[ARCHIVE 2018 to 2019] Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi {MDV}
Nov 12, 2019, 3:48 am
#2656
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: MUC
Programs: LH Sen, HH Diamond, IC RA
Posts: 313
Serena Williams is currently here, we saw her at breakfast and her daughter has been hanging out at the kids club. There is also a Victoria Secret model we saw at breakfast this morning, I had no idea who she was but my wife recognized her. Pretty cool I guess, I suggest checking out Instagram.
Nov 12, 2019, 3:53 am
#2657
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 21
Yea my wife knew exactly who she was.
Enjoying happy hour now, though I think they are trying to up sell me to paid drinks which is kind of annoying. I’m having a hard time reading what they are saying, offering off menu drinks maybe an upgrade idk. Regardless sticking to the happy hour menu it suits me just fine, I’m mostly a gin or beer drinker. Most of the snacks are good.
Still an overall enjoyable experience.
Enjoying happy hour now, though I think they are trying to up sell me to paid drinks which is kind of annoying. I’m having a hard time reading what they are saying, offering off menu drinks maybe an upgrade idk. Regardless sticking to the happy hour menu it suits me just fine, I’m mostly a gin or beer drinker. Most of the snacks are good.
Still an overall enjoyable experience.
Nov 12, 2019, 6:55 am
#2658
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: MUC
Programs: LH Sen, HH Diamond, IC RA
Posts: 313
Did anyone the hobiecat sailing at the WA ? How far can you go ?
Nov 12, 2019, 7:57 am
#2659
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 27
Does anyone know the pricing for the dinner buffet held tonight at Tasting Table?
Nov 12, 2019, 10:30 am
#2660
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 21
MaldivesFreak you’re a tough one because on the one hand I’ve found you very funny and extremely helpful in this forum and privately... But on the other hand, objective you are not!
Given you haven’t been to the resort I do think you should not try and guide the narrative to the extreme which IMO you are guilty of at times (what does and doesn’t get added to the Wiki and the tone of
it etc.) There are many of us on here who have been/are here who have absolutely loved it and feel privileged to be able to come to such a place. I certainly fall into that camp.
Just as I don’t pretend to compare it to the rest of the Maldives with any authority - openly saying I haven’t been to the other resorts - you could perhaps consider being a little more ‘open’?!
- could make this forum more pleasant. We all have different benchmarks
I guess.
Im not a big forum guy, but as someone has said above - this has seemed fairly nasty (yet strangely addictive to follow and often found myself laughing out loud). That said, I wouldn’t be here enjoying the island now had it not be for the people on fllyertalk helping make our mind up.
Well, the pic alanslegal posted with his inflatables in July did it for me tbh. Amazing stuff.
To everyone else from Minnesota and beyond - live and let live!!
Final comment... the toilets in the villas are awesome. Seat automatically lifts and the bowl softly lights which is handy AF in the middle of the night.
Given you haven’t been to the resort I do think you should not try and guide the narrative to the extreme which IMO you are guilty of at times (what does and doesn’t get added to the Wiki and the tone of
it etc.) There are many of us on here who have been/are here who have absolutely loved it and feel privileged to be able to come to such a place. I certainly fall into that camp.
Just as I don’t pretend to compare it to the rest of the Maldives with any authority - openly saying I haven’t been to the other resorts - you could perhaps consider being a little more ‘open’?!
- could make this forum more pleasant. We all have different benchmarksI guess.
Im not a big forum guy, but as someone has said above - this has seemed fairly nasty (yet strangely addictive to follow and often found myself laughing out loud). That said, I wouldn’t be here enjoying the island now had it not be for the people on fllyertalk helping make our mind up.
Well, the pic alanslegal posted with his inflatables in July did it for me tbh. Amazing stuff.
To everyone else from Minnesota and beyond - live and let live!!
Final comment... the toilets in the villas are awesome. Seat automatically lifts and the bowl softly lights which is handy AF in the middle of the night.
Nov 12, 2019, 10:59 am
#2661
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,039
Yea my wife knew exactly who she was.
Enjoying happy hour now, though I think they are trying to up sell me to paid drinks which is kind of annoying. I’m having a hard time reading what they are saying, offering off menu drinks maybe an upgrade idk. Regardless sticking to the happy hour menu it suits me just fine, I’m mostly a gin or beer drinker. Most of the snacks are good.
Still an overall enjoyable experience.
Enjoying happy hour now, though I think they are trying to up sell me to paid drinks which is kind of annoying. I’m having a hard time reading what they are saying, offering off menu drinks maybe an upgrade idk. Regardless sticking to the happy hour menu it suits me just fine, I’m mostly a gin or beer drinker. Most of the snacks are good.
Still an overall enjoyable experience.
Nov 12, 2019, 2:03 pm
#2662
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 44
I arrived at the resort Sunday. First time to the Maldives. We booked 7 nights on points so we are considering once in a lifetime, costs are what they are. I don’t really do reviews and am new to all this so I will try to give my best description.
