hi - here are my favorite based on category (in no particular order)

snorkeling: ayada (by a long shot), como cocoa island, W
lagoon: conrad and como cocoa island
rooms: como maalifushi
food: vakkaru, cocoa, conrad
service: cocoa and vakkaru


my top 3 favorite islands overall are cocoa island, vakkaru and conrad (in no particular order). but cocoa island must be visited in their 1 bedroom water pool villas as the views are amazing from there and you get the most personalized butler service i’ve ever seen. in other rooms categories, not so much.

i will be visiting two other properties in march (gili lankanfushi and six senses) so curious to see where those rank.

No troll, just don't post much, casual lurker. The requesting of rooms isn't what I was pointing out as entitlement, the fact they were that upset and complained they didn't get the room(s) they requested is what I referring too. They felt entitled to get the rooms they requested. Then post about how upset they were. As a matter of fact, I did request specific rooms at both the St Regis and W Maldives when I went, and didn't get the requested room at either resort. O well... beautiful resort, beautiful water, lots of fish, expensive drinks and happy wife. 😊

Really good review. Having spent 7 nights here in November, this is pretty in-line with my experience and I had many of the same thoughts. The only other resort I've been to is the Waldorf Astoria so I wasn't sure if that had just spoiled me, but with your wealth of experience it sounds like my impression was about right.

out of curiosity, what was your opinion on food? i wanna know if we just got unlucky with what we ordered. reviews rave about the food but it was truly a mess minus mine very basic things such as prawns and tenderloin which are hard to mess up.

I didn't think it was amazing. I felt variety was really weak too, like every venue was pulling from the same list of ingredients.

Some of the breakfast items were truly awful too. The fruit selection was kind of weak and would run out and not get replenished. And the "french toast" and "belgian waffles" were absolutely disgusting. I would have rather had those frozen eggo things. The curry was good and is generally what I ended up getting.

There were also some instances where I tried to order a fish dish and they didn't have it. Like, seriously? Your chef can't even adjust the dishes accordingly based on availability? Baffled me.

We did have a great dinner where they cooked up a red and white snapper I caught during the hand-line fishing, along with a bunch of sides, at Fire. Fish turned out well and it was pretty exciting to eat the fish I had just caught.

Looking at Holidays 2022 and I saw the event charge for any 24-25th booking; is it possible to avoid that charge at all? I know some were able to avoid it at the StR, but not sure about the W. That's an expensive dinner.

Best OWV rooms to request?
 

Hi all, I have an upcoming stay in May for my honeymoon. We're booked in a Fabulous Overwater villa. I'd like to reach out to the hotel staff beforehand to request one of the better villas in this category. We're looking for something that maximizes privacy and view (of the ocean and perhaps the sunset), has less wind (not sure if this is a factor on the island).

Does anyone have a recommendation as to some of the "best" villas that I can request? Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I'd like to have the best chance possible of getting a great room.

Do you by any chance remember what operator you used in Kona?

rebooking from the StR
 

Just found out that the StR is canceling all their bookings for June and July and looking for a new home for a 5 night stay on points. I would welcome any insight from folks that have stayed at various Marriott resorts in the Maldives. The W is the leading contender. Any thoughts on a Fabulous vs. Spectacular overwater villa?

Sorry to hear your stay at StR is cancelled but I think you'll love the W. I loved it. I forget which is which, but the ones facing the lagoon have more morning sun and easier to snorkel although best place to watch sunrise is on over end of island at the spa. The villas facing the ocean generally have great sunset views (especially the further out the jetty) but it's much rockier and there's coral coming up pretty high and close to the surface so I would not expect you can snorkel much even next to your villa as the waves and current can get intense. if you are really close to the island and on the ocean side you may be at risk of being really close to the arriving sea planes and other boats, which could be fun if you like watching them come and go but if the wind blows wrong you may be smelling the smoke. The further out on the jetty you are, the more privacy you have on the lagoon side but the waves also get more intense too so you will have trade offs - so it depends what you are looking for. We were in room 301 and the waves were fairly loud. I'm a great sleeper so wasn't bothered but I know some people might not love the waves crashing all night long. As for sea life I saw sea life all along the jetty including baby sharks, cuttlefish, pipe fish and turtles so I don't think location matters much from a sealife perspective. Hopefully that helps.

