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High season/low season
High season- December to April
Staying for free
25,000 Hyatt points per night (cat 6) and or
2 free nights stays from chase Hyatt CC sign up bonus (get an additional 2 nights by having your significant other sign up for the chase Hyatt card as well)
Diving Costs (US$/per person)
Orientation Dive (one tank)* $80
Boat Fees for Two Tank Dives $50
Guided Dive $ 160 (one tank $80)
Full Set of equipment $ 99 ($33 per tank)
Sub Total: $389
10% Service Charge $38.90
8% GST Tax US$31.12
Total: $459.02 http://milesabound.com/miles-to-the-...u-alifu-atoll/
Tip: Pre-book diving activities online before arrival for 10% discount.
Tip: Boat 2-tank day will have to be on day following Orientation dive.
(* Orientation dive required by law for all divers to take this course. Typically done the first full day at 10am; a short in-water abilities test followed by a tank dive on the house reef.)
Free stuff
Snorkle gear for duration of your stay (masks, snorkel & fins)
Use of kayaks
Back-of-the-house tour
Yoga several days a week
Transfers and costs
Domestic Maldivian flights from Male to Koodhoo, the new airport which is nearer to the resort than Kaadedhdhoo which they used to use, but still about 45 minutes in a boat. Flight schedule is similar but not identical to that posted on the website - sometimes additional random flights pop up one/two days before travel. You'll be met at Male by a hotel rep, taken around to the domestic terminal (200 yd walk) and deposited in the lounge there (shower available), while he checks you/luggage in. Plane is Dash-8, flight about 40 minutes (may have a connection at Kadhdhoo). Same in return. Timings are totally flexible to fit with Maldivian/int'l schedule, we left the resort at 5am
Timing: Resort will confirm flights ~24 hours departure as the final domestic flight schedules are not available until the day before.
Cost: $520 round-trip per person (November 2017) - paid before you arrive via cc authorization form
Upgrades- free and paid
Free upgrade- unlikely unless you are diamond and the resort had low occupancy
For 2014
+$210 per night for pool ($370 in peak season from 21st Dec to 7th Jan)
+$365 per night for water villa ($580 in peak season from 21st Dec to 7th Jan)
For 2015 (Price for July)
+$235 per night for pool
+$465 per night for water villa
+$701 per night for Sunset water villa
Add 10% Service charge and 8% tax to above prices.
For 2017 (Price for November)
+$210+23.2% tax = $258.72/night for pool
+$310+23.2% tax = $381.92/night for deluxe pool
+$410+23.2% tax = $505.12/night for water villa
+$610+23.2% tax = $751.52/night for sunset water villa
+$1400+23.2% tax = $1724.80/night for 2 br pool villa
Diamond Benefits
Breakfast - Order two main dishes off the menu along with water, juice and coffee. You also have access to the buffet which consists of breads, sweets, cheeses, cold cuts, crereals etc.
Sundowner- 1 free cocktail (from a limited cocktail menu) & canapes, daily between 5pm and 7pm (August 2016)
Manager's cocktail reception one day a week (Sat.) starting at 6:30 with free drinks and canapes. This is in place of comp diamond sundowners.
15% off cocktails and wine (by the glass only) after 7PM. Any outlet.
Generally the higher number the better. #51 is the most private
How to save money during stay
have Late breakfast (breakfast is free for all guests except if you are redeeming points after a change made in December 2013) skip lunch and only pay for dinner
The Saturday free cocktail social (manager's reception) 6:30pm onward
Bring family?
This resort is not orientated for children. No kids club, pool is not suitable for young kids, and you will need to pay the transfers for each child and plenty of PDA.
That said, some families have loved their experience here. http://travelsort.com/blog/park-hyat...hadahaa-review
If you bring children the Hyatt does provide sitting service for $20/hour.
Also note that the resort now charges $250 per child age 3 and up per night (even if the child does not require an extra bed). Only kids 2 and under are free. http://travelsort.com/blog/park-hyat...a-bed-fee-ever
Wifi
Speedtest app on my iPad reports ~1.5 Mbps down, and 0.6 Mbps up.
Tipping
The management views employees as each part of a team, with no one more important to the hotel's success. No one wants to order room service if the groundskeeper or housekeeper has not created an inviting place to enjoy it for instance. So employees share equally the 10% service charge added into everything, including the room charge. Tipping beyond that is not necessary, but at your discretion. Unlike the service charge which is shared with all employees on the entire property, if you choose to add additional gratuity to the bill for a meal or an activity, that money is shared amongst employees of the department responsible for that meal or service (e.g. additional gratuity on a dive center bill will be shared amongst dive center employees, while additional gratuity on a Dining Room bill will be shared amongst the food service employees). Employees are also allowed to keep cash tips that they receive directly. Employees are rewarded with trips and other gifts when their outstanding service is brought to management's attention. A great way to reward a good employee is by letter to management.
