Sep 11, 2019, 9:23 am
Last edit by: ryandc99
Email contact at hotel: [email protected]
Official Grand Opening
November 1st, 2019
Room types
November 1st, 2019
Room types
Overwater Pool Villa (10 sunrise, 9 sunset)
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2519 sqft
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2519 sqft
Beach Pool Villa (13 sunrise, 3 sunset)
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2669 sqft
Duplex Overwater Pool Villa (12 villas)
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2949 sqft
Duplex Beach Pool Villa (13 villas)
- Maximum occupancy 5 guests (2 adults and 3 children or 5 adults)
- 3068 sqft
Royal Pool Villa (1 villa)
Offseason upgrades (as of September 2019)
From Overwater Pool Villa Sunrise to Sunset is additional, USD 182++ per night.
From Overwater Pool Villa Sunrise to Duplex Overwater Pool Villa is USD 546++ per night.
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2669 sqft
Duplex Overwater Pool Villa (12 villas)
- Maximum occupancy 3 guests (2 adults and one child or 3 adults)
- 2949 sqft
Duplex Beach Pool Villa (13 villas)
- Maximum occupancy 5 guests (2 adults and 3 children or 5 adults)
- 3068 sqft
Royal Pool Villa (1 villa)
Offseason upgrades (as of September 2019)
From Overwater Pool Villa Sunrise to Sunset is additional, USD 182++ per night.
From Overwater Pool Villa Sunrise to Duplex Overwater Pool Villa is USD 546++ per night.
February 2020 upgrade price from Beach or OVW Sunrise to OVW Sunset USD 136++ per night.
Transportation
Seaplane - $600 per adult r/t
- JW Maldives has a seaplane lounge and will provide transportation to and from the MLE airport or hotel on Male.
Domestic flight w/ speedboat - $600 per adult r/t
- You can mix domestic flight one-way and seaplane one-way
- Domestic flight is currently to Ifuru Domestic Airport (70 min) and then a speedboat (50 min)
- Funadhoo Domestic Airport may be open by the end of 2019 cutting down the length of speedboat trip
- Domestic flight is the best option for those arriving after 3pm to MLE
Restaurants
Menus as of mid-October: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VarY3T33N_xWEdangWGkH6JztUU8sA8Y
Aailaa – breakfast/lunch/dinner, 96 seats all-day dining restaurant
Fiamma – Lunch, Italian pizza 20 seats
Kaashi – Lunch, Treetop Thai restaurant 30 seats
Hashi – Dinner, Japanese 24 seats (reservations required)
Shio – Dinner, Modern grill 24 seats (reservations required)
Riha – Dinner, Indian/Curry Pit 24 seats, “under the stars” (reservations required)
In-Villa Dining - breakfast/lunch/dinner
Fork & Drink - lunch/dinner, destination dining, they set up a table anywhere on the island?
Activities
Lounge 18 – club house for “adults” w/ cigar room, billiards table, karaoke, board games, etc..
Pool 18 – 18 years+ pool
Horizon Pool
Little Griffins (Kids club/pool)
Open Air Cinema – nightly movie
Photo studio
Transportation
Seaplane - $600 per adult r/t
- JW Maldives has a seaplane lounge and will provide transportation to and from the MLE airport or hotel on Male.
Domestic flight w/ speedboat - $600 per adult r/t
- You can mix domestic flight one-way and seaplane one-way
- Domestic flight is currently to Ifuru Domestic Airport (70 min) and then a speedboat (50 min)
- Funadhoo Domestic Airport may be open by the end of 2019 cutting down the length of speedboat trip
- Domestic flight is the best option for those arriving after 3pm to MLE
Restaurants
Menus as of mid-October: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VarY3T33N_xWEdangWGkH6JztUU8sA8Y
Aailaa – breakfast/lunch/dinner, 96 seats all-day dining restaurant
Fiamma – Lunch, Italian pizza 20 seats
Kaashi – Lunch, Treetop Thai restaurant 30 seats
Hashi – Dinner, Japanese 24 seats (reservations required)
Shio – Dinner, Modern grill 24 seats (reservations required)
Riha – Dinner, Indian/Curry Pit 24 seats, “under the stars” (reservations required)
In-Villa Dining - breakfast/lunch/dinner
Fork & Drink - lunch/dinner, destination dining, they set up a table anywhere on the island?
Activities
Lounge 18 – club house for “adults” w/ cigar room, billiards table, karaoke, board games, etc..
Pool 18 – 18 years+ pool
Horizon Pool
Little Griffins (Kids club/pool)
Open Air Cinema – nightly movie
Photo studio
JW Maldives [Master Thread]
Jul 17, 2019, 11:05 am
#201
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
It looks like they are starting to take cash and award reservations again for stays starting November 1st. Not if this means those who booked stays between Sept 15 - November 1st will be there during more of a soft opening?
The reservations manager wrote me with more transportation information. It looks like they provide two options to get to the island, seaplane or a domestic flight & boat transfer. Both are $600 + tax round trip.
Seaplane
Domestic flight + boat transfer
This website is selling 5 night travel packages w/ breakfast, airport transfer, and tax for two people for $5,300 for stays until December 22nd. The seaplane for two people is $1260. Seems like this would be comparable to finding a nightly rate of $630 before tax. They also offer the following for an additional charge:
The reservations manager wrote me with more transportation information. It looks like they provide two options to get to the island, seaplane or a domestic flight & boat transfer. Both are $600 + tax round trip.
Seaplane
- If you arrive late at night they said they can arrange a flight the next morning between 6am to 8am. This should allow more time on the island.
