[ARCHIVE 2018 to 2019] Conrad Maldives Rangali Island {MDV}
#4276
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: hhonors,NW WP,National
Posts: 50
Maybe this comparison report will help some of you who have kids below 6 y.o. ! This is my personnel point of view of the different aspects. So, please be kind about my first report, sort of!
Anyway, we did a 5 night stay at St Regis Vommuli and went directly afterwards to the conrad rangali for a 5 night stay again. We were 5 (2 adults + 3 kids – 5yo, 3 yo and ½ yo). Concerning the villa, our main point was to book a beach villa since
1. playing with the sand on the beach in front of the villa is a real advantage with 3 and 5 y.o. toddlers. And meanwhile having the baby resting in a temp. controlled room nearby (supervised with a babyphone).
2. Less risk for the kids of falling into the water (+ less supervision for the parents ;-) )
3. Leave the OW villa for couples or families with older kids.
The Villa Beach:
1) Sand quality
-St Regis (SR) : 8/10 (bigger grain, I guess there was some coral residues mixt to it which make it less comfi to play with and to walk on, but still great sand)
-Conrad (CO) : 10/10
2) Beach shore angle
-SR: 6/10 (pretty soon the water was too deep for the kids and from that point the parents need shoes because the bottom is too uncomfortable and the coral reef is just after that point.
-CO: 10/10 (more playing in and with the water for the kids and no shoes needed for the parents)
3) Shade on the beach for sand castles
-SR: 6/10, a tiny bit of shade from the villa in the morning
-CO: 5/10 no shade
The main beach:
1) Sand quality
-SR : 9/10 (also bigger grain at the alba beach, but from the restaurants point of view, the right side of the beach has a better and nice grain size)
-CO : 10/10
2) Beach shore angle
-SR: 10/10 (great low angle of penetration)
-CO: 10/10 (great low angle of penetration)
3) Shade on the beach for sand castles
-SR: 5/10 none
-CO: 10/10 great in the afternoon/evening on the 200s villa side (+coral reef)
Marine life observation:
-SR: 7/10 nice, but not as nice as in CO.
Ideas with toddlers, rent a glass bottom kayak.
-CO: 9/10 great!
Ideas with toddlers, watch it from the main bridge by night or at the mandooh at 13:30 (official fishfeeding) or at the Ithaa at about 19:00 (non-official fishfeeding) (also at around 11:30 but much less feeding).
N.B.: my 5 y.o. really enjoyed snorkeling around the coral reefs, but sand playing was more interesting for my 3 yo.
Moskitos:
-SR: 10/10: 1 bite in total for 5 people during 5 nights
-CO: 10/10: 5-6 bites in total
Nothing to worry about for both resorts, and we stayed during the “rainy” season. Unfortunately, we don’t know (and guess don’t want to know) how much insecticide we inhaled.
Villa privacy:
-SR: 10/10
-CO: 6/10 bit less privacy and much less soundproof protection (baby cries ;-) )
Kids club:
Activities
-SR: 9/10 (great but CO does it better), not much kids in both resorts in July and since SR is more exclusive it has very few kids at that time of the year.
-CO: 10/10 (with pirate cruises, dauphins watching, …)
Toys given
-SR: 10/10 received hats, t-shirts, sand castle building tools, … They also had kid sized bike to ride for our stay
-CO: 9/10 received as well hats, t-shirts, but no sand castle tools!
Restaurants with kids:
-SR: 9/10
-CO: 10/10 kids ate for free except at the in-room dining
With young kids it is not possible to book a table for the fondue or the tapas which is normal and I respect that. But especially during low season, you may book a table there if no other guest has a reservation. I didn’t work for us on the fondue evening, but on the tapas evening it worked. We were the only guest and instead of the tapas we were able to get the fondue.
By the way goliath and Cynicor, the third cheese in the fondue was the Beaufort from France. Cynicor, it is possible to customise your cheese selection, but it has to be done at the reservation.
And I agree with you goliath, , the texture could have been better, but the context makes us forgive that!
PS to Maldivesfreaks: in July I wouldn’t recommend having the sunset grill at the very last night, we were very lucky we did it earlier because it was raining on our last night. My advice for in July would be to book it on a nice and a tiny bit cloudy evening (most of the evenings were like that though).
Tea-time/coktails/fruits/snacks.:
-SR: 5/10 or 10/10 if you request the fruit basket and the tea time!
