Half board full board...

In lounge right now awaiting seaplane. I am told the 35% food/beverage titanium discount is in effect until the end of this month. Could of course be extended.

Just arrived today, very impressed so far. AMA. Everything has been smooth except for my arrival where 1) my fast track pass from flying J was useless b/c they took all passengers in the fast track lane and did not check for passes, 2) when I came out from the baggage claim, the W person wasn't there yet, found the booth for W and it had a sign on it saying they were receiving guests at the baggage claim exit. Circled around for about 5 min and then finally found them. The waiting lounge is offsite and we took a ~15 min van ride there.

Everything else after that and arrival were totally efficient and awesome. Everyone got a welcome drink upon arrival at the resort and a tour of the property in golf carts before getting dropped off at our rooms. Even though we arrived around 10 am our room was already prepared and we didn't have to wait. Walking around for a few minutes we’ve already seen 4 little sharks, a ton of fish and a stingray. House reef is incredible and we already snorkeled around our villa. The personal infinity pool has jets which was fun. Got the free popsicles at 1 pm and 4 pm, I thought there were supposed to be magnum ice cream bars at 4 pm but when we went it was just the same coconut and strawberry ice popsicles that they served at 1 pm. There was a free cocktail party for Plats and higher at sunset which was really nice (they had delicious hors d'oeuvres too). Seems like everyone I talked to at the party had booked the 340k deal. :)

Platinum and above still get 35% off food and beverage and also BOGO at SIP & WET after 7pm. In-room juices (same as the ones in the arrivals lounge) and sodas are free and replenished daily. Got a huge platter of fruit and chocolates in our room as a welcome gift too, and a chocolate cake for anniversary. Did not need dinner at all with all these gifts and the party. Love all the little W touches and details in the room and around the resort.

Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!

I was there 2 weeks ago for 6 nights, didn't have cocktail party for plats, might have been on a Friday night? I didn't stayed on a Friday night.

Looks for turtles, there are severals.
Watch for the needle fish, they're attracted to bright and shining jewelry, could be dangerous.

Get a seat at Fish near the edge where you can see the water, sharks come around thru the whole evening.

In my experience the ice cream bars sometimes don't arrive right on time at 4pm so they'll offer the fruit pops if there are any left but the ice cream bars usually show up sometime not too long after that. (For some reason, despite there being the same items on offer every single day, the WET bar staff often seem oddly confused by the whole process.)

Lol thanks, that is odd indeed. Was really looking forward to real ice cream so will try again past 4 pm today. I even asked the guy at the bar and he said, "this is magnum" haha.
[MENTION=366535]countingmiles[/MENTION] thanks for the tips on animal spotting!! Really hope to spot the turtles! The staff said there are only 3 of them that live around here, but there will be visiting turtles from elsewhere.

Sorry to hear that about your wife. We also ate in Fish on Thursday night and had no issues. Wonderful view of the sharks, until the rain pushed us inside.

We have had most luck with snorkelling outside our villa (ocean facing overwater) - seen 3 sharks and my girlfriend has seen a turtle. We snorkelled the other side of Fish though so will try around there again. Thanks for the tip!

This is a great resort and I agree with earlier reviews. Two things to add:
1. The doctor: His office is behind the watersports shop. Appointments and medicine are complimentary. My girlfriend had a cold and was able to get some decongestants.
2. Laundry: They offer one bag one price of $79++, still expensive, but better than the normal itemised laundry service at high end hotels. Not sure how many use this given the staff got very confused repeatedly when we dropped it off, but got everything back later the same day.

Some final thoughts now we head home, after an overnight stop:
1. Anyone visiting should read bgriff's review. His tips were invaluable throughout our stay.
2. For the overwater villas we recommend being further out. The seaplane, weather permitting, lands right next to the closest ocean view ones. I asked for the one further out for the privacy and we loved it.
3. The reef on the ocean side is far superior to the lagoon side, but the water is choppier.
4. Tipping: Recommended for housekeeping. We got the same cleaner and he did a great job for us with multiple gestures and gifts. We felt it made a real difference to the service provided. Tipping elsewhere did not male a significant difference. I regret leaving cash at the restaurants as it just got swiped by whoever got there first.
5. Communication: Whatsapp worked well. This is recommended over constantly calling.
6. Buggies: We used these a lot being at the end of the jetty. Getting one is easy except when the team are welcoming new guests, service collapses for about 20 minutes or so in these windows.
7. Water Activities: We booked the speedboat snorkelling which was just shy of $250 all in. This was excellent, we had the full 2 hours with a very enthusiastic guide. We got to see more than the house reef with this. Even better, it said minimum of 4 guests but they went ahead with just the 2 of us.

Bottom line: This resort is truly magical. It is also exceptionally well run. The general manager clearly runs a very tight ship and this is plain to see. He is also constantly present. All aspects of service were excellent and the maintenance of the island is first class. Food was of course expensive, but we were delighted the quality was predominantly good to excellent. I was shocked that I found the food superior to the St Regis Abu Dhabi where we stayed before the trip.

We have a points booking next year at the Westin. I will be thinking long and hard if we will find the extra points to return to the W instead.

Completed an amazing 5 night stay here early this month and have finally had the time to finish a very extensive review, with an eye towards answering all of the many questions I see often (similar to how I approached my Atlantis review).

Very top line (the review is 3,000 words plus dozens of pictures), this hotel is absolutely fantastic. Nearly flawless service was my main source of continual happiness - a complete "Whatever, Whenever" attitude. The food was spectacular as well and I don't know how you can beat the house reef...

If there's anything I didn't capture, just ask :)

W Maldives Review

Hi, all. 50-something guy here, recently separated, thinking of using points to go here over Thanksgiving to just sit quietly and stare at the ocean. For those of you who've been, do you think a single person would feel uncomfortable? I'm fine traveling alone mostly. Also trying to decide if it's worth the time in the air and extra cost vs. something closer to home, like French Leave in the Bahamas.

I don't think you'd feel uncomfortable. Despite being a small island it doesn't feel like there are a lot of people even during high capacity and it didn't feel like a couples resort.

Us personally? We definitely do not regret going, the marine life there is fabulous, but do not feel it would be worth the long trek back. We flew there in business and it was quite nice, but in economy it would be a doozy.