St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort [Master Thread]
Feb 8, 2020, 10:56 pm
#3616
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
Regarding the revolving fruit basket on request that is stated in the Wiki as a plat amenity, I requested a refill from my butler and he said it's only a welcome amenity and he can arrange a new fruit basket through Room Service. Does this make sense??
Feb 10, 2020, 3:37 am
#3617
Join Date: Apr 2013
Programs: HHonors Diamond; Royal Ambassor
Posts: 478
It´s your decision, if it is imporatnt for you, and you have no problem to have it on the bill.
Feb 10, 2020, 7:41 pm
#3618
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
My understanding was that one of the plat amenities was to have fruit basket refilled upon request at no charge. This seems to have changed and was wondering if others had encountered it. We were fine either way, just surprised when told there would be a charge for refill.
Feb 12, 2020, 7:47 am
#3619
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: SEA
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott Titanium
Posts: 51
Just wrapped up a 6 night stay about a week ago. There seemed to be some changes that happened over the last few months based on what I read in this thread (this was my first time here) so I thought I'd share and add some thoughts/datapoints.
At the time of the stay, I was still a Titanium (dropping to Platinum for 2020, but the drop hadn't gone into effect yet). We booked 5 nights in an OVW and a 6th in a BV on points. We had emailed ahead about trying to get a SOVW, but they weren't able to upgrade us (and none was expected). Our butler told us it was pretty high occupancy due to CNY.
Breakfast: A la carte menu seemed to be smaller than what we had seen in previous posts and various bloggers trip reports. The food item menu is only one page now but it seemed like most of the consensus favorites were all there. The last two mornings we did ask about the Japanese-style breakfast bento that we saw in previous reviews and the chef was happy to make it for us. There were also a few cook-to-order items that weren't on the menu that we ended up liking the best (the french toast and the dosa).
Decanter: Was cancelled both the Weds and Sat night of our stay - they have a minimum of 6 people required before holding the dinner and there wasn't enough people either night! Our butler and one of the Alba staff told us they thought it was due to traveling during CNY, when they have mostly East Asian tourists and that the Decanter format is generally more popular with Western tourists, which explained the low signups. For what it's worth we were only quoted the full $495pp price and the $395pp discount for being an elite appeared to be gone - we didn't really push for the old discounted price since we were just holding out for the dinner happening at all. I wonder if getting rid of the discount also contributed to the lack of signups. We did do the 300/350 F&B credit and had reserved half of that for Decanter on the last night - they ended up letting us back out of the deal, which I think is the minimum they should've done given that they only told us the morning of our last night that Decanter was cancelled for that night, but other than that we just got a few verbal apologies. We're both foodies and it was a huge disappointment for us and kind of put a bummer on the trip, but we had 3 days in Paris on our way back to the US and I think we put that money to better use there anyways.
300/350 F&B Credit: We're fairly moderate drinkers and eaters, and for us I don't know how we would have used up the full credit without Decanter. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast, we generally weren't hungry until 5-6pm anyways so we skipped lunch every day. For booze, between breakfast, the sunset sabering, and the manger's reception, we really only paid for an additional ~2 drinks per person per night. I think we averaged ~200 for F&B per night. We did skip all of the special buffet dinners (Mediterranean night at Alba and the Bonfire grill night), which kept costs down. Now we did have breakfast included due to elite status, so if we weren't getting that, then we would have been in the right range for capitalizing on that deal.
Fishing Trip: Prices changed compared to some previous posts, the trip itself was a bit higher at $115pp, but the cost of cooking the fish itself was $55pp. I think almost every couple on the trip caught 2 fish, so overall a decent outing and everyone was disappointed when we had to pack it up and return to the resort. I'd say the cost of cooking the fish probably wouldn't be worth it if, as a couple, you only caught 1 fish. They typically only do the lunch/dinner the next day at Alba or in-villa dining but our Butler arranged for us to have the fish at Orientale, cooked tandoori style (we got a similar dish off the menu the first night we were there, which we thoroughly enjoyed).
