bpbenda

For people who have stayed here, what did you tip your Aris Meeha at the end of your stay? Can’t seem to find any guide on this. We’ve basically just used ours for setting up dinners, spa, one dive trip and a few shuttle rides to dinner. We’ve been here a week. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

CPH-Flyer

I have my stay at the RC coming up still. But for stays at Waldorf and St R, if they did not go above and beyond I would not tip as there is a quite hefty service charge on everything already. But opinions vary. It is however not the US, and they are not expected to make a living wage of their tips only.

pwhite8314

We did...I'd says ours was, average, at best, and our only requirements were restaurant reservations and regular cookies in the room (!). I'm not American, so I struggle a little with the concept of tipping 20%+ because their employer doesn't pay them a living wage, but regardless, we tipped $100 for the 8 days.

WasKnown

Staff salaries in the Maldives are relatively low, even CoL weighted. For a resort like the Ritz Carlton, I think it is very reasonable to leave a 3-4 digit tip at the end of your stay. Ultimately, the money you are giving them will have a negligible impact on your life (frankly, probably 0 impact) but would likely be deeply appreciated by the staff. It might also be worth considering leaving tips for the staff you don’t see but are still working hard behind the scenes to make your stay enjoyable.

I would not feel comfortable leaving an experience so service oriented without giving a nice tip.

friedablass

It's really a personal choice with some not tipping at all for average service and others tipping $20 to $50 per day depending on how they perceived the service they got. No right or wrong here. This is discussed over and over again in many resort threads.

Would love to hear/read a full review of your stay!

lagunas2k

What was the price of the Lobster dinner and was it a buffet style or a la carte menu? Was it the ambiance more or food or both that made this worthwhile? Our stay is going to be short at the RC before heading to STR so we only have a few dinners to plan. So far its Iwau, Summer Pavilion, and thinking about the lobster dinner.

Thanks for the insight.

ChocolateFactory

Any recent stays here from people who have also stayed at the St. Regis? We want to go back to the Maldives in a month and are currently booked at the St. Regis because the rooms at the RC looked small and I've heard that there is pretty much zero snorkeling there.
But now in the St. Regis thread, someone mentioned talking to a couple who were regretting moving from the RC to the St. Regis, so I'm unsure again...
We stayed at the St. Regis 2 years ago and had a wonderful time, but we don't have anything to compare the experience to.

lagunas2k

I can certainly give you some thoughts in the new year! We are doing our "main" stay at the STR, but wanted to try out the RC given the location and the "new" factor. I will say that the RC just called me from the Maldives to discuss my excursions and restaurant interests. I've never received a live phone call from the St Regis. So that's a plus in my book. And it was during daylight US hours.

Bacopa

Just got back from an 8 night stay. The rooms are simply STUNNING. The rooms seem smaller than the St Regis but IMO the RC rooms have a wow factor and much better designed. The pool is also more functional since it is on the edge of the terrace as oppose to the pool being closer to the room. Snorkeling isn't zero but they don't have drop offs and some reefs are dead. Note that you have to get the sunrise rooms for snorkeling. I would choose the sunrise room over the sunset rooms - hardly any winds, the pool gets warmer (in fact too warm) and you get some marine life.

You can also join some excursions or rent a jet ski to snorkel on a nearby sand bank.

Let me know if you have any questions.

lagunas2k

Can you comment on the food and restaurant options? What did or didn't you like. Currently I'm booked for Summer Pavilion, Iwau, and Beach Lobster dinner.

ChocolateFactory

Thank you, Bacopa! So am I understanding you correctly that the snorkeling is significantly better at the St. Regis? I've heard that the rooms are nicer at the RC (which isn't really surprising, given that it's newer), but for me, the marine life is the most important thing with the Maldives... I loved how we could just hop into the water from our bungalow and see sharks and turtles and everything. The drop and the strong current was scary, but interesting. Did you go scuba diving?
Overall, you liked the RC better?

xrayflyer

Just flying back from 5 day stay on points. Service is great and room is amazing view of ocean. Don't get the half board - they're trying to figure it out and will just lead to confusion as they exclude things that are expensive eg no lobster no prawns even though they say it's included. Summer pavilion at $140 for 4 dishes not bad deal. Can take boat over to Fari marina where they have more restaurants and can use the pool /beach at Patina (not sure if really allowed but no one complains or asks). Snorkeling off the sea plane platform near the spa was pretty good but pales in comparison to taking a snorkle trip from Male from Seaholics. Took snorkle trip to Male and it was $50/person for 2 hrs and way better life eg saw a shark and fish around 2 ft vs the tiny fish near Ritz carleton which was tiny eg under 12" mostly. Paid $405 for an hr jetski and did two snorkel spots but fish weren't much bigger but saw a few small turtles. Pretty strong currents and crashing waves so not for weak swimmers. A few sting rays can be seen in the spa area but mostly dead artifical sand bottom. Food is super expensive at most places eg $50 for a burger. Overall pretty nice place with supreme privacy but not really an active vacation or stellar snorkeling. Mostly go if you enjoy beautiful villa and walk around naked outside on your deck without worries of anyone seeing you.

Bacopa

Summer pavilion and IWAU were great. Summer pavilion was a great deal. Two people can share the 4 for 140 with the addition of appetizers. The lobster dinner was a ripoff. Paltry seafood platter and the lobster wasn't that great in my opinion. Spend your money at IWAU instead. Note that the 20 pct off don't apply to these places.

The beach shack is great for lunch though. The seafood extravaganza is a good deal. I thought the food overall was reasonably priced and the portions were generous, but things may change as they figure out they're giving away too much.

Cocktails were superb too!

Bacopa

I say they are about the same. Some pros and cons and yes marine is better at STR.

We did see some rays and a resident octopus near the villa at RC.

ChocolateFactory

Thanks. I think we'll stick with the St. Regis, the RC would require 650-700k points for 5 nights. The St. Regis was "only" 425k.