Nb: during my stay no revolving fruit basket and no tea time was offered until I’ve read about it in this thread in the middle of my stay. Asked my butler about that, he answered me it is only on request. Was kind of pissed since other FT received it without any request and during all their stay. Told him he could have at least let me know about this possibility of request. Will change that in the wiki, since not all butlers are equal!
-CO: 7/10 tea time and cocktails were not my favorites. Not much choice for the toddlers (and not much more for the adults).
Secret Nb: I’ve nicely asked my butler if he could get some snacks for my kids from the employee market. He took pictures of the different snacks so I could choose from it. The price was really correct.
Overall I can’t really tell which one was best. Probably the kids enjoyed it a bit more at CO because the island was bigger (= more things to see and for the parents = more places to “hide” if the kids misbehave, cry, etc…). And for the parents, it is probably the SR which wins because of its exclusivity.
Anyway, we did a 5 night stay at St Regis Vommuli and went directly afterwards to the conrad rangali for a 5 night stay again. We were 5 (2 adults + 3 kids – 5yo, 3 yo and ½ yo). Concerning the villa, our main point was to book a beach villa since
1. playing with the sand on the beach in front of the villa is a real advantage with 3 and 5 y.o. toddlers. And meanwhile having the baby resting in a temp. controlled room nearby (supervised with a babyphone).
2. Less risk for the kids of falling into the water (+ less supervision for the parents ;-) )
3. Leave the OW villa for couples or families with older kids.
The Villa Beach:
1) Sand quality
-St Regis (SR) : 8/10 (bigger grain, I guess there was some coral residues mixt to it which make it less comfi to play with and to walk on, but still great sand)
-Conrad (CO) : 10/10
2) Beach shore angle
-SR: 6/10 (pretty soon the water was too deep for the kids and from that point the parents need shoes because the bottom is too uncomfortable and the coral reef is just after that point.
-CO: 10/10 (more playing in and with the water for the kids and no shoes needed for the parents)
3) Shade on the beach for sand castles
-SR: 6/10, a tiny bit of shade from the villa in the morning
-CO: 5/10 no shade
The main beach:
1) Sand quality
-SR : 9/10 (also bigger grain at the alba beach, but from the restaurants point of view, the right side of the beach has a better and nice grain size)
-CO : 10/10
2) Beach shore angle
-SR: 10/10 (great low angle of penetration)
-CO: 10/10 (great low angle of penetration)
3) Shade on the beach for sand castles
-SR: 5/10 none
-CO: 10/10 great in the afternoon/evening on the 200s villa side (+coral reef)
Marine life observation:
-SR: 7/10 nice, but not as nice as in CO.
Ideas with toddlers, rent a glass bottom kayak.
-CO: 9/10 great!
Ideas with toddlers, watch it from the main bridge by night or at the mandooh at 13:30 (official fishfeeding) or at the Ithaa at about 19:00 (non-official fishfeeding) (also at around 11:30 but much less feeding).
N.B.: my 5 y.o. really enjoyed snorkeling around the coral reefs, but sand playing was more interesting for my 3 yo.
Moskitos:
-SR: 10/10: 1 bite in total for 5 people during 5 nights
-CO: 10/10: 5-6 bites in total
Nothing to worry about for both resorts, and we stayed during the “rainy” season. Unfortunately, we don’t know (and guess don’t want to know) how much insecticide we inhaled.
Villa privacy:
-SR: 10/10
-CO: 6/10 bit less privacy and much less soundproof protection (baby cries ;-) )
Kids club:
Activities
-SR: 9/10 (great but CO does it better), not much kids in both resorts in July and since SR is more exclusive it has very few kids at that time of the year.
-CO: 10/10 (with pirate cruises, dauphins watching, …)
Toys given
-SR: 10/10 received hats, t-shirts, sand castle building tools, … They also had kid sized bike to ride for our stay
-CO: 9/10 received as well hats, t-shirts, but no sand castle tools!
Restaurants with kids:
-SR: 9/10
-CO: 10/10 kids ate for free except at the in-room dining
With young kids it is not possible to book a table for the fondue or the tapas which is normal and I respect that. But especially during low season, you may book a table there if no other guest has a reservation. I didn’t work for us on the fondue evening, but on the tapas evening it worked. We were the only guest and instead of the tapas we were able to get the fondue.
