LovetoTravel83

How do they account for that? I mean if I reserved a 5 night stay (350 USD per night) that would he a total of 1750 USD. Don't they just add the 1750 USD to the bill and deduct every food and beverage item from it?

As I'm looking at my bill from my previous two stays? I noticed a fluctuation in my daily usage. Some days it's 260 USD, the others are 380 USD.

tajee165

If you booked prior to Sept. 14 (even on PA), you’ve locked down 85k/night at JW.

friedablass

I did but at that time you could only book a regular OWV or BV (both sunrise). You couldn't book any other room type with points and if I want to upgrade (which I do) I need to pay cash. Now there is an option to book directly into any of those higher level rooms with points and it turns out to be more cost effective using points even if I got the base level room for 340k for 5 nights.

When I said it was 450k vs 520k I was referring to booking directly into SOWV at either property. Also there are quite a few chunks of 5 consecutive days in February that are now anyway 340k for base level room which is same as I got it for. Prices are obviously fluctuating and right now are on the lower end, as the previous poster noted.

ChocolateFactory

I can only strongly recommend everyone to keep checking the prices for their dates.
We are going in January and the price for our Overwater Villa went from 600k + 1,450 USD to 365k + 1,550 USD (or, alternatively, 340k + 1675 USD). So it's basically HALF the price and virtually no price difference compared to a Garden Villa. Fortunately we still had time to rebook.

ChocolateFactory

Can anyone give some information on Overwater Villa vs. Sunset Overwater Villa vs. St. Regis Overwater Suite?

Edit: Never mind. Booked a St. Regis Overwater Suite for 340k + 375 USD + seaplane transfer for 5 nights! In January!

friedablass

Exactly what I've been doing. Until recently, the pricing hadn't changed much but then it started to really drop and I'm wondering if its because the JW is serious competition to them? I would think not but then why else would their prices drop like this?

ChocolateFactory

Might be the new Waldorf Astoria.
Also they get paid more for points bookings, when the occupancy is higher.
And it’s a typical tourist destination, so it’s unlikely that they would have any last-minute business travelers with deep pockets. Might as well sell those rooms off for a lower rate, rather than have them sit empty.
And also keep in mind the significant business from F&B and activities.

3rdworldresident

Personally, i’m pretty sure that JW is not a serious competitor to the St. Regis.

both are cat 8 but i believe it’s not in the same segment.

Dn10

Is the St Regis overwater suite sunset? Any comparisons of that vs a regular overwater sunset villa?

UKTraveller4Fun

I feel like the St.R is no longer the new cool resort in The Maldives and thus people are starting to visit other resorts that are maybe newer. There is a limited number of people in a position to drop that amount of cash per night and the Maldives has quite the choice when it comes to options. Somwhere new attracts a certain crown but aftera few years that wears off and the crowd goes somewhere else. I feel the St.R is now in that stage of its evolution and thus cannot charge that extra premium it once did.
I don't however think the JW is one of the new resorts I am refering to however, JW maybe the same cat but not the same level. The RC when it opens will be very interesting to see how it is positioned however!

Dn10

any news or rumors for the RC?

mjrobson

Only 1 of the StR Overwater Suites is on the Sunset Side - Room 535. If you can get it, it's amazing (it's the most requested room)! Pool, deck and location on the reef are excellent, location on the pier is excellent, room is massive!

UKTraveller4Fun

Other than it will be a boat transfer rather than seaplane not a lot, although in theory scheduled for 2020 opening but its the Maldives so I would take that with a very big pinch of salt!

friedablass

Yes, I saw on the map that only 535 is on the Sunset side. Does that mean that all the other STR suites have cold pools? A warm pool really means a lot to me as does the sunset view but I'm very tempted to upgrade to this room for only 75k points on the entire 5 nights given that both the villa and the pool are exponentially larger than the standard OWV. So now I'm grappling with getting a guaranteed Sunset OWV or the STR OWV but likely not Sunset because there is only one (535) and I'm not gonna bank on getting it.

mjrobson

We stayed in StR Suite 508 for 1 night and 535 for 8 - the pool was definitely colder in 508. We used the pool quite a bit and we also did a lot of snorkelling. Being on the sunset side gives you direct access to the best sections of the reef and the drop off.

I posted this before, but here is a sunset timelapse from 535 at the end of April 2019:
We only went to the whale bar one night - typically sat out on the deck with a bottle of champagne to watch the sunset before going to dinner - the Suite has 2 nice loungers. Conversely, you could probably not eat lunch on the deck as it was really hot during midday.

It's hard to tell you what to do!

I would say that staying in the StR Suite was awesome, but we probably would have been less happy being in 508 the entire time. The fact that we have done it once, I would probably opt to book a SOWV next time for the warm pool, sunset and privacy.