lacoca

not me! .. but i have been able to secure with some efforts few weeks ago, almost the same period jan 14th to jan 19th ! see you there!! ;-)

jphripjah

I wanted to offer my own recommendations on villa selection, especially the beach villas than can be booked on points.

Once again, here's a map of the property. I recommend printing this map out and bringing it with you as it is far superior to the not at all detailed black and white map they give you on arrival.





The email sent to me before I arrived stated "The number of our King Beach Villas are 208, 216, 220, 213, 601, 605, 609, 612, 613, 618, 622, 623, 625, and 628." I have heard that this list may not be totally accurate but this is what I'm working with.

Like alanslegal, I also spent a fair amount of time riding the bicycles around the resort and I tried to get a feeling for what villas had a good location and which ones had a bad location.

I absolutely would not want a villa in the 200s facing the lagoon, i.e. the even numbered villas from 202-222. There are all kinds of little speedboats and water sports things floating in the lagoon there and you're not going to want to be in the middle of all that and having a view of nearby 300s villas across the lagoon.

Here is the view from the beach outside 222, which is actually the furthest away of these villas from the water sports stuff.




Beach Villa 213 facing south (the ocean) looked pretty good though. It's an "end unit" so you only have one next door neighbor and a good ocean view with very little on the horizon.

My preference though would be a beach villa in the 600s. I requested a villa facing north (ocean), one of the high odd numbered 600s villas, and that's what I got, and I was happy with it. You can walk out about 40 meters until the drop off and there is decent snorkeling there all the way from 627 down to the wedding pavilion.

627 is about a ten minute walk or 3 minute bicycle ride to Tasting Table (breakfast) and Peacock Alley (afternoon tea). The walk can be a bit uncomfortable in the late morning and early afternoon due to the sun.

The only downsides to being on the ocean side in the odd numbered 600s are: (a) some ocean ship traffic going by and (b) you can see Male 20km into the distance and some other resorts in the distance too. It's not that bothersome though.








601 would be an interesting choice. It's right near Tasting Table and Peacock Alley but you're not going to get noise or disruption when you're in your villa. It's also near the wedding pavilion but there isn't much going on there. It's close to the spot with the best snorkeling, outside Yasmeen. It think 601 would be a good choice if you have limited mobility or you've got a little kid who you don't want to drag on a 500 meter walk to breakfast/afternoon tea. But my preference would be further down the beach in the 609 - 623 range.

Alternatively, I'd choose an even numbered villa in the 600s on the lagoon.

I probably wouldn't choose 628 because it's a little close to the "excursion pier" which has a few speedboats coming and going from time to time. I also wouldn't want 602, 606, and 608 because those are too close to the arrival pier. I think 612, 618, an 622 are pretty well located. What I don't know is whether there is any snorkeling here on the lagoon side, like there is on the ocean side where the odd numbered 600s villas are.

Here's the view of the lagoon from between 608 and 610, looking right, you can see the 100s villas across the lagoon and the arrival pier.



As you get into the higher numbered even 600s villas, you'd have less view of these villas and pier and more view of open water but also more view of Stella Maris and the private island. Here is the view outside 618, looking left, straight ahead, and right:

Casual Traveler

@jphripjah - Appreciate the insight, very helpful!

MaldivesFreak

Here here. And to this end I have created The Rip-off Section in the wiki, primarily to warn everyone about what to expect but for entertainment value, too.

Most certainly. I noticed that as well. Another one of management's magic magnet touches to pull in all that cash, LMAO! That kinda crap is really applicable to Hong Kongers, no mainlanders really give a hoot about that anymore (except for Guangdong residents anyway), so it might earn them all of a few grand a year, give or take. In Shanghai, for example, you have bus # 444. I mean you'd expect it not to be on time, to have broken down, crashed or maybe even a bomb planted on it or something but strangely enough I don't think any of those things has happened.....

And Chinese school holidays with their el-cheapo package deals.

MaldivesFreak

There are speedboats that the Conrad provides for workers who reside on islands close by. This is a free service and I guess there are only middle-of-the-night departures to minimize noise.

Ferries and speedboats for lower-than-managment level staff are not going to be docking at the WA, at least not between the hours of sunrise and 2AM or thereabouts. Having said that, even if there were the occasional docking, there's pretty much no way a tourist would be able to get on board as these services are chartered and for staff only. You'd have to use one of the new speedboat services offered at the airport that were mentioned earlier in the thread.


Thanks for the detailed info! Do you happen to have any more pics of the weight machines and what they've loaded them at?

MaldivesFreak

You're missing the point entirely. It's the principle, not the amount(s)! Quite a few posters have made it pretty clear already that they are just not willing to be gouged even though they have the money to spend.


This will probably get raided. I guess some time this August.....

jphripjah

For what it's worth, I can confirm that spending $250+ here on the AMEX Hilton Aspire card does trigger the annual $250 resort spend credit, even on award stays. I used my Aspire card to pay for $300 in F&B charges and my $250 credit posted in five days, give or take.

EuropeanPete

scwam

I wouldn't quite agree with that, and I think my wife would disagree somewhat more than I (from N.E. China). But you know, how people in Shanghai distinguish themselves as not really Chinese.