Definitely do all the activities such as snorkel and yoga and attend the fun parties they throw. Love the crew at W.

Would never spend points here at Cat8 rate, total waste given the relatively low cash rates, especially in June/July. Go to Ritz-Carlton before the devaluation makes it completely unaffordable on points. W cash rates in the middle of the year are generally not very high.

Thanks!

Comparing Overwater Villas
 

Can anyone please share more insight on the difference between a Fabulous Overwater Villa and a Spectacular Overwater Villa? The Fabulous OWV has an ocean view, and the Spectacular has a lagoon view. The Spectacular also has a hammock. The Spectacular is almost twice as money points as the Fabulous. I am willing to spend the points for a once in a lifetime experience, but I don't quite understand the differences. Looking out over the wide open ocean seems like a nicer experience to me than looking out over thee lagoon. Yet, somehow, the lagoon view must be better to be so expensive. Thank you all for any help in making this decision.

Just finished an award stay for 5 nights at the W Maldives (355k points). P2 and I had a great time and the care and friendliness of the staff stood out.

Some notes and thoughts in case it helps others down the road:

Resort Choice
I was looking to burn Marriott points prior to the deval. Although Ritz or St Regis might have been a better cpp, we're big snorkelers (do not dive, however) and the W seemed to beat the other properties re: house reef consistently in reader reviews and remarks. Ultimately, no regrets here.

Room

• Booked a Fabulous Overwater Villa (ocean-facing), and was upgraded to a Spectacular Overwater Villa (lagoon-facing) on arrival. I have Gold status.
• Was assigned 201, the first OWV on the jetty and closest to the beach. Pros: easy walk to restaurants and island; shortest swim to the reef (vs the other bungalows). Cons: being nearest the lagoon, there was less privacy as people on the beach, kayaking, etc could see our deck from afar and ?? maybe into our bathroom if kayaking by. Some airplane noise too. If you're looking for ultimate privacy, you should probably avoid this OWV for sure, and opt for something further out.
• I had messaged prior indicating an interest to try the Beach Villa too. The W kindly arranged to switch us to a BV for the last 2 nights. We got to try both room types, which we really appreciated
• Overwater Villa: Pros - open water views, outdoor shower & direct bathroom access from deck, more natural light, better room layout. Cons - no railings, further from... well, everything. Need to walk to or swim a bit to get to nearest snorkel channel.
• Beach Villa: Pros - proximity to snorkeling (literally right at your beachfront), the upper deck with the swing sofa is really nice, you get both deck loungers AND another set of loungers/umbrella on the beach. Cons - WAY more mosquitoes, view of beach from bed is obscured a bit by foliage, can see neighboor villa from 2nd floor / they can see you. The room layout is less connected and you have to walk through the bedroom to get to your shower, traipsing water all over.
• misc: all rooms have a plunge pool whose walls are made of ridiculously rough and abrasive cement. P2 and I both got small scrapes and cuts from that. Aggressively avoided after day 1. The shared main pool is tiled thankfully.

To drebin28's question, I think the only difference between Fabulous vs Spectacular is the view and the overwater hammock. It's not worth the extra $$ or points imo. If you want to experience a hammock, go to the Sip bar and enjoy the (same) hammocks there, preferably at sunset with a cocktail. ;)