Blue Hole: We were offered a 1 hour complimentary blue hole experience as a gift for us celebrating our anniversary (which seems standard from previous posts). It was a lot of fun a a really unique experience, but I'm not sure I would have otherwise paid for it.
Back of house tour and cooking classes: Seems like they don't offer either of these activities anymore. We asked our butler about it and he said they did them last year, but hadn't run them in a while. He said he could arrange to take us on a mini back-of-house tour himself if we wanted but we didn't end up taking him up on that offer.
Overall it was an amazing stay - hopefully I'll be back to the Maldives but next time I might want to check out the JW instead. Additionally, we were talking to someone at the manager's reception who mentioned they're building a Ritz Carlton in the Maldives, which would be accessible by speedboat from MLE.
At the time of the stay, I was still a Titanium (dropping to Platinum for 2020, but the drop hadn't gone into effect yet). We booked 5 nights in an OVW and a 6th in a BV on points. We had emailed ahead about trying to get a SOVW, but they weren't able to upgrade us (and none was expected). Our butler told us it was pretty high occupancy due to CNY.
Breakfast: A la carte menu seemed to be smaller than what we had seen in previous posts and various bloggers trip reports. The food item menu is only one page now but it seemed like most of the consensus favorites were all there. The last two mornings we did ask about the Japanese-style breakfast bento that we saw in previous reviews and the chef was happy to make it for us. There were also a few cook-to-order items that weren't on the menu that we ended up liking the best (the french toast and the dosa).
Decanter: Was cancelled both the Weds and Sat night of our stay - they have a minimum of 6 people required before holding the dinner and there wasn't enough people either night! Our butler and one of the Alba staff told us they thought it was due to traveling during CNY, when they have mostly East Asian tourists and that the Decanter format is generally more popular with Western tourists, which explained the low signups. For what it's worth we were only quoted the full $495pp price and the $395pp discount for being an elite appeared to be gone - we didn't really push for the old discounted price since we were just holding out for the dinner happening at all. I wonder if getting rid of the discount also contributed to the lack of signups. We did do the 300/350 F&B credit and had reserved half of that for Decanter on the last night - they ended up letting us back out of the deal, which I think is the minimum they should've done given that they only told us the morning of our last night that Decanter was cancelled for that night, but other than that we just got a few verbal apologies. We're both foodies and it was a huge disappointment for us and kind of put a bummer on the trip, but we had 3 days in Paris on our way back to the US and I think we put that money to better use there anyways.
300/350 F&B Credit: We're fairly moderate drinkers and eaters, and for us I don't know how we would have used up the full credit without Decanter. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast, we generally weren't hungry until 5-6pm anyways so we skipped lunch every day. For booze, between breakfast, the sunset sabering, and the manger's reception, we really only paid for an additional ~2 drinks per person per night. I think we averaged ~200 for F&B per night. We did skip all of the special buffet dinners (Mediterranean night at Alba and the Bonfire grill night), which kept costs down. Now we did have breakfast included due to elite status, so if we weren't getting that, then we would have been in the right range for capitalizing on that deal.
Fishing Trip: Prices changed compared to some previous posts, the trip itself was a bit higher at $115pp, but the cost of cooking the fish itself was $55pp. I think almost every couple on the trip caught 2 fish, so overall a decent outing and everyone was disappointed when we had to pack it up and return to the resort. I'd say the cost of cooking the fish probably wouldn't be worth it if, as a couple, you only caught 1 fish. They typically only do the lunch/dinner the next day at Alba or in-villa dining but our Butler arranged for us to have the fish at Orientale, cooked tandoori style (we got a similar dish off the menu the first night we were there, which we thoroughly enjoyed).
Blue Hole: We were offered a 1 hour complimentary blue hole experience as a gift for us celebrating our anniversary (which seems standard from previous posts). It was a lot of fun a a really unique experience, but I'm not sure I would have otherwise paid for it.
