MaldivesFreak

Did you check the maps in the wiki? There is at least one that has labels.


What a crock of.....well, you know.....

mb123

In this context, the meaning of sister hotels may be other Blackstone properties in the maldives and not other Hilton hotels.

mendezka

Well to be fair the benefits match the WA now. Might make switching decisions become easier.

high_dang

We are quite late to this since our honeymoon will be in mid Jan. I just checked and they only have premium award left which cost north of 1 million points/night... I don't know what to say to that.

mendezka

😂 and that's why Blackstone isnt gonna be too worried about these changes hurting them.

I just want it to be said, as annoying as a lot of the changes are, my wife and I still had the best vacation of our lives. It was our first time at rangali, we're mid 20's. We snorkel'd every day, ocean was great, so many of the staff were amazing. (Funnily enough, the nicest staff members were the ones that mentioned they were doing an internship &#128514.

I used credit card points saved up over the past couple years and felt I got the best value I could have ever gotten.

MaldivesFreak

Rangali Bar
I C+P'd (and linked to) a couple of @Lobonomnom's posts and sent it to Alex, the DoO. This is his response
So it's not going to be barren, just limited and different. Still a mistake IMHO. I will post pics in a few weeks when I arrive if someone else hasn't already. As you can imagine, I was pretty concerned as it's getting pretty close to our trip and we'll be staying for a whole month. We weren't planning on dining at Rangali Bar more than twice a week but still, I thought it was pretty disasterous when I first read the news.


SWVs, TQZ & General Maintenance
As for the comments made about the SWVs, TQZ etc, I also C+P'd (and linked to) the two posts a few pages back. Here are Alex's replies
I've upgraded to a SWV for 10 of our 32 nights so was pretty worried about that too. However, after receiving that reply I do have confidence that whatever SWV we get will be in the best condition that it can be in when we check in.


Koko Grill
We've never tried this on previous visits so the negative review sounded a bit scary as well. Here's the reply to my C+P of the complaints a few pages back regarding the dinner

Comments welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

jphripjah

I just visited WA Casa Marina Key West and was very disappointed, it is a WA in name only but is a run down property.

I also recently visited WA Grand Wailea and it is a huge step down from WA Ithaafushi and Conrad Maldives, because it's a high property with lots of families and you feel like cattle.

Conrad Koh Samui and Hilton Northolme Seychelles are very nice but just lack the amazing beach access of the Maldives properties.

Conrad Osaka is fantastic if you want an urban property.

jphripjah

Thanks. My follow up questions would be why does the website say food until 6 and recent guests say food are reporting food was served until 6 if you are still serving dinners now?

What will be on the snack menu?

And why this move to cut out dinners and a la carte meals from Rangali Bar (in the future, he claims) in favor of "snack" items after 6 pm? And has Quiet Zone stopped serving the room service Rangali Bar food after 6 too? Because the webpage for Quiet Zone says 10am - 10 pm and "all day menu."

I've never heard of a food outlet anywhere that serves food all day and then switches to snacks at 6 pm. See if you can find out the "why" from Alex or other staff members when you are there.

mb123

The link you posted is taking you to the lunch menu at Rangali Bar, which is available until 6pm.

The old Dinner menu Is removed from the website, whereas the new „snack menu“ is not posted yet.

itsj0nathan

So rangai bar has a regular menu until 6p then a snack menu from that point forward?

jphripjah

OK. I didn't look at the menu, I just looked at the bottom of the page and it says Lunch 11-6 and Happy Hour 5-6. This, plus the removal of the dinner menu online, plus the reports of recent visitors saying they couldn't get any food after 6, seems to contradict the info from Alex that they are currently still serving dinners in Rangali Bar as of right now.

evergrn

Your $30 per person charge for in-villa breakfast seems inconsistent with the $18 delivery charge that someone else mentioned (that's $18 per order, right?). Or did the $18 thing also go out the window?

I'm sure you'll be fine. As I said in my review upthread, I thought our SWV 334 was fantastic. I can't say it felt brand spanking new, but it was clean and in great shape, everything worked and it felt very luxurious. Then again I live in a tiny place full of junk, so my standards may be different.

I should add that I was very impressed by turndown service. The turndown service here is essentially a second full housekeeping service of the day, and that was so nice because you go through so many towels and bring in so much sand throughout the day at a beach resort like this.

This Rangali Bar change is annoying and I agree with someone who said that it is a way to steer people towards the $95 buffet. We have that, plus the elimination of afternoon tea, elimination of free Conrad departure lounge use for Diamonds, elimination of kids-eat-free off kids' menu. But this is the only 5-star property in the world where one can stay in an above-water villa for 95k points, isn't it? I've looked into Grand Wailea, Koh Samui, Bora Bora. There's no better alternative imho, erosion of benefits notwithstanding. At least the in-room water and full breakfast buffet are still free, so let's hope those continue. As long as they continue to offer WV for 95k, I will count my blessings and will surely be back. I do understand why people are complaining, though.

jphripjah

Don't do it. I was just there for 5 nights wondering "Why would anyone spend 380,000 points to spend 5 nights here when they could stay at Conrad Maldives instead?"

Wozza2404

Aside from the beef and lobster (the meat itself), nothing else was cooked on that teppan (or indeed anywhere else in the Koko kitchen).

Not to say we didn't enjoy the meal, it was decent. Service was on point as well. But at $740 inc for two and an entry level bottle of white, the price is way too high for pre-prepared food. We'd have much rather done the Wine Cellar dinner again (and still saved $100 off the total in doing so).


As for other comments - TQZ bar was open later than 6pm when we were there, but did stop serving food at 6. And yes, the singer at Rangali was hilarious

Lobonomnom

Ordering off of the In Villa dining menu for lunch, dinner, or late-night has an $18++ delivery fee per order. If you order the in villa continental breakfast, it is $30++ per person and they do not charge the $18++ delivery fee. You used to be able to get in villa breakfast for $15++ delivery fee as a diamond but that benefit is gone.