dabrain230

No, they don't do the F&B credit promo anymore. At least that is the info I got when I was there last week.

One question regarding points: our points for a 5-day stay just posted. Does anyone know the rules for the points accrual (not factoring in a Marriott CC since I don't have one)? We had a letter detailing our benefits (Gold Elite) and if I remember correctly it stated that transfer, activities and spa services wouldn't count towards points earned during the stay but I am not sure (and forgot to bring the letter). Can anyone confirm?

mynameisdmoon

I went at prime peak season as a plat and got the upgrade to panoramic. If you don’t want to be facing other villas then I think it’s worth the upgrade (3-4k USD at most). Panoramic at least guarantees you’ll be far away from the main resort so less noise and traffic as well. Sunset/Sunrise will be annoying if you get the bottom half located ones, sunset especially as you’ll be facing the whale bar and it gets somewhat loud at night (though I think they do their best to make sure sound doesn’t leak too hard, didn’t hear much when we were at the beach as we left)

jmail1

There are no F&B promos during peak season, only off peak.

The Wiki on this page lists what does and doesn’t qualify for points.

flayum

I think you may have grabbed the backup reservation I had been holding onto for those dates and had just cancelled a few hours before you posted! Meant to post a warning here, but was swamped with work so wasn't able to. Glad someone here was able to nab it!

Adam Schenkel

The hotel emailed me and says they stopped this in December 2020. However the Marriott website clearly states that the Maldives and St. Regis are part of the program. Has anyone been there recently and tried to challenge this?

Also - How cold are we talking for the pools in the OWV panoramic view? We want a sunset side but not available when we are there end of the month.

CPH-Flyer

The website clearly states that there are no participating properties. You need to scroll down and see the specific restaurants that are listed as participating. Which is currently zero.

unitedMarriott10

Regarding the current status of the F&B discount - the general email I received after booking recently states that the F&B discount is “not available during our peak season (12/20-1/12 both dates inclusive)”. This seems to imply there is something available outside those dates…

My stay is outside those dates so I had asked what the discount may be with my status. The response was, however, “Please be advised that Marriott Food & Beverage discount is not applicable to the Maldives at the moment. However, should there be any available packages during your stay, we will be more than happy to offer.”

So sounds like it’s not available currently, and may come back at some point in the future but who knows when.

Fishy

They said they would get back to me by March 21 re June/July booking. Dynamic pricing will kick in soon. Should I just cancel and book another property? Not sure if there is any advantage waiting for them?

dabrain230

I just got back from a stay in a panoramic OWV. I thought the pool was rather cool, I would guess the water temp was around 22°C.

Chewie

And the games continue. Just received an update in regards to our June reservations.

”Thank you very much for your patience and please accept my apologies as we have not received a final decision on the closure as of today.

I will reach out to you as soon a decision is made regarding the same.”

As this point, I am going to ask about being moved to another hotel.

Dn10

I really don't know what could be taking this long to decide. They're either closing the hotel or they're not. And they're not allowing for new reservations for those 2 months now so they've likely already lost a lot of potential bookings.

Grundygirl

I just want to say, after years of saving miles for the airfare, I was finally able to book a week at the StR M in September! I've been enjoying reading this thread off and on for years. And now, I'm reading it even more carefully! Thank you all for sharing your knowledge. My husband and I are very much looking forward to our anniversary celebration.

Does anyone know if the resort has a telescope or any sort of star gazing equipment? That is my husband's current hobby and with weight limits, he really can't bring his own gear!

Adam Schenkel

What types of renovations are they doing right now to the deck? Are they sanding and staining? Is that just to the main path or have they started to do that on the Villa patios as well? I also have a panoramic so I am glad to hear your thoughts on the pool temp as that was annoying me if true and was legit cold.

did the butler bring you coffee every morning?

raylee123

I feel they are playing a game of chicken with those with confirmed reservations.

The following factors might be figuring into the equation for folks with a points booking.
1) The 50% bonus points purchase promotion ends on March 22nd. Guests that might want to keep their existing points reservations at the St Regis and wait to see what the offered solution, if any, is might want to make a backup reservation elsewhere. However, they might lack enough points to book a backup points booking.
2) Dynamic pricing at the end of the month resulting in much higher points cost for award bookings at high end properties in the Maldives.

I am in this boat. I was going to wait to see if the St Regis offered to reaccomodate us at an alternative Marriott property like the Ritz-Carlton and allow us to keep elite benefits (free breakfast, upgrades, etc.). I didn't have enough points to book a 7 night backup reservation at the Ritz-Carlton.
The points advance doesn't help, as any increase in pricing until you have the requisite points and request to have the points deducted, will result in the higher pricing.

I had debated buying the necessary points to confirm a backup reservation at the Ritz-Carlton, but didn't want to be stuck a large chunk of potentially devalued points after dynamic pricing kicks in on March 29.

So they won their game of chicken with me. I cancelled my 7 nights reservation at the St. Regis in the St. Regis suite and rebooked us at the Ritz-Carlton.

I figure the cost savings of afternoon tea, free mini-bar, elite happy hour and free water everywhere in the property at the Ritz-Carlton cancels out the savings of free breakfast at the St. Regis.

The Ritz-Carlton also have an easier transfer, especially if you have an late evening flight home.

I will be sad to "downgrade" my room size by half as the St Regis OW suite is almost 2x the size of the the Ritz-Carlton OWV, but I guess we wil have to live with a 1,600+ sq ft room!

flayum

This is a cool idea! Unfortunately I haven't read anything like this on FT or elsewhere, but I did find a reference to "the resort telescope" here (no idea to the veracity of this blog). As an alternative, one substitute to a big scope would be some astro-specific binoculars (like these, running ~5lbs).