I don't see why they should have a penalty policy for no show. Rather than that .... why can't they just call the person? It's a captive audience, it's not like they went off to another island for dinner.

I don't know about everyone else but I leave the mobile in the villa. If I did have it with me I wouldn't answer it unless it was an important call. How are you going to contact these people if they don't want to be bothered which is often the case. If I'm in the villa I will probably be listening to music, resting, having a bath, doing bed sports or whatever and not want to be bothered by phonecalls every evening. I don't think I'm either for or against a penalty. What I am against is them letting the Saudi / UAE / oil magnate junkets and other super-rich clientelle book every single restaurant for every single night just so they have the freedom to choose which one they'd like to go to, come dinner time. What other explanation could there be for the incessant "Sorry, fully booked" but 50% full crap?

Anyone who has stayed both here and Conrad... which should we book for our honeymoon? I have been googling for days and doesn't seem obvious.

St Regis Sunset OWV vs Conrad Water Villa. Can anyone help?

Vommuli is a pretty much brand new resort and the OWVs at the Conrad are OK but outdated and not in tip top condition. There are a few mentions in this thread about both villas. Have you read the entire thread?

As for other aspects, there's a huge difference in so many areas. What are you after in a holiday (F&B, recreation, resort size, atmosphere etc) and how long are you planning on staying?

I did read through the thread - what I'm thinking is it seems like Conrad is much bigger and has more variety/reasonable priced restaurants, and also more lively coral reef. St Regis is more upscale but also everyone eats pizzas and has a good time. We are looking unwind and will probably spend more time just relaxing than doing activities - I'm sure we will snorkel a few times, but we would definitely not choose based on reef quality. Reading through the thread, we would definitely want to try the Decanter restaurant at least once. It seems like my conclusion is that St Regis is the right choice for this honeymoon trip (6 days - first week of August). If we come back with kids, we would probably choose Conrad. Thoughts?

For the honeymoon, especially if reef quality isn't a deciding factor, you're making the right choice. St Regis overwater villas are far nicer than their competition at the Conrad. I found them to be a lot better than the retreat water villas at the Conrad. You're giving up a few dining choices, a few activities, and a (much) nicer and softer beach at the Conrad-- if these aren't a dealbreaker (which for 6 nights on a honeymoon, I don't think they should be), the St Regis is a clear choice.

Added bonus is that half of the guests at the St Regis aren't there on free weekend nights from their credit card signups.

Don't forget the other added bonus of the restaurants being full and unbookable when they are actually half empty. Great for spontaneous romantic honeymoon dinners! I advise you to either book your dinners in advance - all of them - (and be prepared to stick to that plan and not make any changes) or send an appropriately worded email to the resort complaining about this and that it is your honeymoon so you will be paying a great deal of attention to this and will be far less than happy if this happens while you are there. Everybody needs to be treated equally and they should be aware that you know what is going on. Link to this thread if you think it is necessary. Best of luck and hope you have a great honeymoon!

The St. Regis experience will be a lot more personalized for a honeymoon. I've stayed at Four Seasons Kuda Huraa and St. Regis and the experience was far superior at StR. Don't forget the butler you will be assigned, who basically does everything for you. My wife and I went to the St. Regis for our honeymoon 2 months ago and were blown away by the hospitality. We stayed 9 nights and were not bored at all. The house reef may be bleached, but the marine life there is pretty decent. We saw some eagle rays and reef sharks almost every day while snorkeling. And about the restaurants being fully booked, you can request to your butler that you'd like to change your options when you arrive. I think all the restaurants are spectacular (but would not pick Alba for dinner unless they have some seafood buffet). Decanter is absolutely stunning, and their sommeliers are top-notch. Make sure you're nice to the staff, and they'll reciprocate and go far above your expectations.

Our butler there was Ahmed (absolute top drawer, if you could request him, I would). All the guests spoke so highly of him throughout our stay.
At the restaurants, Saudullah was our go-to server. He would grab extras for us and make sure we were always attended to.
The sommelier, Julius, is incredibly laid-back and is a genius. Ask him many questions.
At the dive resort, Manish, Jessica and Roman were all incredible. We had Jessica for most of our dives and she spent a lot of time making sure my wife felt comfortable diving.

The St. Regis is a better resort for honeymooners, and the hotel is not crowded, so it'll feel more exclusive than the Conrad imo. I did look at other hotels, and am very happy to have picked StR.

Hope this helps,
Steven

Agee - Julius was AMAZING !

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7a1affa3a0.jpg

anyone trying to book rooms for the new 20k/night price aug 1?

I think a LOT of people will be trying to book rooms for the new 20K/night price. Tons of coverage on TPG and the other travel blogs. It could be tough to snag availability especially considering you will not need the points upfront anymore to book. My understanding is moving forward any schmuck with a Marriott account will be able to reserve the award reservation if there is award availability regardless of point balance. They won't need to come up with the full point balance until a week out or so. I'm thinking this is going to cause some major availability problems at such a high profile property like the St. Regis Maldives.

I've got a current reservation on points and am hoping that I'll be able to get the cheaper 20k point redemption rate without risking my dates & confirmation.

Just to clarify we can only make reservations for this year at this new rate and not for next year right?

Theoretically, you can make reservations for 350 days in advance. What actual availability looks like, especially at the cat 8 properties, remains to be seen. There seem to be a lot of folks planning to get a screaming deal in Bora Bora or Maldives, but I wonder how realistic that is. Guess we'll know in about a month...

An awful lot depends I think on how you want to spend your time.

I have done both and the SR tramples all over the Conrad. The Conrad accommodations are small and rather tired and in no way matching what would now be considered luxurious in the Maldives.

The SR accommodations (especially the OWV) are fabulous and a truly great place to unwind and relax.

If you don't care about the quality of the rooms and want to spend most of your time beyond your villa (and that is a must at the Conrad), then arguably the Conrad offers a bit more. On the flipside it is also a huge resort and feels like it.

For me without question it would be the SR. Staying at the SR last year has practically meant that I could never stay at the Conrad again.

Is there a comparison between the W and St Regis Maldives? Would love to book for November-ish 2019, hoping there's some sort of point availability.

I guess those of us looking at this is banking on those with a few hundred thousand MR/SPG points to spare isn't actually that large of a group.