My wife and I spent our part of honeymoon at the Park Hyatt Maldives, Hadahaa last week and it was an awesome experience!. 5 days of pure luxury and bliss.
Getting in
We arrived at Male from SIN at around 1130am and was welcomed by an airport rep. who escorted us to the domestic terminal for our flight to Kaadedhdhoo (KDM). We were scheduled to depart at 1.30pm but the flight was delayed till 2.45pm. Resort guests have access the Moonimaa lounge which resort guests have access to. (light snacks, drinks, wifi). Flight time was an hour on a Maldivian Dash8-300 aircraft.
Upon Arrival at KDM, A resort staff greeted us and we were whisked into a waiting speedboat which was more like a luxury yacht. The ride took 75 minutes but we dreaded it as the waters were really rough.
The return transfer (domestic flight + speedboat) costs US$450 each before 10% tax. There are no other options to get to the resort and the domestic flight would cost US$400 alone if booked directly via Maldivian.
Seaplanes do not serve the Gaafu Alifu Atoll as there aren't many resorts in the area.
The Resort:
Designed by SCDA Architects, Opened in 2009 as Alila Villas Maldives. Still doesnt feel like a Park Hyatt yet. The resort occupies the entire Hadahaa island, boasts pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear waters and an untouched housed reef.
To maximize daylight, the resort operates island time, which is an hour ahead of Male Time (GMT+5)
The Villas:
50 Villas, 3 Villa Categories - Park villa, Park Pool Villa, Park Water Villa. All villas have a similar architecture other than a 1.2m deep plunge pool for the Pool Villa and built over the Indian Ocean. The villas range from 100 sq m to 120sq m.
This is possibly the smallest Hyatt property in terms of number of guestrooms, and has the largest mean room size.
We booked a passport escape award for 5 nights (145k) points and received an upgrade to the Pool Villa. Not too sure if its a standard diamond upgrade or due to low occupancy (less than 30% occupancy) when we were there. Some of the villas are under refurbishment as well.
In-Room amenities
Nespresso Machine with 6 capsules, replenished daily
a collection of Dilmah VSRT Tea (Dilmah's luxury line of teas)
an outdoor bath area with a rainshower and a large terrazzo bathtub.
Being an eco-friendly resort, shower amenities were stored in clay bottles instead of plastic bottles. The scents were not to my liking though, but these are temporary shower gels as the resort awaits their customized ones.
"His and Her" sinks and amenities
Dining:
There are 2 restaurants The Dining room and Battuta's, Bell's bar and 24 hour in-villa dining.
Breakfast is included for all guests at the dining room, and in-villa for a US$15 tray fee. Breakfast is served a-la-carte and you can choose any 3 dishes from the menu.
As part of the passport escape award, I received 3 dinners and they can be consumed at any of the resort's dining venues or in-villa. There were no spending caps (excludes alcohol).
each meal was valued at US$300 consisting of
an appetizer (average US$25)
a soup / salad (average US$20)
a main course (US$35 - US$55)
a dessert (US$11 - US$22)
1 litre of evian (US$11)
juice (US$8)
We tried out both restaurants and they were pretty good. Battuta's serves local gourmet cuisine and was outstanding (mainly curries, tagines, kebabs)
According to the GM and F&B Manager who was from the GH Muscat, the menus were from the Alila villas era and they are in the process of revamping it.
This is the first property i found making sense to spend the passport escape award at. The 3 meals were well worth the additional 35k points.
The resort arranged a complimentary honeymoon dinner for us and that was a nice touch.
Activities :
Snorkeling(free rental of mask and fins)
Kayaking
Diving (onsite 5* padi dive centre)
in total, we spent under US$150 at the resort, excluding the transfers.
i have photos of the in-room dining menu if anyone needs them.
Programs: AA PLT/4MM, DL SM/1MM, HH ♦, Marriott Plt (thus SPG Plt & UA Silver), Hyatt Plt, AMEX Bus Plt
Posts: 489
Quote:
Originally Posted by w.sg
...We booked a passport escape award for 5 nights (145k) points and received an upgrade to the Pool Villa...