By the way goliath and Cynicor, the third cheese in the fondue was the Beaufort from France. Cynicor, it is possible to customise your cheese selection, but it has to be done at the reservation.
And I agree with you goliath, , the texture could have been better, but the context makes us forgive that!
PS to Maldivesfreaks: in July I wouldn’t recommend having the sunset grill at the very last night, we were very lucky we did it earlier because it was raining on our last night. My advice for in July would be to book it on a nice and a tiny bit cloudy evening (most of the evenings were like that though).
Tea-time/coktails/fruits/snacks.:
-SR: 5/10 or 10/10 if you request the fruit basket and the tea time!
Nb: during my stay no revolving fruit basket and no tea time was offered until I’ve read about it in this thread in the middle of my stay. Asked my butler about that, he answered me it is only on request. Was kind of pissed since other FT received it without any request and during all their stay. Told him he could have at least let me know about this possibility of request. Will change that in the wiki, since not all butlers are equal!
-CO: 7/10 tea time and cocktails were not my favorites. Not much choice for the toddlers (and not much more for the adults).
Secret Nb: I’ve nicely asked my butler if he could get some snacks for my kids from the employee market. He took pictures of the different snacks so I could choose from it. The price was really correct.
Overall I can’t really tell which one was best. Probably the kids enjoyed it a bit more at CO because the island was bigger (= more things to see and for the parents = more places to “hide” if the kids misbehave, cry, etc…). And for the parents, it is probably the SR which wins because of its exclusivity.
#4278
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 253
as I mentioned, I cannot confirm accuracy of what I was told. Don’t want to falsely spread rumors... was just trying to relay what I heard ...
#4279
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: BUF
Programs: SPG Plt, HHonors Gold, UA Gold, PC Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 880
is the general consensus that the fisherman's bbq is a better event to attend then Maldivian night? we are planning on doing one beach dinner and are having trouble deciding btw the two
#4280
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 5
Split reward stay
Hey all - is it possible at all to split a reward stay across different rooms. I.e. book 5 nights in beach villa, but then somehow have 2-3 nights in that booking in water villa where availability exists?
Not sure how Hilton works, but have heard the property is somewhat used to moving guests around when they want to mix up their rooms during stay. Any ideas/experiences on this?
Thanks
Not sure how Hilton works, but have heard the property is somewhat used to moving guests around when they want to mix up their rooms during stay. Any ideas/experiences on this?
Thanks
#4281
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,485
My understanding is your best bet is to book 5 nights with pay 4 stay 5 reward in an OWB, then ask to be downgraded/moved to a BV for 2 or 3 nights
#4282
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 5
Any ideas? Or unlikely to work...?
#4283
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 84
Hey all - is it possible at all to split a reward stay across different rooms. I.e. book 5 nights in beach villa, but then somehow have 2-3 nights in that booking in water villa where availability exists?
Not sure how Hilton works, but have heard the property is somewhat used to moving guests around when they want to mix up their rooms during stay. Any ideas/experiences on this?
Thanks
Not sure how Hilton works, but have heard the property is somewhat used to moving guests around when they want to mix up their rooms during stay. Any ideas/experiences on this?
Thanks
#4284
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 84
I was wondering if anyone who has recently been has pics of menus with prices? Rangali bar's menu can be seen online but no prices. And can't tell much from TA too.
Anyone going to be there Thursday 22nd - Tuesday 27th August?
Trying to plan my lunch/dinners and seeing the menus and prices would really help
Anyone going to be there Thursday 22nd - Tuesday 27th August?
Trying to plan my lunch/dinners and seeing the menus and prices would really help
#4286
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 84
WV first for all 5, then after more research and reading this thread, went for BV for first 2 nights.
