[ARCHIVE 2018 to 2019] Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi {MDV}
Aug 6, 2019, 9:59 pm
#1816
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
Excellent, TD. Added to the wiki.
Aug 6, 2019, 11:42 pm
#1817
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,715
Any success stories of early check-in or late check-out here?
Aug 7, 2019, 2:21 am
#1818
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
Day 2 observations:
Housekeeping: while extremely aggressive (our bell
rings about 10x a day), they do a fantastic job and are very friendly.
Breakfast: they need to get the service aspect fixed. It is comparable to a Hilton Garden Inn type of experience. Again, food is solid and the venue is spectacular, so it’s fine, but they aren’t getting this right and it’s a major problem for them.
Personal Concierge: responsive, helpful and generally adding value to our experience. We’ve called the front desk with three requests so far that’s have been ignored, so the conciege has turned out to be important.
Resort: it takes a day or two to really grasp how amazing this place is. The build quality is excellent. This place is going to do very well with age too.
Privacy: we rarely see other guests here. We have not seen a single person while at our reef villa (other than the aforementioned housekeeping staff and 2-3 snorkelers 30 yards off shore).
Landscaping: they’ve done a good job on this too, but it’s going to take some time for it to grow in. It is generally better than I expected.
In room dining: Nothing positive about round 2 and 3 other than the speed. We will avoid this for the rest of the trip.
Moving around the resort: the resort is massive and it takes some time to walk from place to place, so catching a ride is best, especially in the mid-day heat. We asked the front desk to send someone to pick us up a few times but no one was ever sent. About 1/4 staff members on carts will stop to offer you a ride (another 1/4 will nearly run you over and the remainder will smile and waive). The bridges are a great place to stop and see fish. We saw a small reef shark yesterday.
Fish: we have an immense amount of sea life visible from our deck and pool area. Today we had a stingray floating around for a half hour, and then probably 2 dozen other types of fish in varying size and quantities. We had one ~10 lb fish and some barracudas.
Housekeeping: while extremely aggressive (our bell
rings about 10x a day), they do a fantastic job and are very friendly.
Breakfast: they need to get the service aspect fixed. It is comparable to a Hilton Garden Inn type of experience. Again, food is solid and the venue is spectacular, so it’s fine, but they aren’t getting this right and it’s a major problem for them.
Personal Concierge: responsive, helpful and generally adding value to our experience. We’ve called the front desk with three requests so far that’s have been ignored, so the conciege has turned out to be important.
Resort: it takes a day or two to really grasp how amazing this place is. The build quality is excellent. This place is going to do very well with age too.
Privacy: we rarely see other guests here. We have not seen a single person while at our reef villa (other than the aforementioned housekeeping staff and 2-3 snorkelers 30 yards off shore).
Landscaping: they’ve done a good job on this too, but it’s going to take some time for it to grow in. It is generally better than I expected.
In room dining: Nothing positive about round 2 and 3 other than the speed. We will avoid this for the rest of the trip.
Moving around the resort: the resort is massive and it takes some time to walk from place to place, so catching a ride is best, especially in the mid-day heat. We asked the front desk to send someone to pick us up a few times but no one was ever sent. About 1/4 staff members on carts will stop to offer you a ride (another 1/4 will nearly run you over and the remainder will smile and waive). The bridges are a great place to stop and see fish. We saw a small reef shark yesterday.
Fish: we have an immense amount of sea life visible from our deck and pool area. Today we had a stingray floating around for a half hour, and then probably 2 dozen other types of fish in varying size and quantities. We had one ~10 lb fish and some barracudas.
Aug 7, 2019, 4:04 am
#1819
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
Have you mentioned the service issues to management? What did they say?
And keep the updates coming! ^
And keep the updates coming! ^
Aug 7, 2019, 4:28 am
#1820
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, M&M, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,223
Aug 7, 2019, 4:34 am
#1821
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium/LTG, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,921
On arrival, we caught the 9am boat, arriving at he resort at about 1050am, and were able to get into our room at about 1130am.
On departure, we had a 5pm check out for 6pm boat ride out. W
Hope your stay improves dramatically and keen to hear what else happens moving forward.
FWIW we had a fantastic stay especially found service at breakfast great (staff knew which table we preferred, what coffee we liked, and offered champagne upon arrival and kept on topping up, offered suggestions, wait staff would assist with bringing food/drinks/plates to our table, doors opened by staff, ordered items off menu without any issue, outdoor umbrella shades pro actively adjusted so we would never get sun on our face).