Back of house tour and cooking classes: Seems like they don't offer either of these activities anymore. We asked our butler about it and he said they did them last year, but hadn't run them in a while. He said he could arrange to take us on a mini back-of-house tour himself if we wanted but we didn't end up taking him up on that offer.
Overall it was an amazing stay - hopefully I'll be back to the Maldives but next time I might want to check out the JW instead. Additionally, we were talking to someone at the manager's reception who mentioned they're building a Ritz Carlton in the Maldives, which would be accessible by speedboat from MLE.
Feb 16, 2020, 4:51 am
#3620
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 3
St. Regis Maldives
They started to offer complimentary seaplane until September:
Marriott Bonvoy™ Exclusive Offer: Throughout April to September 2020, book for 6 nights or more to enjoy complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two.
They started to offer complimentary seaplane until September:
Marriott Bonvoy™ Exclusive Offer: Throughout April to September 2020, book for 6 nights or more to enjoy complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two.
Feb 16, 2020, 4:56 am
#3621
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 12,482
Any web link?
Last edited by TerryK; Feb 16, 2020 at 5:02 am
Feb 16, 2020, 7:39 am
#3622
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
Feb 16, 2020, 10:20 pm
#3623
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Toronto
Posts: 72
Non-Commissionable Rate
Book 6 night or more in July 2020 to receive complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two. Seaplane transfer value is 1490 dollars for two guests. Offer valid for two guests only.Additional persons chargeable at regular seaplane rate.
Feb 17, 2020, 4:15 am
#3624
Join Date: Apr 2004
Programs: Emirates Gold, United Silver, HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Gold
Posts: 299
THANK YOU! Spending 6 nights in July for honeymoon. Made my reservation back in August and have been following the thread since. You just saved me a good chunk of change
I cancelled my original booking on points, and reserved again on points. You can see under rate details:
Non-Commissionable Rate
Book 6 night or more in July 2020 to receive complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two. Seaplane transfer value is 1490 dollars for two guests. Offer valid for two guests only.Additional persons chargeable at regular seaplane rate.
I cancelled my original booking on points, and reserved again on points. You can see under rate details:
Non-Commissionable Rate
Book 6 night or more in July 2020 to receive complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two. Seaplane transfer value is 1490 dollars for two guests. Offer valid for two guests only.Additional persons chargeable at regular seaplane rate.
When I tried to enter in a new point booking adding on an extra night to qualify for the six night promotion, it adds the local taxes (seaplane transfers). Not sure how to access the promo???
Feb 17, 2020, 4:35 am
#3625
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,924
If it does, likely you need to book it as a single block, otherwise you’ll need to reach out to the hotel for help.
Feb 17, 2020, 6:15 am
#3626
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: ATL
Programs: MR/SPG Plat, HH Gold, DL PM
Posts: 413
Did you make your May points booking under the half board promotion?
Feb 17, 2020, 8:21 am
#3627
Join Date: Apr 2004
Programs: Emirates Gold, United Silver, HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Gold
Posts: 299
The booking was not made under the half board promo - just using points and a few hundred In cash
Guess I’ll call Marriott to see if they can work it out
Feb 17, 2020, 10:55 am
#3628
Join Date: Apr 2019
Programs: Marriott - LT Titanium + Ambassador; DL - Diamond; UA - Platinum
Posts: 18
Just wrapped up a 6 night stay about a week ago. There seemed to be some changes that happened over the last few months based on what I read in this thread (this was my first time here) so I thought I'd share and add some thoughts/datapoints.
At the time of the stay, I was still a Titanium (dropping to Platinum for 2020, but the drop hadn't gone into effect yet). We booked 5 nights in an OVW and a 6th in a BV on points. We had emailed ahead about trying to get a SOVW, but they weren't able to upgrade us (and none was expected). Our butler told us it was pretty high occupancy due to CNY.