Traveling with kids, special needs 3 year old and a 6 year old, beach villa 2 queens. The trip over from the US was pretty brutal, but getting over that first impressions:
The Yacht (while over priced, is what it is) was fine, my daughter was tired and used the bed. They did have champagne which was nice.
Villa is amazing, private pool far exceeded my expectations. The kids love it. My personal concierge even sent out someone to blow up an inflatable floaty that we brought with us for the kids.
Service has been pretty good so far. My Butler/Personal Concierge has been pretty good. Sometimes when we call she seems to have a hard to describe attitude not like bad but just like she isn’t excited we called. The resort is huge so unfortunately we have to get a buggy to go anywhere. Generally the wait has been reasonable.
Food has been ok. I am a diamond so the breakfast has been nice it’s a great buffet and the individual menu items like eggs Benedict, pancakes and waffles have been good. But I can understand some who have said they expected larger for such a high caliber resort. They haven’t said anything about charging for the kids. We had in room dining for lunch yesterday. Margherita pizza, kids hamburger, and fries. All was adequate but not like the best pizza I ever had. For dinner we tried the ledge, we had the Peri Peri chicken it was very good. The kids were exhausted from the long day of swimming and water park at kids club so unfortunately we had to leave early, but they packed up our leftovers. All in all, I think we spent around 200 to 250 on food which was in line with my expectations. We figured it would be just like always going out to a very nice meal in the Washington D.C area where we are from.
Unfortunately my daughter had a stomach bug, I do not think from the food just the travels etc.. they took her to the clinic and got her hooked up with some medicine I will let you know if they charged us for that.
The kids club has been great, my daughter tends to miss Mom and Dad and she’s been there for all the activities so far no complaints. The beach pool and lounging area has been great for my 3 year old.
So far so good I guess pretty impressive, we’ve been on many cruises, Caribbean, Jamaica, Mexico etc... and this is definitely the nicest. Hard to compare with Disney cruises though which just have so much for the kids, not saying one is better than the other. We are doing a Disney Mediterranean cruise this Summer so that will be the real verdict. Food being included is of course a big plus for cruises
Serena Williams is currently here, we saw her at breakfast and her daughter has been hanging out at the kids club. There is also a Victoria Secret model we saw at breakfast this morning, I had no idea who she was but my wife recognized her. Pretty cool I guess, I suggest checking out Instagram.
Traveling with kids, special needs 3 year old and a 6 year old, beach villa 2 queens. The trip over from the US was pretty brutal, but getting over that first impressions:
The Yacht (while over priced, is what it is) was fine, my daughter was tired and used the bed. They did have champagne which was nice.
Villa is amazing, private pool far exceeded my expectations. The kids love it. My personal concierge even sent out someone to blow up an inflatable floaty that we brought with us for the kids.
Service has been pretty good so far. My Butler/Personal Concierge has been pretty good. Sometimes when we call she seems to have a hard to describe attitude not like bad but just like she isn’t excited we called. The resort is huge so unfortunately we have to get a buggy to go anywhere. Generally the wait has been reasonable.
Food has been ok. I am a diamond so the breakfast has been nice it’s a great buffet and the individual menu items like eggs Benedict, pancakes and waffles have been good. But I can understand some who have said they expected larger for such a high caliber resort. They haven’t said anything about charging for the kids. We had in room dining for lunch yesterday. Margherita pizza, kids hamburger, and fries. All was adequate but not like the best pizza I ever had. For dinner we tried the ledge, we had the Peri Peri chicken it was very good. The kids were exhausted from the long day of swimming and water park at kids club so unfortunately we had to leave early, but they packed up our leftovers. All in all, I think we spent around 200 to 250 on food which was in line with my expectations. We figured it would be just like always going out to a very nice meal in the Washington D.C area where we are from.
Unfortunately my daughter had a stomach bug, I do not think from the food just the travels etc.. they took her to the clinic and got her hooked up with some medicine I will let you know if they charged us for that.
The kids club has been great, my daughter tends to miss Mom and Dad and she’s been there for all the activities so far no complaints. The beach pool and lounging area has been great for my 3 year old.
So far so good I guess pretty impressive, we’ve been on many cruises, Caribbean, Jamaica, Mexico etc... and this is definitely the nicest. Hard to compare with Disney cruises though which just have so much for the kids, not saying one is better than the other. We are doing a Disney Mediterranean cruise this Summer so that will be the real verdict. Food being included is of course a big plus for cruises
Serena Williams is currently here, we saw her at breakfast and her daughter has been hanging out at the kids club. There is also a Victoria Secret model we saw at breakfast this morning, I had no idea who she was but my wife recognized her. Pretty cool I guess, I suggest checking out Instagram.
Dose any one know do they charge extra for a third person?