If we didn't ride our bicylces, we were picked up by our personal concierge about 80% of the time and had little wait. If someone else was picking up they would explain why our concierge could not come etc.
On departure, we had a 5pm check out for 6pm boat ride out. W
Housekeeping: while extremely aggressive (our bell
rings about 10x a day), they do a fantastic job and are very friendly.
Breakfast: they need to get the service aspect fixed. It is comparable to a Hilton Garden Inn type of experience. Again, food is solid and the venue is spectacular, so it’s fine, but they aren’t getting this right and it’s a major problem for them.
Personal Concierge: responsive, helpful and generally adding value to our experience. We’ve called the front desk with three requests so far that’s have been ignored, so the conciege has turned out to be important.
Resort: it takes a day or two to really grasp how amazing this place is. The build quality is excellent. This place is going to do very well with age too.
Privacy: we rarely see other guests here. We have not seen a single person while at our reef villa (other than the aforementioned housekeeping staff and 2-3 snorkelers 30 yards off shore).
Landscaping: they’ve done a good job on this too, but it’s going to take some time for it to grow in. It is generally better than I expected.
In room dining: Nothing positive about round 2 and 3 other than the speed. We will avoid this for the rest of the trip.
Moving around the resort: the resort is massive and it takes some time to walk from place to place, so catching a ride is best, especially in the mid-day heat. We asked the front desk to send someone to pick us up a few times but no one was ever sent. About 1/4 staff members on carts will stop to offer you a ride (another 1/4 will nearly run you over and the remainder will smile and waive). The bridges are a great place to stop and see fish. We saw a small reef shark yesterday.
Fish: we have an immense amount of sea life visible from our deck and pool area. Today we had a stingray floating around for a half hour, and then probably 2 dozen other types of fish in varying size and quantities. We had one ~10 lb fish and some barracudas.
rings about 10x a day), they do a fantastic job and are very friendly.
Breakfast: they need to get the service aspect fixed. It is comparable to a Hilton Garden Inn type of experience. Again, food is solid and the venue is spectacular, so it’s fine, but they aren’t getting this right and it’s a major problem for them.
Personal Concierge: responsive, helpful and generally adding value to our experience. We’ve called the front desk with three requests so far that’s have been ignored, so the conciege has turned out to be important.
Resort: it takes a day or two to really grasp how amazing this place is. The build quality is excellent. This place is going to do very well with age too.
Privacy: we rarely see other guests here. We have not seen a single person while at our reef villa (other than the aforementioned housekeeping staff and 2-3 snorkelers 30 yards off shore).
Landscaping: they’ve done a good job on this too, but it’s going to take some time for it to grow in. It is generally better than I expected.
In room dining: Nothing positive about round 2 and 3 other than the speed. We will avoid this for the rest of the trip.
Moving around the resort: the resort is massive and it takes some time to walk from place to place, so catching a ride is best, especially in the mid-day heat. We asked the front desk to send someone to pick us up a few times but no one was ever sent. About 1/4 staff members on carts will stop to offer you a ride (another 1/4 will nearly run you over and the remainder will smile and waive). The bridges are a great place to stop and see fish. We saw a small reef shark yesterday.
Fish: we have an immense amount of sea life visible from our deck and pool area. Today we had a stingray floating around for a half hour, and then probably 2 dozen other types of fish in varying size and quantities. We had one ~10 lb fish and some barracudas.
FWIW we had a fantastic stay especially found service at breakfast great (staff knew which table we preferred, what coffee we liked, and offered champagne upon arrival and kept on topping up, offered suggestions, wait staff would assist with bringing food/drinks/plates to our table, doors opened by staff, ordered items off menu without any issue, outdoor umbrella shades pro actively adjusted so we would never get sun on our face).
If we didn't ride our bicylces, we were picked up by our personal concierge about 80% of the time and had little wait. If someone else was picking up they would explain why our concierge could not come etc.
Aug 7, 2019, 4:38 am
#1822
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 27
Thanks for all the updates everyone. Is anyone able to post some photos of what the view looks like from the southern facing villas ie 100s and odd numbered 200s? And is there much boat traffic from this side of the ocean?
Aug 7, 2019, 10:21 am
#1823
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 19
I will be there next weekend. Aside from the previous post 1725 I mentioned receiving a reply that private transfer is not allowed, I did not get welcome email or room choices. Checked spam and it's not there. Did everyone get a welcome email and was able to choose a room?
