How bad was the Viceroy property that this hotel used to be / how long was it open for? Seems like there's been a lot of time put into renovations for something that looks almost the exact same (same number of rooms and general resort layout from the look of things).

YouTube "Viceroy Maldives"... according to the mock ups on the JW Website they did a lot of renovations...

I can tell there were some interior design renovations. But the exteriors are similar.

I must have missed something - people were getting the OWV to price at the standard rate of 85k?

They still are 85k.

The over-water bungalows are cheaper, for cash, than the beach ones so it isn't surprising that they are up for redemption.

PS. I do like the fact that the hotel website has to state the OWBs are 'Ocean View'. More weirdly, I'm not sure why the beach bungalows are only 'partial ocean view' unless it means you can't see it from the windows at the back!

It seems like the common areas were overhauled quite significantly too. The interiors of the Viceroy looked awful, and the JW rehab looks very lovely. The only thing that stands out (in a lousy way IMHO) is the old bathtubs did not get replaced.

Why are the OWBs cheaper? Is that concerning at all for the property?

Ok maybe just no availability on the dates I searched. I'll have to keep looking.

The beach villa is more expensive at StR. The "dreaded" garden villa is the room below the OWV at the StR. There are fewer beach villas and many families are hesitant having little kids in an OWV, so the price ends up higher.

If you look on Instagram there are a few employees getting trained at the resort that post the occasional photo and video. I agree with the old bathtubs. Haven't seen much of the inside of the OWB. The rest of the resort looks brand new. Though, I was hoping they'd do more for privacy between the OWBs.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7446520274.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...daf297df4e.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d83715d3ba.png

Thanks for the photos! I agree about the lack of privacy between neighboring OWVs- a little concerning.

Any pictures of the tubs? Privacy doesn't look that bad - looks like you can't really see onto the next deck and they are all decently spread out.

Edit: Just saw the youtube video of the black Viceroy tubs - look a little small. At some points on the deck it looks like you can see other decks for OWB, but most of the areas seem pretty private.

I was debating between st regis and jw marriott, jw marriott doesn't look too intriguing as a new (renovated) resort. St. Regis might be worth the extra price