Snacks / Food / COVID adjustments

• Received complimentary in-room treats on the arrival and departure, but otherwise nothing in between. (Maybe you get more frequent goodies with Platinum+?)
• Snack stations are void: the former apples, tonics, extra water bottles in the "refuel stations" are all gone currently. Only towels and ice in those stations. Also no midday ice cream or snacks, as was mentioned in older reviews of the W. The only 24/7 snacks we saw were wrapped oranges in the gym.
• No bar happy hours or specials "due to covid" currently.
• Breakfast buffet is excellent and varied; priced at $40++ per person per day if not included in your rate. Don't miss the made-to-order dosas and uttapam (you may need to ask for). Egg scramble was also great.
• Half board was offered at $140++ pp and full board at $200++. After looking at menus, we opted for a la carte, which was definitely the right call for us: drinks and water (like $12/bottle, no filtered water offered at dinner) are supplemental on HB/FB anyways, flexibility to sub lunch for breakfast when we wanted, the HB surcharges (e.g. for Fish) seemed excessive, we weren't hungry enough for full 3-course dinners daily
• We liked Fire > Kitchen > Fish. In general, we felt the Asian/Indian/Maldivian dishes at the W are very well done; whereas the American/European food is fine but unremarkable. Really enjoyed the steamed/grilled fish, naan, and chicken tikka.
• The pizzas are quite large!
• It was mildly interesting that appetizers cost as much as entrees, but were 1/3 the size... lesson quickly learned.
• One of the highlights we experienced was a special tasting menu of local dishes. This wasn't listed anywhere, but came up when we inquired via WhatsApp about any cooking classes and was connected with head Chef Baka who offered it. Really appreciated him personally presenting each of these off-menu courses, and learning from him about local food customs. (They do offer some cooking classes too)

Service

• All the staff at the W had a big smile, always said "hello" passing by, and were eager to help. e.g. dropped off two yoga mats for us to borrow for duration of stay
• Definitely download and utilize their WhatsApp comms. We used it extensively to make dinner and activity bookings, ask for schedules, get notified about our seaplane timing, etc.

Spa

• Got some very solid massages.
• Wasn't offered any discounts as Gold, but had a choice of some kind of focus area / bonus treatment -- I picked a scalp massage and P2 went for extra head/shoulders time (not sure if offered to everyone anyways).

Snorkeling

• The areas near the Away Spa have the best fish and sea life. We saw multiple turtles daily, lots of fish, and the occasional reef shark cruise by. Also many crabs and we saw one lobster on the rocky outcroppings.
• The snorkeling is very close to shore (if you're in a Beach Villas), and very accessible to beginner swimmers. At low tide, I could walk out to waist depth and literally see clownfish at my feet.
• Haven't been to other Maldives resorts so cannot compare, but would say snorkeling here was a touch below snorkeling in Maui. There was a lot of dead coral (bleaching) although fish variety and quantity were still good. Water clarity here was better than Hawaii. If the W is among the "better" reefs in Maldives, it's pretty sad what bleaching has done to the environment. :( Note - we don't dive, so perhaps diving is a more outstanding experience.
• Did a "snorkel hopping" trip for $100++ per person, visiting two sites about 10 and 25min from the island. The first site was nice to see a different kind of coral, but doing over, I would skip this given we could see 98% of the same ourselves from shore.

Fitness

• The fitness offerings (excluding sunset/sunrise yoga) were unused by most guests. We were often the only ones at sessions like Core Workout, making them essentially private lessons.

Music and Noise

• The W is NOT the place if you want utter silence and serenity. There was always some upbeat music playing in public places (including the OWV boardwalk); we found it tasteful and not overbearing. The only day it felt mildly obtrusive was the "DJ pool party" one afternoon at Kitchen/Wet and being the closest OWV to the island, we heard the music from that fairly loudly.
• If your room is near the seaplane arrivals, you'll also hear that 3-4 times a day.
• All rooms have a pretty sweet Bose sound system setup.

Costs

• No additional or hidden charges. Aside from the seaplane fee ($505/pp), all other charges at checkout were dining or activity costs we'd incurred. When I booked initially at marriott.com, there was some estimated "government taxes and fees" listed, but we ultimately didn't get charged those.

Shoutout to all the staff (and the beauty of the island!) that made for a great stay. If returning to Maldives again, I'd likely enjoy trying a different island for the new experience vs repeating the W -- though that is not an endorsement against the W whatsoever. We just like variety and new things.

Hope this helps out anyone looking to book in the future. Happy to answer questions.

Our flight to the Maldives from DOH was changed and now we don't arrive in MLE until 3:50. We're sitting in J so we'll be off the plane quickly but I'm guessing that's too late to get a seaplane to the W? What would you all do? Head to the Sheraton for a night and then head to the W first thing in the morning?