By the way, I booked via atoll and was quoted $580 for round trip for 2 people. But they sent me a link for payment that charges 6% fee, which is weird and sketchy. Now I am debating to just pay the $1700 for the WA yacht transfer to save the hassle.
By the way, I booked via atoll and was quoted $580 for round trip for 2 people. But they sent me a link for payment that charges 6% fee, which is weird and sketchy. Now I am debating to just pay the $1700 for the WA yacht transfer to save the hassle.
Aug 7, 2019, 2:51 pm
#1824
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
But seriously, you are still saving more than $1100. If it's a hassle to pay 6% then it looks like you've got a few mil in the bank and aren't worried about a measly $1100.
I would bargain. Question the 6% (some credit card transactions add n% onto the total. Probably what's going on here) and tell them $500 all up or you'll take the MS Fleece (the WA's yacht). Nothing to lose, right?
Aug 7, 2019, 9:02 pm
#1825
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: Continental; American; Delta
Posts: 21
These comments and reviews have been awesome! Thanks to all who have shared Intel. I’m going next month and the only thing that surprises/angers me is they don’t offer a welcome cocktail or glass of champagne on the $1000 dollar per person yacht transfer. I’m not being picky, that’s just to be expected from a five+ star hotel. I’ve been all over the world and stayed at places far swankier then the WA and some of the best memories are the little things (i.e. a cold towel upon arrival or welcome cocktail). With or without a welcome cocktail or glass of champagne on the yacht, I know it’s going to be a great experience.
Aug 7, 2019, 9:59 pm
#1826
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
Breakfast today was much improved - menu cards delivered at the initial conversation, food came out without follow up, etc, except we obtained our own milk for our first cups of coffee (they did bring some when I asked for another cup of coffee). Water appeared without multiple follow ups or finding it myself like I did yesterday. Things are a little inconsistent at times, maybe because they’ve recently opened, but there are more staff members than guests so it’s strange. The food quality and variety is very good.
On our walk to/from breakfast, we had the following experience with the carts:
- three offered us a ride
- one empty cart drove by with a smile and hand to the chest thing they do
- two staff carts were on the “nearly ran us over” category (which is actually kind of fun now that we are expecting it, just watch your kids)
- one staff cart pulled to the side and waited for us to go by before proceeding (similar to what they did at the Ritz Dorado Reserve a few weeks ago and anywhere else I’ve ever been like this)
We are going to do the sunset fishing activity tonight and if we catch anything, we’ll do the option of having it cooked for us at one of the restaurants (not sure which one but the excursion details indicate they do this). Just with the amount of fish we see off our deck, this is going to be fun.
Tomorrow we will switch from our reef villa to the grand overwater villa for the rest of our stay. I’ll update as to how that process goes (and whether we are given another bottle of champagne for the second reservation!). One aspect I’m curious about is whether the full overwater villa is “worth” the extra cost. Our reef villa is approximately 1/2 over water as it is, including our deck. Only the front 12 feet of the villa is on land. Watching the fish from our deck has been a major highlight so far. And they say it’s going to get better as the fish return post construction. Wow.
Aug 7, 2019, 10:08 pm
#1827
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
On arrival, we caught the 9am boat, arriving at he resort at about 1050am, and were able to get into our room at about 1130am.
On departure, we had a 5pm check out for 6pm boat ride out. W
Hope your stay improves dramatically and keen to hear what else happens moving forward.
FWIW we had a fantastic stay especially found service at breakfast great (staff knew which table we preferred, what coffee we liked, and offered champagne upon arrival and kept on topping up, offered suggestions, wait staff would assist with bringing food/drinks/plates to our table, doors opened by staff, ordered items off menu without any issue, outdoor umbrella shades pro actively adjusted so we would never get sun on our face).
If we didn't ride our bicylces, we were picked up by our personal concierge about 80% of the time and had little wait. If someone else was picking up they would explain why our concierge could not come etc.
On departure, we had a 5pm check out for 6pm boat ride out. W
Hope your stay improves dramatically and keen to hear what else happens moving forward.
FWIW we had a fantastic stay especially found service at breakfast great (staff knew which table we preferred, what coffee we liked, and offered champagne upon arrival and kept on topping up, offered suggestions, wait staff would assist with bringing food/drinks/plates to our table, doors opened by staff, ordered items off menu without any issue, outdoor umbrella shades pro actively adjusted so we would never get sun on our face).
If we didn't ride our bicylces, we were picked up by our personal concierge about 80% of the time and had little wait. If someone else was picking up they would explain why our concierge could not come etc.
