PM me. I am more likely than not going to be cancelling my stay that week at some point later this month.

A possible explanation for the sudden release of inventory

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/i...ches%20instead.

well that makes sense.

I’m not sure the subcontinent would have been a big enough market (for this hotel) to account for this, personally. That’s just opinion, no figures to back it up.

I would say there is a not insignificant share of the guests being from India. What I'd doubt more is that this spate has already affected booking levels in the Maldives in any significant way. And I do wonder what these incidents truly does influence in the choices of people who don't have to make statements for political purposes.

What I'd find more likely is that with new resorts coming and the WA no longer be the newest of the newest, it takes more effort to fill the resort, and awards is one of the knobs to adjust.

So do they not release all standard rooms for booking at once? Even if I tried to book the standard rooms for cash at some point, I was unable to. Or could it be they added standard rooms to the inventory (despite all of them being booked) with the intention of upgrading people who booked at the standard rates?

According the article tourism from India to the Maldives is about 11% overall so what you're saying definitely makes sense.

Something like it.

This WA rations award availability by having created a separate category reef villa for this purpose (similar to what WA Los Cabos does with their standard award room type). If for whatever reason the resort decides they aren't going to sell enough rooms on cash and they can afford to release more standard award rooms, they will move already booked guests in standard rooms to other villa types and Bingo, more standard rooms available for booking with both cash or points.

The massive and uniform release is definitely not due to anything going on in India. I am confident in saying this because the first time I went to this resort was May 2021 and I snagged the booking because the entire country of India was suddenly banned from visiting Maldives due to the COVID outbreak occurring at the time.

With a total ban, the release of space due to sudden cancellations was nonzero, but it wasn't even remotely as wide and uniform as the release this morning. It was still really hard to get five adjacent dates to redeem with fifth night free.

Also, the reef villa inventory normally sold through the Hilton channel is a subset of the total number of reef villas. A certain number are held back through sales via travel agencies and tour operators. Otherwise they would all get booked with points and they'd basically never be able to sell any reef villas for cash. That's a potential lever they can adjust to get more cash and points sales via the Hilton channel based on sales forecasts.

Hi everyone. My wife and I arrived here 48 hours ago - our first ever trip to the Maldives, and booked a year ago, so it’s been a long time coming.

The WA is just magic - I have never been anywhere like it. However, so far the weather has not played ball. We arrived to leaden skies which continued for the whole of our first day. Day two was lovely - broken sunshine and cloud following a wet start. Day three - today - has just been dismal - driving wind and torrential rain which has made the pathways very rutted, and very slow to get anywhere. I’m just hoping it clears up for our final two full days. Not going to lie - it’s a real let down having waited for this for over a year. I think in future I’ll book a longer trip in the hope of getting more balanced weather. I know you can’t control the weather, but it’s pretty frustrating when it is supposed to be the dry season. I think the Maldives are having a time of it though - it sounds like it has been pretty wet for the last three or four weeks. Interested in other experiences when it has been nasty weather. And does anyone have any thoughts on when really is the best time of the year to go, or is it just a complete gamble?

I’ll write a full review once we’ve completed our stay.

This is unfortunate. I have been tracking the weather closely as I'm arriving at WA in two weeks. This will be my second time in the Maldives. Peviously went to Conrad in the month of February and experienced perfect weather. All of the blogs say that rainy season ends in November, but I don't believe it truly ends until mid/end of January. You can already see the forecast is set to clear up in the next week as we approach the end of Jan. Best time to visit is late January through Easter IMO. Nothing is guaranteed, but this will give you the best chance at great weather.

Do you know if the hydrotherapy pool is free to use for guests or do you have to pay for it? As well as the use of their steam bath and pool. I found this on their website but didn't mention the price. Thank you

Aqua Wellness Retreat

OPENING HOURS: 11.00am-8.00pm daily. ( including steam bath, sauna and aqua pool)

Indulge in the ultimate wellness retreat with our daily 60-minute hydrotherapy pool sessions. Immerse yourself in a custom-designed pool, carefully segmented to target different body areas. You’ll experience a range of sensations, from the invigorating jet bath to the soothing air and shower jets. As you recline on our massage loungers, varying levels of intensity and water temperature work in harmony to ease muscle tension, fortify your immune system, enhance blood circulation, boost metabolism, and elevate the quality of your deep sleep.

There's a fee to use if you're just doing that - my spouse did it and found it worthwhile and enjoyable. But I think they told us that if you do a spa treatment they will also let you use the hydrotherapy pool at no charge, not sure for how long and if this is still a thing.

Do you remember how much your spouse paid just for the Hydrotherapy and for how many minutes? Thanks

It was for 60 minutes IIRC. Unfortunately I don't recall the price and they never emailed me a copy of my folio, was only given a paper copy before we left. I just remember thinking that it was nothing crazy expensive compared to the prices that they charge for other spa services.

I think there is a charge. Last time we were there, they told us we got a free circut for being Diamond Elite.