passionforhotels

It depends on what you value more: your money or the experience. A night in the Jen hotel isn't anything memorable. If you can get to Rangali that night - even if it's very late - it still means you've arrived and you can wake up at leisure in paradise the following morning. But of course it will have cost you that bit more, so if you're cost-conscious, then an overnight in Male is the way to go.

It's worth contacting the resort directly to see if it's even a possibility for you to get on the last domestic transfer. If not, it's a moot point.

If you want to see Male, you can ask Conrad to book you a sightly later transfer, say around 11am. Personally, I wouldn't as it still doesn't give you much more than an hour to look around, if you get up early, and it's possible that they can't get you a seaplane seat until even later, so then you're really losing time that could be spent on the island. If you've got a late evening departure flight, why not plan to explore Male on your way out instead? They can arrange a city tour for you and dinner somewhere.

It's possible your room won't be available till the standard 2pm check in time, but why would you spend that sitting in reception??? Get changed into your swimwear already and hit the beach!

Now's your chance to go and see Male. Then use the showers in premium lounge after your city trip. Or pack a change of clothes in your hand luggage and you could also shower in the lounge inside the airport if you've got access to that.

They'll do everything they can to get people to where they need to be, but sometimes weather does win that battle. That's why you've got travel insurance, right?

Majuki

Thank you for the insights, MaldivesFreak, lhrhappy, and passionforhotels. Our itinerary has us spending one night in Hong Kong before heading out to the Maldives the next day, so it won't be a true 48 hours in the air. We plan on having a lazy day in Hong Kong - nothing new for us to say the least - and then heading over to the airport early afternoon for some quality time at the Cathay Pacific lounges.

It seems like there's a mixed consensus on trying to make a run for the last domestic flight where we likely wouldn't arrive until 2 am. I think I'm inclined to have the Conrad coordinate with the Hotel Jen and get the seaplane transfer over the next morning. I read that the Hotel Jen is their go to property anyway for those unable to get to the resort the first night. While the nighttime boat ride sounds like fun for me, Mrs. Majuki isn't of the same opinion. I also forget that the hotel is one hour ahead of the capital. I can experience the waves/ocean air the second night or step outside of the hotel the first night in Male. We're using the Jen as a stopover point only and aren't losing sight of this.

Thanks, passionforhotels. Who would help arrange the city tour and dinner? The Conrad Lounge at the airport? Should I make this request in advance, or when we get back to the airport? If we decide to go into town is there a place to drop the luggage at the Conrad's lounge? We are probably opting to pay for the Conrad lounge rather than the Plaza Premium or walk around in the terminal. Our departing flight back to Hong Kong isn't until 10:45 pm. It sounds like from the post from MaldivesFreak that we would typically be on a later afternoon seaplane back to Male since we have a late evening departure.

MaldivesFreak

Good choice. You will be getting an extra 15+ hours at the resort. Not something to turn a blind eye to.

Mention it to your host once you arrive and they will arrange it for your day of departure. It used to be free. Not sure if they now charge a $5pp fee for it. You will be able to leave luggage with the Conrad team.

passionforhotels

Conrad can arrange that for you. You can either ask them about it now, or when you get there (but don't leave it too last-minute).

If you decide to do the tour AND dinner in Male, then you may not need the Conrad Lounge at all. You'll be able to access the airport three hours before departure, which in your case will be 7.45pm, so you could just head there straight after dinner. That's assuming you have access to the lounge inside the airport (airside - after customs and immigration) so you can shower and change there, should you want to. The premium plaza lounge is outside the airport (before check in) and better to use the Conrad Lounge instead. For clarification, the lounges inside the airport aren't that exciting either, but they're free and have showers and wifi, so that's about the best you're going to get.

I think technically they lose around 8 hours - they'll get there around 9am when they could have got there at midnight or 1am, but seeing as that's all sleeping time, it's not valuable time lost. The only downside is that possibly their room won't be ready when they arrive, but as long as they've packed hand luggage with the things they'll need for the first few hours, that shouldn't be a problem.

soy

MaldivesFreak

Erm, your maths is off. 24-8=16. He's going to save $ by not booking that night.

Majuki

Sure. I'll mention this on arrival at the resort. I'll also e-mail them in advance for reservations at the underwater restaurant. Someone reached out shortly after I made made the booking.

I had originally booked 5 nights at the resort and 2 nights in Male, but changed to 6 nights at the resort and 1 night in Male on the basis of a friend's suggestion. I wasn't aware of the transfer times with the seaplane, so it's likely we'll have a few hours upon arrival back in Male before our 10:45 pm departure.

We'll be flying out in a premium cabin on Cathay Pacific, so I assume we'll have some sort of lounge access airside. If we do the city tour we'd just need a place to store the luggage while we're doing that. All I'd be looking for at that point would be a place with showers and to change.

Does our checked luggage go on the seaplane with us, or do they ferry it over separately? I ask because I was thinking putting almost everything into the checked suitcase versus the hand luggage, which is limited to 5 kg.

MaldivesFreak

Yes. I have heard of luggage being transported separately on the odd occasion but I think that's only with oversized items and only on the way to Rangali, not from Rangali.

gnomey

Just curious - on the day of check out, and assuming you have a evening/night internaitonal flight (which most ppl seem to do), does Conrad typically offer late check out if you are Diamond, or if you ask them nicely?

For example, letting you be in the villa until 3-4 pm or so if availability permits?

Or is that just a wishful thinking?

goliath

Last year, we could stay in our villa until around 4PM (if I remember correctly, definitely late in the afternoon).

I don't think it has much to do with status, but could be depending the booking situation (when will the next guests arrive).

gnomey

Great, thank you! at least this gives you time to shower / wash up properly.

MaldivesFreak

Basically it's 90% to do with whether your room's new guests are going to be there before 5PM or not (4PM is the latest they'll let you stay in the room with the possible exception being if there is no guest checking into your room and you have a 6 or 6:30PM speedboat ride to Maamigili to catch the 8PM flight to MLE (no data on this)). I can't say how it is for non-HHonors guests though. Perhaps the ask and ye shall receive rule applies here.

soy

There are also showers / changing rooms (with towels & wash gear) up by the fitness center and I am sure that they will let you clean up there if you cannot stay in the villa. Is pretty standard practice for any Asian resorts I have stayed at to offer such a facility

soy

Answering my own question. Nothing worthwhile in the airport and anything there is a rip-off. Read about Conrad prices ($10 water) without the resort ambiance!!!

It seems there is a fairly decent place in Male right by the airport ferry terminal - The Sea Horse.
It seems easy to get to and with good views, decent food and fair prices.

Which brings my next question. How much is the ferry over to Male and can I pay in US $ ?
I am assuming its only a couple of $ and I would rather pay in US$ than be faffing about with getting local currency.

gnomey

i would think it's 1 usd at most. read somewhere before that it was 5.50 rufiyaa but that's a few yrs ago
but whether they let you pay with usd is another question.
maybe try to get some change from conrad employees or from the supermarket if that's the only thing you think you need local currency for..