BTW. I canceled my two points reservations and I see Hilton only put the first 5 days back into the bucket immediately. Good sign, but wait... The remaining two days (Thurs/Fri nights) they have not returned to the bucket. Make what you want of that as they only show reef villas available for 402k hours after I canceled the last two nights.

escape4

Very valuable post - thank you.

Rizla

jphripjah

I've stayed at the Conrad Maldives twice and just visited WA so I thought I'd weigh in on this question.

The first time I stayed at Conrad Maldives, it was my first visit to the Maldives and I was blown away by how beautiful the place was and the stunning sea plane transfer. Even though I was in "just" a beach villa I thought the whole experience was great.

Second time at Conrad Maldives, I was in an overwater villa (324) and I thought it was great that I could walk out hundreds of meters into the sea from my villa and there's just an endless horizon. The water villa experience was even better, though the second visit wasn't quite as amazing or "magical" as the first, because I had already seen all the pretty views and everything. And on the second visit the sea plane stopped at another resort on the way to and from Conrad, meaning it was basically a 90 minute transfer each way, and that's after waiting 1-2 hours at the airport on arrival. And my girlfriend and I both got a little bored during the second visit to Conrad, as she doesn't swim much, and we already went to Ithaa the first time and didn't want to do that again, and we had pretty much tried the restaurants that we wanted to, etc.

Nonetheless, I still love Conrad Maldives and I was a little nervous after booking at WA and reading some of the pre-opening posts here about lack of foliage, prices, etc. I was worried that I was going to show up at WA and immediately conclude "Sh*t, I should have gone back to Conrad."

But that's not the case. I loved WA and I'm glad we didn't go back to Conrad, mainly because we got to experience somewhere new and different. The base beach villas are stunning and have more private outdoor space than I've ever seen anywhere with huge decks, day beds, loungers, sitting area, pool, etc. You can walk out 40 meters or so from some beach villas before the drop off and that's pretty good, way better than the beach villas at Conrad.

If you have stayed at Conrad Maldives before, I would definitely recommend trying WA, unless you are very price sensitive and will be put off by the higher priced transfers and F&B.

If you have never been to the Maldives, and you have limited points/funds to spend, and you REALLY want to stay in an overwater villa and/or experience the beautiful sea plane transfer, then the 95,000 points per night at Conrad (76,000 if getting fifth night free) is a great choice too. I wouldn't consider a beach villa at Conrad though after experiencing it at WA, I'd consider that to me a major downgrade. I have seen though some intriguing cash deals for overwater villas at Conrad for like $600 a night, less than half the cost of a beach villa at WA, and if I were spending my own money, I'd definitely choose the overwater villa at Conrad if I could get it for less than half of the beach villa at WA. If it were a "money is no object" trip, I'd pick the WA.

Note that if your time is quite limited or you don't have a lot of patience for waiting around, note that you can get to WA in 75 minutes from when your plane lands at Male airport, whereas it may take 3-3.5 hours to get to Conrad if you're waiting for the seaplane and then you have to stop en route.

All the meals at WA were great, at Conrad I had a few disappointing meals. F&B cost is basically 25-30% higher for everything at WA. I preferred the breakfast at WA because you get the best of both worlds, the full buffet and ordering off the menu, all in one venue. Whereas at Conrad, you had to choose between the breakfast venue with full buffet (that's less luxurious and right near the activities area and often had kids running around) or the breakfast at Vilu, where you could order of the menu in a serene setting but then only a very, very limited buffet.

I also liked being able to ride the free bicycles around the WA, even though it's only the second time I've ridden a bike since I was a kid (other time was Xi'an city walls a few years ago).

MaldivesFreak

You know it's illegal to take them out of the country, right?


By surpar I presume you mean subpar, not the first 6 letters of surpass.
Anyway, sounds like you're rather priviledged and you have feline papillae.

MF makes note to himself to ignore future posts (at least regarding food).

rish

Thanks to all FT pioneers and their reviews! All of your reviews have convinced me to to not cancel my reservation at the WA (was considering Conrad) as this will be my first (SO's second) in Maldives, and our first WA ever.

Me and SO are scheduled to be at QA from 8/31-9/4.

I had 2 questions (primarily from SO) and looking to get your insight:

• Would a 110V hair straightening iron work there? Does the WA provide voltage converters or should we get something that is compatible?
• Coffee was mentioned. I'm curious as to what flavors they had in the room? SO prefers some over others, and we can bring ours if they are not available in the room.

alanslegal

I am glad you pointed out that we all have our own priorities, and I will add own values and can make our own decisions - rightly or wrongly. What you do and think is OK may be totally opposite to someone else and vice versa.

Trying to find an alternate transfer to the resort because you suggest that the cost of the resort's 30 minute yacht trip can be a major issue, it may be true and it also could also be false. You don't know my situation, nor do I know yours - but more importantly, it doesn't matter nor is it anyone's business. However for some here to have suggested that people staying on points should not go to because at the end of the day the resort is $$$$$ priced is a fallacy.

If someone wants to bring their own food, not anyones business - go for it. If someone wants to splurge at afternoon tea to skip dinner, not anyones business - go for it. If anyone doesn't go out and do water activities, not anyones business (personally I am a terrible swimmer hence no snorkelling / water sports reports for me) If anyone finds a workable transport transfer, I will definitely be interested if we do decide to return. My $0.02.