Aug 7, 2019, 11:03 pm
#1828
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
Breakfast today was much improved - menu cards delivered at the initial conversation, food came out without follow up, etc, except we obtained our own milk for our first cups of coffee (they did bring some when I asked for another cup of coffee). Water appeared without multiple follow ups or finding it myself like I did yesterday. Things are a little inconsistent at times, maybe because they’ve recently opened, but there are more staff members than guests so it’s strange.
To my surprise, I'm going to write in their defense and say that they may not be allowed to give alcohol on board when departing from Male (due to the restrictions / law). Does anyone know if this is actually the case?
Aug 7, 2019, 11:20 pm
#1829
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: SAN
Posts: 1,306
Tomorrow we will switch from our reef villa to the grand overwater villa for the rest of our stay. I’ll update as to how that process goes (and whether we are given another bottle of champagne for the second reservation!). One aspect I’m curious about is whether the full overwater villa is “worth” the extra cost. Our reef villa is approximately 1/2 over water as it is, including our deck. Only the front 12 feet of the villa is on land. Watching the fish from our deck has been a major highlight so far. And they say it’s going to get better as the fish return post construction. Wow.
You might find the Grand version of the Reef Villa a nice upgrade. But with massive size of the base rooms not sure 2 people need the extra space. Other than a living room the two are identical inside and out. My wife and I agreed if we did not have our daughter with us the base room would have been more than what we needed.
TD
Aug 8, 2019, 2:43 am
#1830
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, SPG Gold
Posts: 89
Maybe they don't welcome folks who choose not to be fleeced, LOL.
But seriously, you are still saving more than $1100. If it's a hassle to pay 6% then it looks like you've got a few mil in the bank and aren't worried about a measly $1100.
I would bargain. Question the 6% (some credit card transactions add n% onto the total. Probably what's going on here) and tell them $500 all up or you'll take the MS Fleece (the WA's yacht). Nothing to lose, right?
But seriously, you are still saving more than $1100. If it's a hassle to pay 6% then it looks like you've got a few mil in the bank and aren't worried about a measly $1100.
I would bargain. Question the 6% (some credit card transactions add n% onto the total. Probably what's going on here) and tell them $500 all up or you'll take the MS Fleece (the WA's yacht). Nothing to lose, right?
Anyway, I was supposed to go to the Waldorf tomorrow but this morning I received an email from the manager saying the 3rd party transfers were not allowed, even if I was coming from a nearby resort. They expect customers to travel all the way back to Male to ride the rip off express back to the waldorf. I explained I was coming from and departing to other resorts and had already arranged prepaid transfers that were past the refundable period of time.
For those interested in the communications time line, I contacted them 8 days prior since I had received no emails yet. Got response and they asked my arrival times, I responded saying I’ll be coming from nearby resorts via private transfer. No response from hotel for three days, however I started forwarding the email to any Waldorf Maldives email I could find. Four days out, front desk emailed and said thank you for choosing us and all that standard stuff. Three days out, got email from reservations saying no 3rd party boats due to “privacy”. Nonsense, how is this more/less private than “yacht.” I responded asking for boat tender from the resort boundary. That’s when this morning I received email from manager that said not even boat tender was feasible and they only he can offer refund, which I took.
So now I’m in the process of getting Waldorf to refund the points so I can use them at Conrad but it is radio silence. Even Hilton support has been emailing and calling Waldorf to get them to refund the itinerary but no one answers the phone or responds to emails in a timely fashion.
This is some hardball fleecing folks. I’m surprised that even though the website, mobile app, and confirmation emails make no mention of transfer restrictions, along with the lack of timely communications, Waldorf still threatened to deny entry into the resort and would rather me go rebook elsewhere on one days notice.
Others here mentioned they were contacted 30 days out. I suspect many canceled their reservation upon hearing of the transfer fee (which is not clearly stated during booking). My theory is that they started contacting people 7 days out and informing them of the transfer fee then since 7 days prior is beyond the cancellation window of 14 days. Really shady if you ask my opinion. Conrad and Hyatt contacts folks 30 days out in my experience. Heck, even SAii Lagoon contacted me 30 days prior... that is before they cancelled all bookings in August.
Ironically, the intent of my whole trip to the Maldives was to visit the Curio SAii Lagoon and The Waldorf so I could review these new resorts on my travel blog. Well, 2 week prior, SAii lagoon said they had to postpone opening the hotel and Waldorf just gave me a giant middle finger. So now I’m here for no reason wondering why the hell I should ever stay at another Hilton. What a waste of time and flyermiles.