Janhaus

Quick update on dining: the morning breakfast is very nice esp if you are have status with Marriott (I'm just plat but I picked breakfast as my reward), you can order any combination of various items from the menu, multiples included and it's all included in the breakfast! Literally ordered four juices and five breakfast items this morning. Their Asian themed foods are above average in my opinion, worth a try.

I skipped lunch due to the aforementioned big breakfast, for dinner I dined at Fish - due to the current situation there is only ONE restaurant open at nights, either Fish or Fire or Kitchen but no two of the three. I had the catch of the day at Fish, pretty good size and quality, and price is commensurate to ordering two of the entrees, so that's an option for those such inclined.

Plenish

Thanks for the updates, they are super helpful. Hope you are having a great time!

gobears293

Wil echo everything Janhaus has said. Breakfast is wonderful. Lots to choose from and no limits. Had some standard fare today (eggs, bacon, "gourmet" toast, fruit, healthy yogurt bowl, coffee, green juice.... and a glass of cava); looking forward to trying some of the Asian fare on future mornings. The Maldivian tuna curry has gotten rave reviews and we'll definitely have a dumpling basket.

My wife and I had the same dinner at Fish. Catch of the day was grilled perfectly. We had white snapper; red snapper and grouper also available.

All staff at the resort are amazing. Super friendly, helpful, open and warm. Chunky especially is great to chat with.

Okay back to the pool....

smartcookie

Hi there!

We're heading to the W in a few weeks for our honeymoon (from NYC). Curious about the following, if anyone who is currently there since re-opening can answer.

- Is the W lounge at the airport open right now?
- I'm reading that there are no happy hour specials or free ice cream bars currently and only 1 restaurant is open each night. Any other Covid amenity changes? Are any snacks available for free at all? Fruit, granola bars, etc?
- Is there any entertainment currently?

- We are booked in the OTW fabulous room. Which room has the most privacy, best sunset view, is away from plane/boat traffic, and ideally good reef right under the villa too? I was thinking the furthest ones down the walkway, so #222 or so. Is that accurate? I'm a bit confused because some reviews seem to say the lagoon side has best sunset views and some say the ocean side. I know they are all partial views. Also, not sure which side has the most plane/boat traffic. I also read that it's more choppy on the ocean side in terms of snorkeling, but feels more remote without always seeing the island and boats necessarily? We like the idea of a remote island feeling, though choppy is not ideal of course.

gobears293

The airport lounge is open. Service there is excellent. Great way to start the trip.
Correct, no happy hour specials or free ice cream bars. Capacity is really low (no more than 25%) and very few people are at the pool, so there isn't much of a crowd or lively environment around Wet. (Everyone just enjoying the beach, lagoon or their own pools). The drinks at Sip are fantastic; the two we've had so far come in special containers (can't even call them glasses). "Dancing with Almonds" serves two and comes in a bird cage. Be friendly, talk to the staff, especially Chunky. I think he is "hosting" his own happy hours with certain guests. (Don't know if he'll give his own specials; TBD).
No snacks out in the open but some have been delivered to our room. Feel free to grab a bag or two of whatever you like from the airport lounge.
And yes, only one restaurant open per night (either Fire or Fish), simply because of low occupancy. Wouldn't make sense to have both open. Sip is open every night and serving sushi if you don't want meat on the nights Fire is open.
No entertainment as in DJ's or dancing or shows. Great ambient music all around the resort all day and night.
None of the COVID related amenity changes are big deals, IMO. The staff is simply wonderful and accommodating in every way possible.

The best sunset views are actually from SIP, not from the rooms. Just go there and don't feel obligated to order a drink. But from the rooms, yes, the fabulous rooms furthest down the jetty will have the best views, because the sunset is more in the 10-11 o'clock direction looking left off your balcony. If you are platinum or titanium, you'll likely be upgraded to the Spectacular room (as I did). I think the major difference is the overwater hammock off the balcony (which is awesome to lounge from). The house reef near the spa has 100x better snorkeling views than the lagoon reef, so just go there to see the fish. The fabulous sunset view rooms do have more plane traffic, but it's only once or twice a day so not a big disruption actually. (And you hear the plane from wherever you are on the island). With the low occupancy, the entire island can feel private. Biggest "crowd" is at breakfast and dinner. And the entire lagoon gets choppy after a seaplane lands, so it really doesn't matter where you are. (And again, the best snorkeling is on the other side of the island, in-between Fish and the Away Spa, so don't worry too much about choppiness in the lagoon.

Hope that all helps!

smartcookie

Thanks so much! This is super helpful as we're arriving on Nov 22nd. I'm Platinum currently, so sounds like I'll likely be upgraded. Are all spectacular rooms on the lagoon side and the fabulous rooms on the ocean side? We don't want a lot of foot traffic near us and even a partial sunset view would be nice on the days we want to be lazy in the room with a bottle of wine If snorkeling is not great right at OTW rooms, then we'd prefer the side that has the less choppy waters as we love to swim and chill in the water in general.

