shakim

excellent snorkelling. even better diving. take the intro dive at the very lease if you arent certified.

slopeflyer

Weather has been perfect so far since we arrived on Monday. Today is another perfect day! Half of the nights so far have been excellent for stargazing (no clouds at all) and the rest were just ok.

Snorkeling has been great. The reef is not in great condition, but the fish life is still vibrant. I make sure to do at least an hour snorkeling off a jetty per day, but to be honest the inner reef near my villa is really good too, perhaps even better. Some gigantic fish can be found on the shallow inner reef (I am around the left side of Dusk Jetty).

WillSkiGT

Dusk jetty is by far the best spot for snorkeling. The reef is mostly dead in water <5 feet because of temps, which means that most of the area inside of the drop off is lifeless. However, to the west of the dusk jetty (left side if facing the water), the reef is in good shape and there are lots of fish.

In our 10 days there, we saw 3 turtles, 10-12 dolphins, 5 spotted eagle rays, hundreds of anemones/clownfish, 3/4 species of sharks (including a group of 6-7 blacktip reef sharks hunting), titan triggerfish (keep your distance), large schools of adult parrotfish, giant clams, crown of thorns starfish, etc.

Basically, everything you could ever hope to see in that part of the Maldives, and this was just snorkeling, no diving necessary (although I did some 5-10m freediving, but that's really just snorkeling).

vinbrando

We just got back from 6 nights for our honeymoon and had an amazing time. Political situation in Maldives had zero impact on our travel.

As another poster in this thread said, I would highly recommend Maakanaa Lodge if you're flying into Malé the night before your domestic flight. Very clean and comfortable place on Hulhumalé, which is a short drive from the airport. They were in contact with the Park Hyatt regarding our flight and dropped us off right on time.

We booked 6 nights in a Park Villa using points and were pleasantly surprised to have been given a Park Pool Villa for our entire stay. I had mentioned it was our honeymoon but didn't request an upgrade, nor do I have any sort of status with Hyatt.

We stayed in Villa 27 which, along with villas 20-31 (32 and 33 have large rocks right in front of their beach path), probably have the best stretch of beach on the island. As we walked around the island the island the beach seemed to get smaller and smaller the lower the villa number was . The snorkeling was amazing as previous posters said. You can start right at the shore or you can walk to the end of a jetty and dive into deeper waters that have incredible visibility. Having perfect weather nearly the entire stay was amazing.

Dining on the island is expensive. However, since it was our honeymoon and we didn't want to worry about the bill for every meal, we went for the premium all-inclusive option. It was definitely worth it as we had several dinners over $400 and several lunches over $200. It was very nice not having to hold back on ordering a bottle of wine or ordering dessert to save some money. I would definitely recommend it if you plan on eating 3 meals a day and drinking.

The Vidhun Spa is also very expensive but again, since it was our honeymoon, we decided to get a 4 hour couples treatment with body scrub, massage and facial. I'm not really a spa person so I can't really comment on the quality of the treatments compared to anything else but I will say they were extremely professional and price didn't seem too outlandish after all the work that was done.

We had such a great experience and were so sad to go. We're already trying to figure out when we can make the trip again

jasonvr

Has anyone done the drinks only option? Does it cover all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks?

Also, I got a price list from the PH for all the board options, but they are cheaper than what is listed above:
Half Board - $130 pp
Full Board - $180 pp
Premium - $210 pp

That matches the prices in this cached page from the PH:
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yP_ObwJhh48J:https://maldiveshadahaa.park.hyatt.com/en/hotel/news-and-events/news-listing/MealPlansAtParkHyattMaldivesHadahaa.html+&cd=1&hl= en&ct=clnk&gl=us

And those prices show as including all taxes and service charges

Edit:
Now that I look at the wording of the email I got, there seems to be some differences, so I'm going to post the entire thing as it might represent a change in policy. I did specifically ask for pricing for Globalists (in case there were any discounts), so I don't know if that was a factor in the pricing

Something that jumped out at me was that In Villa dining (aka room service) is not included in the Premium package. I haven't seen that restriction before.

a1tj

Hi jasonvr,

We recently returned and did the drinks only package. It included all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the menu except for those denoted by stars or grapes [i don't have 5 posts so couldn't paste links, if you navigate to the dining tab on their website and down to the bar there is both a beverage and wine menu that are very representative of their current offerings] from any of their retail locations from 10am until the bar shuts: i.e. no room service or take away available.

The great news is that you can pick and choose which days to do it - not an all or nothing option like the meal plans; just let the bar tender / pool attendant know each day that you do want to take it and you are set. Excellent for those days when you might be diving or arriving early / late. They stock Coca Cola products (diet coke, no coke zero) and Schweppes for the soft drinks.

They put the price up to $190 per day on Feb 1st 2018, if they quoted the lower price they did honour it for us, so worth checking!

Have an amazing time! We were there Feb 10th to 17th and are already planning to go back.

jasonvr

Thank you for the info! I actually emailed the property last night and got a response already. They attached a PDF flyer and it lists the price at $195/couple (I'm assuming tax/service charge included). Very cool that you can pick and choose the days. It seems like for $195 you can get you moneys worth pretty easily assuming a bottle of wine at dinner, one or two drinks pool-side per person, and maybe a soda at lunch and/or a nightcap.

BTW - has anyone noticed that since they changed their website format, most of it doesn't work? For example, going to the dining page and clicking on most of the links fails:
https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/ma...a/mldph/dining

The board options all take you to the news page. Most of the drink/wine menu links bring you to the home page, except for the ones under The Bar.

slm9555

Any price you see is most likely before the tax and service charge.