#4288
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
so take this with a grain of salt - not sure of accuracy ...just relaying some of what we were told and heard etc
Some retreat villas will have the spa workout room converted to more of a living room, others will remain family retreats with the extra bedroom. Also were told that the spa/ jacuzzis will be removed and pools will be built
as for the Deluxe Beachfront 200’s, there is a load of work/ renovations going on ..,the east DBV are essentially gutted. Some of the DBV will have a second bedroom where the day bed/outdoor tub area was ...this will allow for access to bathroom for both main villa and second bedroom of DBV. This is in an effort to accommodate families etc
next spring ? Maybe after Easter? The small island will be closed ... the east side water villas removed... and supposedly all the west side villas removed. They want to construct larger more spacious villas and perhaps? In a different layout ...instead of parallel to beach maybe piers/ extending out into water with villas off of them ...I don’t not know if straight, circular or triangular...personally I really like the current layout of those overwater villas ... the small island renovation allegedly will close the island and there construction crews will work 24/7 to expedite renovations and get that island back up and running
Supposedly some renovations to sunset villas but maybe just cosmetic
again, I have no clue how true/accurate any of the above is
Some retreat villas will have the spa workout room converted to more of a living room, others will remain family retreats with the extra bedroom. Also were told that the spa/ jacuzzis will be removed and pools will be built
as for the Deluxe Beachfront 200’s, there is a load of work/ renovations going on ..,the east DBV are essentially gutted. Some of the DBV will have a second bedroom where the day bed/outdoor tub area was ...this will allow for access to bathroom for both main villa and second bedroom of DBV. This is in an effort to accommodate families etc
next spring ? Maybe after Easter? The small island will be closed ... the east side water villas removed... and supposedly all the west side villas removed. They want to construct larger more spacious villas and perhaps? In a different layout ...instead of parallel to beach maybe piers/ extending out into water with villas off of them ...I don’t not know if straight, circular or triangular...personally I really like the current layout of those overwater villas ... the small island renovation allegedly will close the island and there construction crews will work 24/7 to expedite renovations and get that island back up and running
Supposedly some renovations to sunset villas but maybe just cosmetic
again, I have no clue how true/accurate any of the above is
They give notice for spraying? They don’t anymore ... we never once got notice when we were there and they sprayed a number of times over the space of 2 weeks. They also seemed to be using different types of spraying - one type was where the entire place would be covered in grey smoke and then another type which was low lying and didn’t create much smoke. I would have preferred if we had been given a heads up over it by them as to when they’d be spraying. We got a minute or two warning when it was happening as we could hear it.
I'll check on that when I have the time.
#4289
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 84
Still looking for menu prices, but I found the menus for those that wanted to see them. Most do not have pricing though...
https://www.conradmaldives.com/dine/
Just click on the restaurant, scroll down and you can click on menu.
I emailed Conrad too and this was their reply:
Unfortunately, due to the huge file size, we are unable to send the menu. What we can offer is the price range in USD (before taxes and service charge):
Do also note that all menus are available on our websitehttps://www.conradmaldives.com/dine/ , however prices are seasonal and subject to change, so please reconfirm once arrive to the resort.
https://www.conradmaldives.com/dine/
Just click on the restaurant, scroll down and you can click on menu.
I emailed Conrad too and this was their reply:
Unfortunately, due to the huge file size, we are unable to send the menu. What we can offer is the price range in USD (before taxes and service charge):
- a three-course dinner at Mandhoo SPA Restaurant is approximately USD79 + taxes per person on average. Starter ($19 to $30), Main course ($35 to $50), Desserts ($19 to $25)
- a three-course dinner at Vilu Restaurant is approximately USD82 + taxes per person on average. Starter ($26 to $32), Main course ($40 to $60), Desserts ($18 to $30)
- a three-course dinner at Ufaa by Jereme Leung is approximately USD88 + taxes per person on average. Starter ($17 to $22), Main course ($30 to $58), Desserts ($19 to $25)
- a three-course dinner at Sunset Grill Restaurant is approximately USD85 + taxes per person on average. Starter ($26 to $32), Main course ($40 to $60), Desserts ($18 to $30)
- a three-course dinner at Rangali Bar is approximately USD73 + taxes per person on average. Starter ($26 to $40), Main course ($31 to $63), Desserts ($16 to $30)
Do also note that all menus are available on our websitehttps://www.conradmaldives.com/dine/ , however prices are seasonal and subject to change, so please reconfirm once arrive to the resort.
#4290
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: MUC
Programs: LH Sen, HH Diamond, IC RA
Posts: 313
Yeah, they used to give notice. Probably abandoned that though. @tom-schmitt would know better than me because he's there every year.....and @goliath too I think.
I'll check on that when I have the time.
But we didn’t find it too bad when they fogged.
Better than being bitten all the time, as we experienced in other resorts.
Last edited by tom-schmitt; Jul 28, 2019 at 12:25 pm