Passportinonehand

A bit offtopic maybe but I would be careful adding Six Senses AFTER those 3, not only because it adds a lot of traveling, but especially because it's a bit more rustic and therefore might feel less luxurious. It's a problem I might be facing too in January with stays in modern resorts (Intercontinental, Waldorf Astoria and Raffles) first before ending our trip in more rustic/crusoe feeling resorts like Gili Lankanfushi and Soneva Fushi.

I've never been to Six Senses Laamu but have been to the one in the Seychelles last month and while it's an amazing resort on its own I probably would have liked it less if I was just coming from the St Regis or Raffles in the Maldives (and probably also the WA but haven't been to that one yet)

brandonpkt

Thanks! Is general consensus then that the best snorkeling is by the 700 overwater villas far away from land?

Someone else recommended the reef villas 501-505; any direct comparison between these two villa types?

Our goal is easy swim access from our villa to wherever the “drop off” or schools of fish are located.

thanks again!

SkilleZ

We were told the 700 villas (where we were) were great, and that we should also try the reef by 500s. We did the 500s thing and because of all the sand and slightly rough waters, there was zero viability (this was not a problem by ours). So my guess is the 500's have slightly better snorkeling, but we never got to see it. The 700s were excellent 10 yards from the villas. We saw schools and 2 sharks! Coral is not going to be amazing anywhere (the new resort downside). If you really want the best, the diving by the resort is amazing.

cnote2254

Thanks for this... yeah money is important to me lol but if it was something really special... maybe. Great suggestion on the flowers.

Interesting perspective. We (couple, no kids) are currently booked in a BV and are deciding to keep it over the new free OWV "downgrade" for next year. Someone was saying it felt bigger with the beach, plus we figured it'd be nice for us to just sit on the beach right out in front. The one thing I may have a problem with though is if there are a bunch of screaming kids constantly on said beach, but no one's said anything like that yet that I can tell.

brandonpkt

Thanks for this info - huge help. What was your villa number? And would you rec that specific villa or any in the 700 group?

thanks again!

Traveler Dave

We were on the beach for 6 days. Never saw anyone out front of their rooms. You might see a couple walk down the beach. You should be good.

TD

elucidator

Hello, brandonpkt.

I'm newbe here.

I am supposed to be visit here 2020 02/19~ 02/29 with my wife and 1 kid(3YO). (booked on March 2019)

I also lately realized that the return transfer rate is changed to "per way" pasts 1year.

I didn't get screen shots that clarify return rate is $370++/person

Could you help me out? How to.. and having without any proof to honor

I'm really embarrassed.

thank you for sparing your time.

Eugene Kim

[email protected]

SkilleZ

Yeah, i second TravelerDave. You won't see anyone on the beach (or in the OVW), but you have shrubbery between the villa and the beach. In the OWV, all of your seating (there is seating for 18 outside...yes, 18) is looking out on the ocean as well as the tub, even when you wake up in the morning, your bed stares out at the ocean. The BV (correct me if i'm wrong) seem to have a lot of shrubbery to make them private, but the tradeoff is that you basically have to go out of your villa to the be on the beach and see the ocean. I agree the BV is slightly nicer, but you're comparing amazing with amazing.... It really just depends on what experience you are looking for. If I went again, I'd do OWV over BV again. My believe is that the only reason they changed it is that there are significantly less BV than OWV and certain demographics that prefer it.

We were in villa 725. Any villa facing out is amazing. The ones facing in will be looking in will have the private island in their site lines (to the side). It doesn't effect privacy that much, but I thought looking at ocean was more serene than half ocean with an island on the side. 711 - 737 odd numbers would probably be my top choice, though I imagine the 101-145 units are great also (i honestly never went over there).702-728 even numbers would probably be my least favorite OWV.

TheShis

Hey guys.
Does the hotel provide any benefits for Gold members using points, other than breakfast?
Thanks.

windk

@ TheShis Read the wiki

Angien113

I was told to check back after the first of the year. They hadn't released it yet.

elucidator

Hello guys

I'm new be here.

I am supposed to be visit here 2020 02/19~ 02/29 with my wife and 1 kid(3YO). (booked on March 2019)

I also lately realized that the return transfer rate is changed to "per way" pasts 1year.

I didn't get screen shots etc. that clarify return rate is $370++/person

Could you guys help me out?

How to.. and having without
any proof to honor origin transfer.

I'm really embarrassed.

thank you

Traveler Dave

If you booked before they made the change you should be good. They attempted to charge me the new rate when I checked out. I told them they needed to just to the correct amount. They did it without question or having me show them anything.

If you want to have proof before you arrive (I did have a screen shot I never needed to present) email them and tell them you were checking your reservation and see the rate on your reservation changed and you want an email back with correct rate. They should do that with no issue.

TD

jphripjah

That happened to me also. It's disappointing. It shouldn't be hard at all for them to set some process up to flag/isolate the accounts of guests who booked before Feb 15 and make sure they are charged the correct rate for the transfer.

It seems they don't care about honoring the original rate and their practice is "We'll charge you the lower amount we promised only if you object when we first try to charge you a higher amount on your bill."

Few things will leave a more sour taste in a departing guests' mouth than a hotel trying to charge them more than what was agreed.

I mean, even if this can't be done automatically due to a limitation in their accounting system, how difficult would it be to have someone manually review each bill when it's prepared and then cross check the guest's booking date and make the adjustment? How many check outs do they have every day? Thirty? This isn't that hard.

TheShis

I've read it prior to asking but there was no mention of whether those benefits include only paid stays or points stays, too.