grassyknoll

I'm continuing to enjoy the reviews and responses from people who have stayed - thanks for posting on the forum!

I'm still interested in learning what the quality of reef life and diving has been as of late. Any divers on here that have used in-house facilities or have comments on how this stacks up to other geos in the Maldives?

Thanks!

maxw97

I'm afraid you'd be disappointed. I've only been to Maldives once and stayed here. And I've only snorkeled once at Hanauma Bay in Hawaii before. If Nanauma was a 8 out of 10, and a clear swimming pool is a 0, I would put this resort at a 5, maybe 4 if you're staying in a beach villa. There is a lack of reef in the open, 'public' area (probably would rate that area 3-4), so you'd have to snorkel towards the edge of the island for the reefs. Even there (I'd rate it 5-6), the variety and the color of the fish is quite lacking. Some people saw turtles and dolphins - good for them. The only non traditional fish we saw were one big, long fish and two stingrays. There were some beautiful fish, but only when I'm lucky. Seeing the edge of the island and hundreds of fish eating the algae off the cliff was quite breathtaking, though, but I assume you can see that on any island.

MePlatPremier

Minnie Sota

Is it worth going to the Westin for 3 nights? Currently booked at Full Moon for 3 before we head to the W but Ive been thinking about switching to the Westin for those 3 nights.
Would appreciate any and all input.

tylerc

I can't comment on the full moon, but from reviews it seems pretty mediocre. That said, getting to Westin for 3 nights and then travel back to MLE to head to W seems like a pain.

My wife and I really enjoyed the Westin and wouldn't hesitate to return - it's a solid resort.

bonitajuaneeta

Has anyone been in contact with mlewi.reservation@westinhotels.com recently? Have been trying to get in touch but no response.

Looking into an upgrade into a overwater pool villa - has anyone gotten a recent quote from a base points redemption? Thank you!

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II

Hi bonitajuaneeta,

If you could provide your reservation details to us via private mail here or by email below, we are happy to help forward your inquiry to the hotel.

Best Regards,

Christina Zhou
Specialist, Social Media
Marriott International

[email protected]

lkh5650

I am going here for my honeymoon this year, mid september for 7 nights!! looking forward to the stay
Does anyone know if they provide tube for use? none of us really know how to swim... but like to take a dip in pool
also is water level near the water villa really deep?


Thanks!

bonitajuaneeta

tylerc

I think it will depend on which villa you have. Regardless, it isn't really the type of terrain you would be walking on - lots of sharp reef and plants (which are great for fish spotting).

gt6373c

We spent 5 nights in an overwater pool villa here in July. There’s no tubes provided, however, there’s life jackets in the room and they’ll loan you snorkeling gear if you’d like at the dive/aquatics center. We had a great room, though, even in an ideal location, there wasn’t much smooth ocean bottom around our villa. Thus, you basically had to float around if you wanted to get in the water. At low tide, it might’ve been 3-4 feet deep and at high tide add a foot, maybe two. If/when we get back, I’d bring a raft or tube or such to be able to just float around, be it off the room or in the lagoon over near the restaurants/arrival pier.

friedablass

I've just completed reading through all 9 pages of this thread and it was really a wonderful and easy read - kudos to all the posters here for giving pertinent information and not being redundant, it is much appreciated and avoids the thread from becoming one of those with loads of pages that takes eons of time to read and has lots of unnecessary and repetitive info. Thank you!

I recently booked a stay for the upcoming February 2020 with the new JW Maldives after doing research on the STR and the W and deciding that a guaranteed OVW with points is going to be the clincher in getting me to book a brand new and "un-reviewed" resort. I just realized, however, that I never did any research on this Westin which is also a Marriott property in the Maldives (Sheraton was off my radar because it's a much lower caliber hotel from what I've seen and read).

So here I came to see what fellow members had to say about the Westin and I'm duly impressed. It really sounds like you get your money's worth here and upgrading to an OVW with a pool is by far more reasonable than at the STR. I am waiting for some live reviews of the JW to start coming in but that won't happen until after November 1, which is their current projected opening date. In the meantime, I would like to have a back-up option in case for some reason we decide against the JW so the Westin certainly became a consideration. I will subscribe to this thread so I can check back easily for updates.

Thanks again to all who contributed to this informative thread!

Emily Wright

This information is incredible!!! Has anyone done any of the excursions? Big game fishing? Scuba? Surfing?

Has anyone seen the bioluminescence beaches?

Is there any new information on the Platinum Ambassador Elite perks? Lounge? Arrival gifts? Special anything?

Thanks in advance!!!

tylerc

Platinum and titanium receive 20% off F&B, excluding alcohol and are prioritized for upgrades pending availability. No lounge on property.

My wife and I went on the dolphin sunset cruise, which was nice since we saw lots of dolphins. We had previously done this at the St Regis, but were unlucky and saw none.

Emily Wright