheapest champagne they have on the menu is $200++ but on the master wine list, there are a couple of bottles of sparkling wine/prosecco for $95++. We had that on a couple of occasions and found it much better value for money whilst getting the same "feel" of drinking sparkling whilst watching the sunset. They do say it will take 15-20 minutes to come but there didn't seem to be any problem at any of the restaurants. I actually found there were many more reasonably priced bottles of wine on the list than some of the menus I've seen on this forum so perhaps they have expanded the list?

- The best value alcohol was probably the bottle of Absolut in the villa at $65++ for 375ml. We don't really drink vodka so didn't opt for it but if you were to take your own mixers, that might be a cheap way to do things.

- We saw someone take out multiple pieces of Tupperware at breakfast and load up. Not something I'd do personally but they didn't seem to stop her!

- The "roads" are very busy. My partner and I enjoyed walking around the Conrad and thought we would do the same but at WA but we felt like a bit of an inconvenience as there are buggies literally everywhere and the roads aren't very wide.

- We cycled a lot and didn't have any problem with the bikes. They're a bit rusty as you'd expect but they worked fine and didn't get stolen! We cycled from one end (100's) of the island to the other (700's) and it took just under 10 minutes (I timed it).

- The gym was uncomfortably hot in the weights area first thing in the morning due to the light coming through the glass windows but it was well equipped and the machine area was air-conditioned.

- On the last 2 nights we and everyone else at HH were asked to sign a bill. They said it wouldn't be charged, and it wasn't, but it seemed odd. It's as if they were keeping tabs on what we were having. Not sure if this was an inventory thing or margin thing but it seemed strange.

Final Thoughts

I was wondering how would be best to frame this conclusion. Do you frame it from the perspective of someone staying on points or someone paying cash or a bit of both? Because the reality is, the value proposition is very different.

Would I stay here again on points and think it's worth it? Yes, absolutely. Would I stay here again on cash and think it's worth it? No. If I were paying $2k a night, I'd expect everything to be perfect and it wasn't.

I'm in two minds about whether to book again. If it were the same as the stay we just had then I 100% would, but part of me thinks by the next time I stay they would have reduced the perks/experience and I'll resent paying more but getting less. I still think it's worth it, even at the increased rate, but the gap is definitely closing in on whether it is truly an "out-sized" redemption.

Any questions, I'll do my best to answer!

pzpa

Thank you for the detailed review! I hope the host experience was a once-off. We had a terrible host experience at Conrad Bora Bora last week and would rather not have to go through that again for our upcoming trip here. The aquatherapy pool looks fun and is definitely something on our to-do list. Did you do any excursions?

Wozza2404

I had friends stay here recently with young children and so weren't booking the higher end restuarants as a result - just grabbing pizzas at happy hour, etc. They said after 3 days their host was getting really snarky with them and so they told the host to foxtrot oscar and not contact them again.

They ended up with a new host and a bottle of fizz as an apology but interesting to hear someone else say effectively the same thing.

yolie

Thanks for sharing your experience. It does suck to have a not so great butler. I do wonder what they get out of us having dinners at the restaurants because that seems odd to me.

Rano91

If it had been just one of those instances I would have let it slide, we all make mistakes but it just seemed like one thing after the other only 3 days into the trip and I didn't want that to continue on a 5 night stay.

We didn't do any excursions, we did whale shark diving at CMRI but due to the proximity of WA it was a lot more expensive. As mentioned some time ago on the forum it seems like the prices for everything at WA are marked up just because they can. We tend to go to the Maldives every other year or so and would do more excursions at a cheaper resort as you're effectively getting the same thing (at least in my experience).

She seemed very keen to get us into Terra and The Rock (surprise, surprise). We were actually half tempted by The Rock food-only menu ($350++ pp) as the wine pairing seemed extortionate ($750++ pp) but didn't go for it in the end. Due to the 2 bottles of champagne they gave us we ended up doing in-villa dining to make the most of them.

It didn't ruin the trip in the end but it was frustrating. As someone who has never used a host (I couldn't even tell you the name of our host at CMRI), I thought at a resort like this they would be excellent but turns out not!