My recent 80K/night booking is a Fabulous Overwater Oasis according to the confirmation email.

When I had previously emailed the hotel to ask the cost of upgrading a 60K/night Garden Villa reservation to an overwater villa, they replied that it was $332/night to upgrade to the Fabulous specifically. I hadn't asked about a specific type so I don't know if there's an option to pay up to the Spectacular. Though as I said a few posts up, I'm also still very unclear what the benefits of doing so would be.

Thanks then - I will book a fabulous OWB for cash too just in case.

Has anyone ever done the Extremely Wow Romantic Dinner at the Gaathafushi Private island? This looks pretty amazing - I want to try that. The quote is $1150++. We had tried the romantic dinner at the Casamagna Marriott Cancun and were blown away by the service and setting. By the looks of it this seems even better.

Ah good point - hadn't thought of that. :cool:

My booking in February was for the Spectacular Lagoon Oasis - at the 60k + 20k per night rate.

I also received food and beverage menus from both this and the new Westin property. The W prices on average are about 50% higher like-for-like.

We are getting conflicting reports from people about the OWB available for points. I guess I will know when I make the booking eventually.

This got me to double check and my confirmation says "Spectacular Lagoon Oasis Ns: King Bed". The rate is higher than the Fabulous Oasis by about $150 a night, but I cannot tell what, if any, the difference is. The info box on the site shows the Fabulous room inside the Spectacular rate box. Anyone know the difference?

I am booked into the ocean oasis.

This is the property's response on Tripadvisor between the Lagoon Oasis and the Ocean Oasis:

It hadn't occurred to me that you could get the lagoon oasis for the same number of points when I made the booking. Need to give it some thought now to see if we will request a switch.

Isn't the quoted response from the hotel backwards? It's fabulous ocean (less snorkeling, less expensive) or spectacular lagoon (more snorkeling, more expensive)? It's confusing enough that there's little description of the differences between the rooms and the property maps on the Internet have different category labels, but the hotel itself mixing up the labels really takes it up a level...

I wonder if there are any other benefits in terms of sunset view and perhaps plunge pool temperature? At the St. Regis the rooms on the southern side, situated similarly to the apparent spectacular lagoon rooms at the W, are noted for having better sunset views and warmer plunge pools due to more direct sun exposure. Though if the hotel can't be bothered to market any such benefits...

Yes, I think the hotel's mistake was with the adjectives. Lagoon=more expensive, better snorkeling. Ocean=less expensive, worse snorkeling from your deck. Should have been spectacular lagoon; fabulous ocean. I've always found those W adjectives to be annoying.

Anyone know what's the reservation email or hotel managers email for the W Maldives?

They have changed the website. It now shows breakfast at $44/day, presumably that's $44++...or about $107/day of additional expenses for those not platinum. Seems like a bit of a bait-and-switch.

They take away the Sweet Spots...and now breakfast. And they crank the prices by 50%. Prices I think are fair game--you can't assume prices will be the same booking vs arrival. But advertised amenities like breakfast and sweet spots (free ice cream, soft drinks) are a different story in my view.