LovetoTravel83

I can recall one glass was around $20ish.

CPH-Flyer

++?

Chewie

Fortunately for us, our elite breakfast benefit was given to us as a result of the St. Regis relocation. Breakfast buffet is really good, and includes anything off the a la carte menu in addition to buffet offerings. We have been enjoying bloody Mary’s, mimosas and quite a few coffee beverages in the morning. ZERO complaints about quality and quantity of food.

Management reception is tonight, so wife and I are checking it out and then headed over to arabesque for dinner.

Last night they surprised us with a homemade carrot cake in our villa (which is an absolute favorite of my wife and I). I was extremely impressed that they knew that from my ambassador, Julie, who I haven’t heard from in over 2 years!

We were also given some soft shell crab tacos to try, on the house, yesterday at beach bar. Made the $14 corona less painful.

Leebowski

Breakfast buffet includes mimosas and bloody Mary’s. If you’re a morning drinker it makes the buffet all the more worth it.

As far as which rooms are better, it’s probably a matter of opinion. If privacy is a premium, then virtually all of the sunset side is less than ideal. The majority of sunrise offers much more privacy (some exceptions). The boat traffic on sunset is constant but also relatively far away. Definitely doesn’t make having a sunset room prohibitive but something to consider.

AJ11

I can't decide between the JW and the Ritz for a special anniversary trip coming up! With how much people are saying the JW's food prices are extreme, I'm not sure that choosing that resort would save any money. I understand the transfer for the Ritz is more expensive but I'm not going to choose a resort based on a couple hundred bucks. The lagoon/water of the Ritz looks much prettier, my husband is actually a huge fan of JW's so he leans that way (and thinks it'll save some $$). Any opinions? Things I might not be thinking of? Thoughts on the lagoon? Thank you!!!

NSCan

Look at the menu's for both. The Ritz is $$$$ for food/drink. I remember looking at the JW and thinking that it was far less, particularly with their AI option. With that being said, the Ritz is probably better in every other possible way minus size and food cost.

Chewie

Just some clarifications. There is two receptions during the week. One on Tuesday at Beach bar for all guests and another on Friday for Elite Bonvoy members (which I assume is for “any” bonvoy member) at the same place.

We’re about to head over, so I’ll eventually report back with any differences between the two.

We did have 10 minutes of torrential rain today, but immediately cleared up with amazing weather. I’ll mention (and to NEFan22’s point) we had some water seepage under the main entrance door to the villa). It amounted to what my wife described as “walking in with wet feet” and nothing that alarmed us.

A quick swipe with the towel and it was gone. Really, not a concern at all given that it was a driving rain and the villas are totally exposed to the elements from all sides.

kkl

was told elite drinks - gold and above

genx

glad to hear the weather has cleared up. My weather app shows all rain all week. We arrive tomorrow morning. Hoping we get some nice weather!

AJ11

I've seen a few people post about a great happy hour at the RC Maldives. One person even said complimentary drinks every day during Happy Hour. I emailed the resort and the reply I received was simply that Platinum and above members receive 2 complimentary cocktails per stay. He didn't mention anything about the actual happy hour. Does anyone have details on what happy hour entrails or when it is? Thanks!

LiquidHonesty

Ours showed the same, but we had 1.5 days of full on rain, the other days more sunshine and a few small showers. You should be fine

Chewie

There are two cocktail hours per week (if you are elite member). You also get 2 free cocktails per stay (can only be redeemed once) at the beach shack.

Both happy hours are from 6:30-7:30. Both include unlimited champagne or wine. The elite one had a few cocktails as well to choose from.

Waiters walked around with canapes during both events.

OCfam07

On points, 2 OW sunrise villas, 2 adults and 3 teens
We stayed in Dubai for 3 nights first, then took a 9:30 am flight. I preferred this than taking the 2 am flight since we would be too tired to enjoy by the time we get to the resort anyway
Private yacht for return transfer was $3500 initially
They let us shared the yacht on the way back from hotel to airport w/ my sisters family for a total of 11 of us, thus saving us some money. Total cost for my family of 5 was about $2700
Overall really happy with our stay. Weather was nice, not to hot, not too humid, rained for a total of 2 hours during the our 6 night stay
Our butler Ammadey was really nice and helpful. We tipped him $150 at the end but he didn’t seem to be appreciative. Maybe I was wrong. I thought it was enough since there was service charge on top of everything. My sisters butler was not as responsive and helpful
Our kids are active but we didn’t get bored during our stay. They played tennis, we worked out, jogged, biked, went to the other island for lunch and used their towels and amenities at the beach. We also snorkeled around our villas, did jet ski, water ski, one of my sons won a ping pong tournament and got a medal and a fresh coconut
out of it. All of the 7 contestants except for 1 were his siblings or cousins 😊
Foods were expensive as expected but I’m glad we spent less than I expected during our stay. With one hour of jet ski for 4, one hour of water ski for 2, one 120 spa treatment for myself, 2 big meals a day with a cocktail to share at each meal, we spent about 8k for our 6 night stay. (We actually got discount on 2 dinners since because of some minor mishaps like the cockroaches in our room or AC didn’t work in our kids room) Don’t do the half or full board packages.
We had at Arabesque with 30% off for gold members. The “upside down” chicken and the hummus were good. Dinner was just okay
We got suck into lobster under the star dinner. Without champagne it was $320 each, plus 23%, multiply by 5. Ouch! It was not worth it!
We really like the Australian Wagyu steak and the miso black cod at the Japanese restaurant
Italian Restaurant was one of the least expensive restaurants for dinner. Food was decent
kids like the restaurant on the other island for lunch. Sandwiches, grilled salmon, poke bowl, and pasta were decent
breakfast was a good value but we only ate there twice. Must try the lobster omelette like everyone mentioned
GM was on the same taxi boat when we went to the other island one day. He just sat in the back and didn’t say hi to us. We ran into him again when he was at a restaurant with his family. My sister tried to start a conversation by saying how cute his son was and asked how old he was, the GM just briefly answered and that was it. Everyone else, from the people who take care of the landscaping to the managers pf different departments was very friendly and genuine. To his credit, the GM did show up the day we checked out. Not sure if it was because of a 3 star review by my sister on TripAdvisor or not 😅 Maybe he was just busy or not up to chatting at the times. The resort ran by him is doing a good job of taking their guests
I was so impressed with the fact that they actually carried our luggages, checked us in the the airline counters, and showed us the way to security before they left
this was our first trip to Maldives so I don’t have other hotels to compare with. However we stayed at high end resorts before and I have to say the service here is impeccable.
Overall, if you use points to book, I thought it was a very great deal compared to other resorts in Maldives. If you don’t have enough points, keep an eye on promotion on buying points offered by Marriott, ask your friends or family to purchase points and gift to you (maximum 100 k points I believe)
feel free to ask me any question. I’m grateful for this thread and reviews on TripAdvisor reviews while
doing research for our most expensive trip by far. BTW we flew to Singapore after Maldives and stayed there for 3 nights before flying back to LA. I thought it was a good itinerary and we’re not too tired from our trip. Air Emirates economy was good and no complaints flying Singapore air biz class to home

genx

I am 2 days in and the resort has been great! If anyone has any questions let me know.

iluvdoco

Are you staying on points or a paid rate? Any room upgrades? F&B options/elite benefits?