Thanks for the review and pictures. This is exactly what I was wanting to hear about. I have never considered using the passport escape before, but considering it at this resort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by w.sg
...The Villas:
50 Villas, 3 Villa Categories - Park villa, Park Pool Villa, Park Water Villa. All villas have a similar architecture other than a 1.2m deep plunge pool for the Pool Villa and built over the Indian Ocean. The villas range from 100 sq m to 120sq m.
Were you offered or did you get any hint you could pay for an upgrade to a Park Water Villa?
No longer used by Hyatt; use World of Hyatt Concierge
Join Date: Jul 1999
Posts: 1,626
Those were some great pictures! Thanks for sharing!
-Nick B.
Quote:
Originally Posted by w.sg
My wife and I spent our part of honeymoon at the Park Hyatt Maldives, Hadahaa last week and it was an awesome experience!. 5 days of pure luxury and bliss.
Getting in
We arrived at Male from SIN at around 1130am and was welcomed by an airport rep. who escorted us to the domestic terminal for our flight to Kaadedhdhoo (KDM). We were scheduled to depart at 1.30pm but the flight was delayed till 2.45pm. Resort guests have access the Moonimaa lounge which resort guests have access to. (light snacks, drinks, wifi). Flight time was an hour on a Maldivian Dash8-300 aircraft.
Upon Arrival at KDM, A resort staff greeted us and we were whisked into a waiting speedboat which was more like a luxury yacht. The ride took 75 minutes but we dreaded it as the waters were really rough.
The return transfer (domestic flight + speedboat) costs US$450 each before 10% tax. There are no other options to get to the resort and the domestic flight would cost US$400 alone if booked directly via Maldivian.
Seaplanes do not serve the Gaafu Alifu Atoll as there aren't many resorts in the area.
The Resort:
Designed by SCDA Architects, Opened in 2009 as Alila Villas Maldives. Still doesnt feel like a Park Hyatt yet. The resort occupies the entire Hadahaa island, boasts pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear waters and an untouched housed reef.
To maximize daylight, the resort operates island time, which is an hour ahead of Male Time (GMT+5)
The Villas:
50 Villas, 3 Villa Categories - Park villa, Park Pool Villa, Park Water Villa. All villas have a similar architecture other than a 1.2m deep plunge pool for the Pool Villa and built over the Indian Ocean. The villas range from 100 sq m to 120sq m.
This is possibly the smallest Hyatt property in terms of number of guestrooms, and has the largest mean room size.
We booked a passport escape award for 5 nights (145k) points and received an upgrade to the Pool Villa. Not too sure if its a standard diamond upgrade or due to low occupancy (less than 30% occupancy) when we were there. Some of the villas are under refurbishment as well.
In-Room amenities
Nespresso Machine with 6 capsules, replenished daily
a collection of Dilmah VSRT Tea (Dilmah's luxury line of teas)
an outdoor bath area with a rainshower and a large terrazzo bathtub.
Being an eco-friendly resort, shower amenities were stored in clay bottles instead of plastic bottles. The scents were not to my liking though, but these are temporary shower gels as the resort awaits their customized ones.
"His and Her" sinks and amenities
Dining:
There are 2 restaurants The Dining room and Battuta's, Bell's bar and 24 hour in-villa dining.
Breakfast is included for all guests at the dining room, and in-villa for a US$15 tray fee. Breakfast is served a-la-carte and you can choose any 3 dishes from the menu.
As part of the passport escape award, I received 3 dinners and they can be consumed at any of the resort's dining venues or in-villa. There were no spending caps (excludes alcohol).
each meal was valued at US$300 consisting of
an appetizer (average US$25)
a soup / salad (average US$20)
a main course (US$35 - US$55)
a dessert (US$11 - US$22)
1 litre of evian (US$11)
juice (US$8)
We tried out both restaurants and they were pretty good. Battuta's serves local gourmet cuisine and was outstanding (mainly curries, tagines, kebabs)
According to the GM and F&B Manager who was from the GH Muscat, the menus were from the Alila villas era and they are in the process of revamping it.
This is the first property i found making sense to spend the passport escape award at. The 3 meals were well worth the additional 35k points.
The resort arranged a complimentary honeymoon dinner for us and that was a nice touch.
Activities :
Snorkeling(free rental of mask and fins)
Kayaking
Diving (onsite 5* padi dive centre)
in total, we spent under US$150 at the resort, excluding the transfers.
i have photos of the in-room dining menu if anyone needs them.
Was not offered the Water villa and didnt ask about an upgrade as i wasnt keen.
The water villas have very bad heat insulation and i would not recommend staying in them till hyatt fixes them. There are about 3 full length glass windows with sunlight coming straight in. The a/c can only cool the room down to 28 deg.