The privacy with low occupancy currently actually sounds very nice and relaxing! Do you think it's because it's low season in October or primarily due to Covid? I wonder if it'll get much busier during Thanksgiving week when we're going.

Enjoy your stay!! Really appreciate all the updates.

P.S. Based on your handle, you must be a Cal grad. I am as well

YVRELITE

No way I believe the rumors that things aren't available. Me and my wife are going over Xmas and paid top dollar for the W. I don't know what people are calling out here about "status" we don't belong to any hotel chains we are free birds, in my opinion its a mistake to try to stick to one chain you lose out on the freedom and opportunities so all these Plat or Titanium talk those are gimmicks hotel chains offer, don't fall for them. We travel just fine all over the world and feel we pay full dollar no upgrades so what we don't think that's a problem.

In terms of service, we fully expect restaurants to be opened, fruit bowls, ice cream the works. They cant take that away without a massive out cry, we didn't get a discount on our rates, in fact we paid a premium so if no discounts are offered I expect full amenities and hotel obligations to the inclusions these rooms come with in W no exceptions or give us money cash back.

smartcookie

1. Rates are currently lower than they usually are, so they can easily justify taking away things they were never selling as amenities. These were all extra surprises to begin with. Also, they aren't rumors. There are literally two people posting who are staying at the hotel as you type.

2. If you don't value hotel loyalty, that's your prerogative. Most likely, you just don't understand it. You can do whatever you want though. Some of us are staying at this hotel for free due to our loyalty while you're paying "top dollar". Also, many of us are earning status through work travel where we don't pay anything for it.

3. I'm sure you can contact the hotel and cancel your reservation, if that's what you want. No need to announce it here, even.

EuropeanPete

It must surely be exhausting always doing things the hard way and demanding things which are obviously not going to be delivered?

smartcookie

LOL.

1. Rates for Thanksgiving currently are around $700, which is much cheaper than in previous years for the same period.
2. My stay is 100% free (except seaplane), covered with loyalty points I've earned through work travel where my job pays for my hotel stays. It's a pretty simple concept if you opened your eyes to it. Hotel chains like to reward their best customers. But you can believe whatever you want. It has no impact on my stay.
3. No one said status was key to staying at a resort. They said it gives you benefits like free breakfast, upgrades, etc, which I'm also getting on top of a free stay. Also, having status for upgrades and perks and using points to pay for a stay are not the same thing.

I'm actually very impressed by the fact that you not only don't understand any of this, but refuse to even try to grasp the concept so you can benefit from it. You should just continue to pay $900/night. I'm not sure why you came here to insist that others aren't getting the clearly outlined loyalty benefits by the hotel chains themselves. You do realize this is a frequent traveler forum?

Janhaus

I believe you described the spectacular and fabulous rooms correctly. The sunset views from the room are actually pretty good, the closer you get to room 221, the farther away from the island the better your views and privacy. There is no foot traffic to speak of since you're on your own area, and tbh, the entire time we were here, we saw very few snorkelers at the reefs outside of the room so it's pretty private.

Snorkeling out at the house reef though is the best, we saw sharks, rays and a turtle this morning - best snorkel we've ever had anywhere without having to go out on a boat. We snorkeled quite a bit as well just behind the room, saw a lobster closer to the evening and some schools of squid.

gobears293

Everything Janhaus said above is totally accurate. I didn't see much when I was snorkeling around the rooms, but when walking along the main jetty, we definitely saw a few sharks and the squid. And to repeat, much, much more fish on the house reef. I did see two turtles and two sharks within 15 minutes.

Low occupancy is almost entirely due to COVID. One of the bartenders told us the resort is rarely below 50%, even in low/monsoon season. Starting in November the resort is usually 75%+ full (supposedly).

Overall our stay was amazing. Planning to write up a long-ish review later this week (once I find time after getting caught up on work )

P.S. Go Bears!

meesterdowntown

yo cookie
see you the 26th ?
unless you're still lazy with that 'wine' of course

travellinglassie

Leaving for the W tomorrow and really excited!!!!!! We'll let you know how our experience was. Definitely hoping to see some nice sea-life. We chose the hotel for the house reef specifically instead of the St Regis, hope it will not disappoint.

Mercier.jf11

Hi - We left the W yesterday and just arrived at the St Regis - the W Maldives is amazing from the staff, the food options and price, the water clarity and turquoise Colors and sea life - I suggest watching the sunrise from the Away Spa and snorkel right after sunrise - We saw many reef sharks, turtles, and many many colourful fishes. At night you will see many sharks hanging at Fish restaurant - Select à table close to the water to see them

honestly, you took a good decision to go to W - I do love both the W Maldives and the St-Regis for different reasons but considering the reef is a major dealbreaker, the W Maldives is for you!

enjoy!

JF