- I'm not sure what the latest departure time is by seaplane, but it seems that after 5pm they'd put you on a domestic flight and boat transfer if you want to get to the resort the same day you arrive to MLE.
- Latest departure from the resort would be 3pm to 4pm.
Domestic flight + boat transfer
- The resort charges the same price as the seaplane
- Male to Ifuru Domestic Airport is 70 minutes and the speedboat is another 50 minutes
- Sample departure times from MLE to Ifuru for my day of arrival : 6:50am, 11:10am, 14:35pm, 17:30pm, and 23:10pm.
- I'm not sure if you can do the seaplane one way and the domestic flight + boat the other way, but they are suggesting that for a late night departure you could take the domestic flight at 18:55. I'm not sure if that means you are allowed to stay at the resort and use the facilities until late in the day or if you'd be expected to depart around 4pm and spend a few hours at Ifuru.
- The Funadhoo airport was recently completed and seems to be very close to the resort. They are expecting flights at the earliest in December. This should be a much shorter boat transfer. Not sure if this will lower the price as cash domestic r/t tickets can be found for $250-300 at times.
This website is selling 5 night travel packages w/ breakfast, airport transfer, and tax for two people for $5,300 for stays until December 22nd. The seaplane for two people is $1260. Seems like this would be comparable to finding a nightly rate of $630 before tax. They also offer the following for an additional charge:
- Half-Board (Breakfast & Dinner) supplement at US$ 150 per person per day
- Full-Board (3 Meals) supplement at US$ 200 per person per day
- Extra person or extra night(s) extension
Jul 17, 2019, 3:09 pm
#203
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: RDU
Posts: 735
Makes sense. Thanks. BTW, what do you mean by "it's a better price than the W"? My booking in W is also OWV for 240k miles actually (booked at old rate). I believe points booking in W is still OWV.
Also, what do most people here think about the experience in non OWV? I hear a lot about the OWV experience and I'm now wondering if it's worth going if I'm not getting the OWV (especially since my reservation in St Regis is mostly non OWV and I likely won't be able to upgrade to the OWV).
Also, what do most people here think about the experience in non OWV? I hear a lot about the OWV experience and I'm now wondering if it's worth going if I'm not getting the OWV (especially since my reservation in St Regis is mostly non OWV and I likely won't be able to upgrade to the OWV).
Jul 17, 2019, 6:01 pm
#204
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 115
You're right. Just checked and my booking is for the Beach Oasis Bedroom Villa. Thought it was OWV. Makes the choice between St Regis and the W more straightforward!
Jul 21, 2019, 1:00 pm
#205
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: YYZ
Programs: SE100K, Bonvoy Ambassador, National Executive
Posts: 175
I have the JW and the W booked on points (JW OWV and W BV) for next May, I will decide which to cancel once reviews for the JW are available. The ST R did not appeal to me
Aug 4, 2019, 3:43 pm
#206
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 787
I enjoyed STR on both visits, though I found the first visit to be a bit better than the second. The Westin was great as well - not quite the same level obviously, but definitely a great spot with great service and much more reasonable prices for F&B.
Looking forward to checking out the JW in February to see how it stacks up!
I noticed JW changed their cancellation from 2 days out (which was insanely generous for Maldives) to 60 days prior to stay.
Aug 4, 2019, 7:23 pm
#207
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
I enjoyed STR on both visits, though I found the first visit to be a bit better than the second. The Westin was great as well - not quite the same level obviously, but definitely a great spot with great service and much more reasonable prices for F&B.
Looking forward to checking out the JW in February to see how it stacks up!
I noticed JW changed their cancellation from 2 days out (which was insanely generous for Maldives) to 60 days prior to stay.
Looking forward to checking out the JW in February to see how it stacks up!
I noticed JW changed their cancellation from 2 days out (which was insanely generous for Maldives) to 60 days prior to stay.
Aug 5, 2019, 1:13 am
#208
formerly fdemoulin
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Programs: SPG Lifetime Platinum, BA Silver, Virgin Flying Club Red
Posts: 916
Yeah, don't know when next we'd be able to make it so OWV it is. Thanks
Thanks! It's only our first time and we don't know when next we'd visit so I think it does make sense to go with OWV. What you said is concerning though since we're going in September which isn't the best time weather wise.
Thanks! It's only our first time and we don't know when next we'd visit so I think it does make sense to go with OWV. What you said is concerning though since we're going in September which isn't the best time weather wise.
i would notgo to the maldives outside peak season as weather can be bad. Matters more in the Maldives as if the weather is bad there is nothing to do. The only decent house reef is at the W ( haven’t stayed at any other Bonvoy resorts but as they were built later most of the decent islands have been snapped up) would recommend so Soneva fushi which is one of the original properties or the Taj. I cannot understand why prices are still so high for rainy season. I think to encourage me to visit during our summer you would have to pay me. You may be lucky with the weather as some have reported but at those still high prices I would be hesitant to visit then
Aug 5, 2019, 2:47 pm
#209
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: AAdvantage EP 2.1MM; Bonvoy LT-Plat; Hyatt Globalist; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 148
Anyone with experience resort hopping? How would xfers work if i were to stay at another resort after JW, say at cheval blanc, which is not too far away. I hope it doesnt require a flight back to main island. I could ask cheval staff but thought id chk here before they upsell me on something. First time visiting the islands so not sure how everything works. Tks!
Aug 5, 2019, 3:55 pm
#210
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 731
Anyone with experience resort hopping? How would xfers work if i were to stay at another resort after JW, say at cheval blanc, which is not too far away. I hope it doesnt require a flight back to main island. I could ask cheval staff but thought id chk here before they upsell me on something. First time visiting the islands so not sure how everything works. Tks!