I will take my daughter there(3 years old)
Last edited by Canarsie; Nov 13, 2019 at 10:23 am Reason: Consolidation.
Nov 12, 2019, 2:03 pm
#2663
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Back in Hell
Posts: 4,178
MaldivesFreak you’re a tough one because on the one hand I’ve found you very funny and extremely helpful in this forum and privately... But on the other hand, objective you are not!
Given you haven’t been to the resort I do think you should not try and guide the narrative to the extreme which IMO you are guilty of at times (what does and doesn’t get added to the Wiki and the tone of
it etc.) There are many of us on here who have been/are here who have absolutely loved it and feel privileged to be able to come to such a place. I certainly fall into that camp.
Just as I don’t pretend to compare it to the rest of the Maldives with any authority - openly saying I haven’t been to the other resorts - you could perhaps consider being a little more ‘open’?! - could make this forum more pleasant. We all have different benchmarks I guess.
Given you haven’t been to the resort I do think you should not try and guide the narrative to the extreme which IMO you are guilty of at times (what does and doesn’t get added to the Wiki and the tone of
it etc.) There are many of us on here who have been/are here who have absolutely loved it and feel privileged to be able to come to such a place. I certainly fall into that camp.
Just as I don’t pretend to compare it to the rest of the Maldives with any authority - openly saying I haven’t been to the other resorts - you could perhaps consider being a little more ‘open’?!
- could make this forum more pleasant. We all have different benchmarks I guess.Honestly when this happens to me at luxury resorts where I am under the impression that things are included, I simply ask, "Is that included in my rate?" Nicer way than asking, "Is this free?" Regardless, annoying to feel like there's an up-sell going on at a resort like this!
And finally, for you Americans I guess, in English (and in other English-speaking countries) the word gouge and associated expression price gouge are only sometimes used to describe being ripped off for a necessity. Having said that, one could still make the argument that they are in fact taking advantage of people's need to eat as you can't just go out of the resort, walk down the street and eat somewhere else.
Last edited by MaldivesFreak; Nov 12, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Nov 12, 2019, 2:57 pm
#2664
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 19
I had two reservations. One under my name and one under my wife's name. I called to asked them to combined the two reservation together so we stay in the same room. For some reason my wife's name was misspelled in my reservation so they thought it was another person. So they even setup an extra bed for me when I arrived, and they did not mention any fees for it. I had to asked them to remove the bed the next day.
So I doubt they will charge extra for 3 year old. But definitely email/call them ahead of time to let them know.
Nov 12, 2019, 4:07 pm
#2666
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium/LTG, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,921
Well, the pic alanslegal posted with his inflatables in July did it for me tbh. Amazing stuff.
Nov 12, 2019, 5:16 pm
#2667
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 3
Hi! So excited to arrive next week for a 5 night stay and enjoyed reading up on the reviews and tips on this thread. One thing that I haven't seen discussed much was the complimentary photo shoot that is provided. Has anyone who has already stayed at the property taken advantage of this? My husband and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary while down there and would like to do this or one of the private photo shoots that they provide but would like to know other people's experiences as well as the quality of the photos taken prior to booking the service.
Nov 12, 2019, 9:22 pm
#2668
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 44
I don't think they do and they will even setup an extra bed.
I had two reservations. One under my name and one under my wife's name. I called to asked them to combined the two reservation together so we stay in the same room. For some reason my wife's name was misspelled in my reservation so they thought it was another person. So they even setup an extra bed for me when I arrived, and they did not mention any fees for it. I had to asked them to remove the bed the next day.
So I doubt they will charge extra for 3 year old. But definitely email/call them ahead of time to let them know.
I had two reservations. One under my name and one under my wife's name. I called to asked them to combined the two reservation together so we stay in the same room. For some reason my wife's name was misspelled in my reservation so they thought it was another person. So they even setup an extra bed for me when I arrived, and they did not mention any fees for it. I had to asked them to remove the bed the next day.
So I doubt they will charge extra for 3 year old. But definitely email/call them ahead of time to let them know.
I’m a diamond member
Last edited by Canarsie; Nov 13, 2019 at 10:24 am Reason: Consolidation.
Nov 12, 2019, 11:52 pm
#2670
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 21
The gin and tonic (beefeater) was served in a fancy glass with some garnishes and a lemon. But the service for the happy hour was a bit disjointed.
My personal concierge had the day off yesterday and she assigned a replacement, he did a great job. She is back today and her service has been excellent. We are originally from the Midwest so we are pretty laid back. I almost feel bad calling for a buggy all the time but the wait seems even shorter the last couple of days (but still a decent wait sometimes) and they are always friendly.
We are doing the dolphin tour this evening. Hopefully the weather holds up. We also set up a complimentary photo shoot for Friday. The concierge handles it all for you which is nice.
Last edited by kellyjo7; Nov 13, 2019 at 1:53 am