Breakfast: A la carte menu seemed to be smaller than what we had seen in previous posts and various bloggers trip reports. The food item menu is only one page now but it seemed like most of the consensus favorites were all there. The last two mornings we did ask about the Japanese-style breakfast bento that we saw in previous reviews and the chef was happy to make it for us. There were also a few cook-to-order items that weren't on the menu that we ended up liking the best (the french toast and the dosa).
Decanter: Was cancelled both the Weds and Sat night of our stay - they have a minimum of 6 people required before holding the dinner and there wasn't enough people either night! Our butler and one of the Alba staff told us they thought it was due to traveling during CNY, when they have mostly East Asian tourists and that the Decanter format is generally more popular with Western tourists, which explained the low signups. For what it's worth we were only quoted the full $495pp price and the $395pp discount for being an elite appeared to be gone - we didn't really push for the old discounted price since we were just holding out for the dinner happening at all. I wonder if getting rid of the discount also contributed to the lack of signups. We did do the 300/350 F&B credit and had reserved half of that for Decanter on the last night - they ended up letting us back out of the deal, which I think is the minimum they should've done given that they only told us the morning of our last night that Decanter was cancelled for that night, but other than that we just got a few verbal apologies. We're both foodies and it was a huge disappointment for us and kind of put a bummer on the trip, but we had 3 days in Paris on our way back to the US and I think we put that money to better use there anyways.
300/350 F&B Credit: We're fairly moderate drinkers and eaters, and for us I don't know how we would have used up the full credit without Decanter. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast, we generally weren't hungry until 5-6pm anyways so we skipped lunch every day. For booze, between breakfast, the sunset sabering, and the manger's reception, we really only paid for an additional ~2 drinks per person per night. I think we averaged ~200 for F&B per night. We did skip all of the special buffet dinners (Mediterranean night at Alba and the Bonfire grill night), which kept costs down. Now we did have breakfast included due to elite status, so if we weren't getting that, then we would have been in the right range for capitalizing on that deal.
Fishing Trip: Prices changed compared to some previous posts, the trip itself was a bit higher at $115pp, but the cost of cooking the fish itself was $55pp. I think almost every couple on the trip caught 2 fish, so overall a decent outing and everyone was disappointed when we had to pack it up and return to the resort. I'd say the cost of cooking the fish probably wouldn't be worth it if, as a couple, you only caught 1 fish. They typically only do the lunch/dinner the next day at Alba or in-villa dining but our Butler arranged for us to have the fish at Orientale, cooked tandoori style (we got a similar dish off the menu the first night we were there, which we thoroughly enjoyed).
Blue Hole: We were offered a 1 hour complimentary blue hole experience as a gift for us celebrating our anniversary (which seems standard from previous posts). It was a lot of fun a a really unique experience, but I'm not sure I would have otherwise paid for it.
Back of house tour and cooking classes: Seems like they don't offer either of these activities anymore. We asked our butler about it and he said they did them last year, but hadn't run them in a while. He said he could arrange to take us on a mini back-of-house tour himself if we wanted but we didn't end up taking him up on that offer.
Overall it was an amazing stay - hopefully I'll be back to the Maldives but next time I might want to check out the JW instead. Additionally, we were talking to someone at the manager's reception who mentioned they're building a Ritz Carlton in the Maldives, which would be accessible by speedboat from MLE.
At the time of the stay, I was still a Titanium (dropping to Platinum for 2020, but the drop hadn't gone into effect yet). We booked 5 nights in an OVW and a 6th in a BV on points. We had emailed ahead about trying to get a SOVW, but they weren't able to upgrade us (and none was expected). Our butler told us it was pretty high occupancy due to CNY.
Breakfast: A la carte menu seemed to be smaller than what we had seen in previous posts and various bloggers trip reports. The food item menu is only one page now but it seemed like most of the consensus favorites were all there. The last two mornings we did ask about the Japanese-style breakfast bento that we saw in previous reviews and the chef was happy to make it for us. There were also a few cook-to-order items that weren't on the menu that we ended up liking the best (the french toast and the dosa).