WillSkiGT

In villa dining is (IIRC) a $15 per person service charge. It has been that way for at least 11 months, although I suspect it has always been that way.

$210/pp per day is an absolutely phenomenal rate for premium all inclusive - not sure if that's because you are a globalist or just because this time of year isn't the absolute peak season (we were there during the Christmas season and the hotel was at 90%+ occupancy - our daily rate was $256 for all inclusive).

To be honest, even if you don't eat or drink a ton, at $420/day per couple, you can easily get your money's worth.

1fan

I think the difference in the $256 vs.$210 price for all inclusive is tax and service fee. 22% of 210 is $46.

jasonvr

I wonder if something has changed. I was quoted the $210 and explicitly asked if the rate was inclusive of all taxes and service charges and the exact response I got was "Kindly note that the rates mentioned below are inclusive of all taxes."

However, I notice they didn't say service charges in their response...

1fan

Currently here in Deluxe Pool Villa #2 and we love it. I have heard negitive reviews about no privacy but to you want full ocean view or garden view when you stay at a resort? I guess maybe we see four or five couples aday for 15 or 20 seconds a time. The fantastic view is worth it. Full ocean view when you wake up in the morning.
I also think the Deluxe pool is forth it the pool is large enough to paddle around plus you have a covered living area with a fan to keep us cool.
The staff is definitly 5 star we have spa and excursions planned for later will report back on those.
The premium all inclusive is worth it even if your a light drinker

mharlan100

We have been here for a few days now as well and our stay has been excellent. It would be difficult to complain about much of anything. We started at park villa #2 3 (base room on points) and then upgraded the second half of our trip to park water villa #42 . As others have stated, the base room is very nice. I would like to have had the plunge pool, but I doubt we would have used it much as we have been so tired in the evenings fighting jet lag and a full day of food, drinks, beach, and sun.

I can confirm that our water villa is slightly more weathered than the base room, which was something I had also read. It's not bad, but I suppose being more exposed to the elements does take its toll. The hotel is currently doing work on water villa #38 now, so it is good to see Hyatt is putting some money into upkeep of the resort. The water villa has been slightly warmer in the afternoons than the park villa, but I have not been hot. We have been keeping our shades closed during the day when we are not in the room. Overall, I would be perfectly comfortable and satisfied staying in the base room or maybe upgrading for the plunge pool on a return trip.

One important thing to confirm was the quality of the beach at our villa. As per the link in the wiki, I did request a villa between #2 0 and #2 6 based upon the reports of it being the best beach area. This was spot on! Villa #2 3 is smack dab in the middle of this section and after walking the island a couple of times, I am quite certain this the best beach area on the island (outside of the main beach). It has the most sand, fewest rocks, and is farthest away from the jetties, restaurants, and generally other people. It does not have a beach view from the villa though, so keep that in mind if you want more of a view versus more privacy. I would definitely agree with 1fan above that villa #2 probably has the best view right out of the pool onto the beach. Certain villas have very little sand and a lot of big rocks which may or may not be an issue for you.

Although, I am not a food snob, I can say that I've been very happy with the restaurants. You should really consider the all-inclusive package. I was quoted the $256/person price versus the $210/person reported above, but I will be asking if we can get the lower price before we leave. At either price, I can say that we have far exceeded the all-inclusive price each day. You sign for every meal, so it is easy to keep tabs on it. For reference, today my wife and I only had 3 alcoholic drinks and our tab exceeded $600 combined. Yesterday was a heavy drinking day and we exceeded $900. It's not hard to break ~$500 in a day for two people just on food. However, I should point out that the all-inclusive plan includes two courses for lunch and three for dinner. I would probably not have ordered all of these courses if I was paying per meal, so there is potential savings there if you are trying to go on the cheap. Portions have generally been good to excessively large. The portion sizes at the Island Grill in particular have been so large that I have not been able to finish some of the meals even though they were great (I'm looking at you chateaubriand)!

The resort staff has been very polite and friendly. We've been treated very well and everyone seems to be in a good mood. I have no complaints.

Snorkeling has been the best I've ever experienced. There are so many fish its almost unreal. Yes, the inner reef is bleached, but there are still many fish there. The outer reef is even better. If you are surface snorkeler, then I might also suggest a full face snorkel like the Tribord. They are relatively expensive, but it's been well worth the purchase, especially since snorkeling multiple times over several days was a major draw for coming here.

Just an FYI, we did not see or encounter any issues stemming from the political unrest I've been reading about in the Maldives. It was a concern going into the trip, but thus far it seems to be a non-issue. I would not have had any idea that anything is even going on. As it currently stands I would definitely not let it detour my trip unless something changes for the worse, but I suppose everyone will have a different take on this.

1fan

Just got back from our fantastic stay. A few things.

Loved the deluxe pool villas definitly worth the upgrade we spent alot of the time in the shade next to the large plunge pool.

The staff is great after twelve days many of them felt like family. We tipped extra 10 percent of every bill as others have said this money only goes to staff no executives or owners. The staff works so hard away from their familes glad to help them out

The food is good not NYC good but alot better than I would have thought that far away.

$210 all in is worth it but tax and service fee was added at the end so its $256 after all. I was vever told either way so I wasnt upset.
The only problem with all inclusive for a twelve day stay is we ate and drank more than we should have. I think you can start it whenever you want doesnt have to be at the start of your trip.

We were moved to a water villa for 6 hours on departure day didnt love it, very very hot one the outside area in the afternoon. If these had pools I whould change my mind. I can see how people would perfer these just not us.

PortlySpartacus

If the meal-beverage plan fee included a service fee do you feel you overpaid by tipping an additional 10% on top of the already included tax & service fees added in?