Looks like the opening has been delayed to October 15th. They are trying to re-accommodate guests who booked stays between September 15th and October 15th.

How are they being re-accommodated? Which resort are they being transferred to? Or are they giving them options?

They are giving an option to cancel for free and return another time with a 20% discount. It appears they are trying to accommodate at the W Hotel with a similar room type. So if you had a OWV at the JW they would be putting you into a OWV at the W Hotel. At this point I'm not sure if they will be providing any further compensation. Might be on a case by case basis. I'm not sure how many people booked the first month of the JW being opened. Reservations were open for about 3-4 weeks before they stopped taking reservations for Sept 15th to November 1st.

The W Hotel has slightly cheaper transportation and you'd be upgraded to an OWV without having to pay for the cash or point upgrade. So that might be compensation for most, though this is two to four weeks notice which seems a bit last minute.

The W Maldives is one of the best W properties in the entire portfolio and well established as an excellent luxury hotel for many years. I'd put it as a better option than the JW in almost every category. If given the choice to switch to the W Maldives, anyone should be glad to take it IMO. It's a win and significant upgrade--especially when you consider the opening messes with service and F&B that the JW Maldives would have had for the first 6-12 months anyway!

Haha, I think you can.

If all that matters is hard product to you, I think the Viceroy photos should show plenty of what to expect from the JW. I think you also will discover that the hard product at the renown W Maldives still is as good if not still better than the JW.

And the soft product at the W Maldives is known to be extraordinary--perhaps the best that most of us ever hear consistently about any W property worldwide. It isn't even a close call to me.

You probably can't compare the two for some period. The Points Guy is in Venice at one of the new Bonvoy properties that has only been opened for a few weeks and pointed out a lot of rough edges as far as service and things that were missing. Can only imagine it would be a similar experience for those who stay at the JW Marriott Maldives.


I'll have to compare the W and St. Regis more before we decide which to move to. Everything about the W looks fantastic expect the overwater villas look smaller and seems very close to each other. It also seems a bit more affordable as far as free activities and w/ the 35% elite food discount. Not many people have stayed at both the St. Regis and W. Not to sidetrack this convo, but you opinion would be the W over St. Regis in this case?

I've seen Instagram updates from the employees that are there. It's hard to tell, but I do know that they didn't even have a menu set for any of the restaurants just a week or two ago.

The options provided to me:

W Hotel Maldives - Overwater Villa for the same points that I paid for the JW

St. Regis Maldives - Overwater Villa for the same points that I paid for the JW and they'd cover the difference in airfare since there is slight increase per person to get to the St. Regis

I'd always take the StR anywhere over the W anywhere. This to me is a no brainer--as the StR is almost certainly the best overall. This StR is supposed to be one of the nicest hard products of any Maldives resort, to boot.

The only reason to consider the W over the StR is due to someone loving snorkeling and the better quality of marine life at the W reef--since the StR reef is still recovering from its recent construction. I suppose being young and loving a bit more chic/trendy/nightclub feel could also sway one to the W over the StR.

Otherwise, a StR is almost certain be better experience than a W.

Either way, both the StR and W are supposed to be fabulous--and probably much nicer than the JW even will be. Enjoy your stay!

What about the hard product is so much better at the W? JW Viceroy videos looked like they had some room for improvement with some refurbishment, but I'm not seeing anything for the pictures of the W which makes it seem like the best hard product W in the world and one of the best hotels in the Maldives.

The W is a celebrated hard (and soft) product that people have loved for years. No one talks about it feeling dated even now. There's a reason it's got a 4.8 rating out of 5.0 even on Google. That is saying something.

The Viceroy-now-JW had a quirky hard product and layout that never was particularly well regarded. I doubt the renovation has changed that much.

Generally, I would expect a better product from a W than a JW--because that's most often the case in any location. In this case, the JW will be newly refurbished but the W is just too celebrated to ignore. This is considered one of the best if not perhaps the very best W in the world for a reason. The service is a big part of that, but the hard product is still considered very good even so many years after opening.

Certainly, not much is going to change in the first 6-12 months after opening for the JW--the hard product won't be as much an issue as the soft product needing to come up to standard. Yet the hard product is likely to have its issues on reopening, too--some things not quite working the way they're supposed to.

I wouldn't recommend that risk when the W is available (let alone the StR!).

What parts of the Viceroy/JW hard product are quirky or bad and what parts of the W are amazing? Generally curious to determine if I should change my reservation or not.

Of which the JW has none and not many Viceroy pictures exist (a few videos but then again, they are outdated). Would be helpful to stick to facts in the thread rather than generalizations.