Decanter: Was cancelled both the Weds and Sat night of our stay - they have a minimum of 6 people required before holding the dinner and there wasn't enough people either night! Our butler and one of the Alba staff told us they thought it was due to traveling during CNY, when they have mostly East Asian tourists and that the Decanter format is generally more popular with Western tourists, which explained the low signups. For what it's worth we were only quoted the full $495pp price and the $395pp discount for being an elite appeared to be gone - we didn't really push for the old discounted price since we were just holding out for the dinner happening at all. I wonder if getting rid of the discount also contributed to the lack of signups. We did do the 300/350 F&B credit and had reserved half of that for Decanter on the last night - they ended up letting us back out of the deal, which I think is the minimum they should've done given that they only told us the morning of our last night that Decanter was cancelled for that night, but other than that we just got a few verbal apologies. We're both foodies and it was a huge disappointment for us and kind of put a bummer on the trip, but we had 3 days in Paris on our way back to the US and I think we put that money to better use there anyways.
300/350 F&B Credit: We're fairly moderate drinkers and eaters, and for us I don't know how we would have used up the full credit without Decanter. After stuffing ourselves at breakfast, we generally weren't hungry until 5-6pm anyways so we skipped lunch every day. For booze, between breakfast, the sunset sabering, and the manger's reception, we really only paid for an additional ~2 drinks per person per night. I think we averaged ~200 for F&B per night. We did skip all of the special buffet dinners (Mediterranean night at Alba and the Bonfire grill night), which kept costs down. Now we did have breakfast included due to elite status, so if we weren't getting that, then we would have been in the right range for capitalizing on that deal.
Fishing Trip: Prices changed compared to some previous posts, the trip itself was a bit higher at $115pp, but the cost of cooking the fish itself was $55pp. I think almost every couple on the trip caught 2 fish, so overall a decent outing and everyone was disappointed when we had to pack it up and return to the resort. I'd say the cost of cooking the fish probably wouldn't be worth it if, as a couple, you only caught 1 fish. They typically only do the lunch/dinner the next day at Alba or in-villa dining but our Butler arranged for us to have the fish at Orientale, cooked tandoori style (we got a similar dish off the menu the first night we were there, which we thoroughly enjoyed).
Blue Hole: We were offered a 1 hour complimentary blue hole experience as a gift for us celebrating our anniversary (which seems standard from previous posts). It was a lot of fun a a really unique experience, but I'm not sure I would have otherwise paid for it.
Back of house tour and cooking classes: Seems like they don't offer either of these activities anymore. We asked our butler about it and he said they did them last year, but hadn't run them in a while. He said he could arrange to take us on a mini back-of-house tour himself if we wanted but we didn't end up taking him up on that offer.
Overall it was an amazing stay - hopefully I'll be back to the Maldives but next time I might want to check out the JW instead. Additionally, we were talking to someone at the manager's reception who mentioned they're building a Ritz Carlton in the Maldives, which would be accessible by speedboat from MLE.
Feb 17, 2020, 11:54 pm
#3629
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 12,482
...........You can see under rate details:
Non-Commissionable Rate
Book 6 night or more in July 2020 to receive complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two. Seaplane transfer value is 1490 dollars for two guests. Offer valid for two guests only.Additional persons chargeable at regular seaplane rate.
Non-Commissionable Rate
Book 6 night or more in July 2020 to receive complimentary return seaplane transfers from Male for two. Seaplane transfer value is 1490 dollars for two guests. Offer valid for two guests only.Additional persons chargeable at regular seaplane rate.
Feb 18, 2020, 12:02 am
#3630
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,179
When I see it, it’s the half board rate + an extra 200USD per night. Over 6 nights, when you include taxes, won’t that be the same as just paying for the sea plane for 2 people? Unless you’re seeing different rates, it seems like a gimmick to me.