I would not be so sure. PH seems to be the much nicer option given its small size. It also by all accounts has an amazing house reef.

At both resorts people often pay to upgrade to higher categories on award stays.

I suggest looking at both property threads in the Hilton and Hyatt fora. There is much information about award stays, meal plans, upgrades, etc...

Conrad is notorious for price gouging on F&B etc... I guess that's their business model because they have to make money somehow even with so many people staying on points. So, if you do go there be sure to have a very clear understanding of meal plans and what your options are.

Park Hyatt gets good reviews for F&B, and there is less talk of price gouging.

Just to clarify, when you say $5,500 does that mean for incidetals only? i.e. do you already have the points and only need to pay for food and activities?

If you are talking about buying points, and your TOTAL budget is $5,500 that isn't going to work... You'll need a substantially higher budget or to look for another destination.

I was thinking about buying points for that budget, yes.

Hilton was recently selling points for 0.5 cents each, the Conrad is 567,000 points for 7 nights (as the 5th night is free for elites), so 7 nights would cost about 2,835 USD, i.e. 405 USD per night, and breakfast should be included for Gold/Diamond members.
The transfers are another 1000$.

Hyatt is currently selling points with a 30% bonus, i.e. 1.85 cents per point.
The Park Hyatt is 25,000 points per night or 175,000 points for 7 nights. So the price for 7 nights would be 3237.50 $ (or 462$ per night).
But I guess breakfast wouldn't be included as it's much harder to get elite status with Hyatt as they don't have a co-branded credit card over here.
Transfers are 1000$ for 2 people (return) as well.

Activities would come on top. And dinner...

And in this review from 2013, the Conrad comes out much better:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20252872-post786.html

Also, I've read that the house reef at the PH was damaged (coral bleaching) by El Nino in 2016...

Not sure any of the hotels you're mentioning really fit in this forum. You might find the Hilton forum better?

Most of the hotels in this forum that are Maldives places are really 2x the budget you're talking about.

And you are aware that F&B and activities can easily cost more than $1,000 per day in the Maldives even if one is not drinking expensive wines or doing anything over the top, right?

You will find a lot of information about the cost of staying in the property review threads.

I suggest that you take a meal plan at Conrad if you stay there, just to ensure you do not end up having to skip meals. That will make it easier to predict the cost of the stay.

Thank you all very much for your help, I'll continue in the more specific/fitting forums.

Don't I know it!

We did Gili does romance and had a few things thrown in otherwise it would have been ridiculously expensive. Dinner would easily be $500 gong easy on the wine....

I'm going back though it was amazing

Just so you're aware, everybody gets free breakfast at PH Maldives. It's not status dependent.

I love Gili Lankanfushi. A good thing is that sometimes they include full board if your reserve far in advance, which is a huge amount of added value.

The cost of wine in the Maldives works to help incentivize moderation, which is always a good thing for me😉 It leaves me better able to enjoy my vacation without a hangover.

Thanks!

Such a true story - was a fairly "dry" few days - my definition of dry is different than most.

I don't think I told you about my recent sushi shin experience - they thought we were mental when we ordered the second bottle of champagne at lunch! :D:D:D

Don't want to verge OT here, but just FYI people on points with no status do not get free breakfast any longer. Only Globalist + points or cash stays.

Sorry I wasn't aware that it had changed! Ignore what I said previously.

Thanks, that's good to know.