Even in the beach villas, the temperature in the day remains at around 24 deg with the a/c at full blast and privacy screens drawn.
Programs: AA PLT/4MM, DL SM/1MM, HH ♦, Marriott Plt (thus SPG Plt & UA Silver), Hyatt Plt, AMEX Bus Plt
Posts: 489
Quote:
Originally Posted by w.sg
Was not offered the Water villa and didnt ask about an upgrade as i wasnt keen.
The water villas have very bad heat insulation and i would not recommend staying in them till hyatt fixes them. There are about 3 full length glass windows with sunlight coming straight in. The a/c can only cool the room down to 28 deg.
Even in the beach villas, the temperature in the day remains at around 24 deg with the a/c at full blast and privacy screens drawn.
-Thx. Hope they address this issue before I make my way here.
I have one big and important question:
At the time of your reservation, what did they charge to your credit card?
The full rack rate as a security for a point stay as i was told by GP?
Thanks for a quick answer, i really need this information!
nothing was charged to my credit card at point of reservation. I spoke to the customer service officer regarding this as well. i wast just informed that the booking can not be cancelled or amended or i will lose the points.
even the transfers were not charged at point of reservation.
Well, that sounds pretty good. Did you book via GP or directly at the hotel?
I think i will have to go in discussion with GP.
Or is there anybody here from GP who can help me out with the rules for point stays at this property? It would be really helpfull!
in total, we spent under US$150 at the resort, excluding the transfers.
Thanks for the informative trip report. Others have pointed out that, even on redemption stays, Maldives is an expensive destination. I'm curious as to how you got away with spending so little over a 5-night stay. I see that you have 4 nights of dinners covered (including the free honeymoon dinner). What about the other dinner and lunches? Did you skip lunch because the breakfast was enough?
We have our breakfast at around 10.20am, a full hearty 3 course breakfast consisting of fruits, pastries, eggs, and a main (chicken noodle / soba noodles / Maldivian tuna curry with rice) and head out to the beach / kayak till about sunset. Its more like a brunch.
only activity we paid for was the guided snorkeling ($35/person)
No dinner on the first evening as we got so seasick from the boat ride
Programs: DL FO, AA LT PLT, SPG Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, HHonors Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Other Crap...
Posts: 5,477
great feedback w.sg. we would have to spend more ourselves as would have to go diving! is the water center still called blue journeys? is "tom" still there?
Thanks for the report!
The place looks even more isolated than Bora Bora where one can wonder around the island with local life present.
Is there anything to do near PH without spending a fortune on boat related activities? Is the atoll populated?
Programs: DL FO, AA LT PLT, SPG Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Diamond, HHonors Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Other Crap...
Posts: 5,477
Quote:
Originally Posted by azepine00
Thanks for the report!
The place looks even more isolated than Bora Bora where one can wonder around the island with local life present.
Is there anything to do near PH without spending a fortune on boat related activities? Is the atoll populated?
The atoll is populated (at least some islands) but not a lot to visit. We spent some time visiting populated islands with our boat crew but it's not going to kill more than a couple of hours of your time
dive centre is still called blue journeys. not too sure about tom. I am rather inspired to learn to dive after this trip.
According to resort staff, Dhonis (a traditional boat) serve the nearby islands such as Kondey and Germanafushi. He uses it to return home on his off days, a 20-minute ride from the hotel for US$5 one way. However, the leisure concierge did not seem keen to have me booked on the Dhoni when i enquired about it. (they mentioned it does not exist). I was more keen to visit the islands the same way the locals did (and save US$250/pax)
I received a bottle of french sparkling wine valued at about US$13. 3 red apples each day except on the last day when we had some grapes instead.
Internet - Hotel has spotty wireless reception at common areas (Restaurants, Bars) and no wifi at the beach.
Every villa is equipped with a 4 port Planet Wireless G router that transmits an unencrypted signal without the usual authentication pages. This was useful as i was able to sign in from multiple wifi devices at the same time. However, internet was a tad slow. Speedtest to a server in Male was 0.2Mbps down, 0.7Mbps up. Youtube and other high bandwidth sites sites are blocked but you can get around it easily by connecting to a VPN. Internet is decent enough to make a skype call, light surfing and emails.
According to the GM, they are looking into ways to get better connectivity. I guess the island is located too far from any modern civilization.
The resort has an in-house water distillation facility for both still and sparkling water. Each villa gets 2 one liter glass bottles which are sterilized and reused. According to the description on the bottle, this helps the resort to save 100,000 plastic bottles each year.
Last edited by w.sg; May 18, 11 at 1:33 pm
Reason: added more info
