They rebooked me to the JW. I told them that it did not meet my requirements and asked for the St. Regis. I was told 'no' - it would be the JW or I could cancel my reservation. I canceled the reservation and rebooked under another brand.

time to leave appropriate reviews on TA and elsewhere I guess. The JW is both cheaper on cash rates and points - a simple ‘rebooking for free’ is insulting - rather a partial refund is warranted and appropriate compensation for the inconvenience.

I agree that it is very frustrating and unfair of them to do that. They can't just give you that one option and tell you to take it or leave it. In my opinion they are obligated to book you at an equally comparable resort and if not that, at least something better. Certainly not something worse which the JW is.

I'm not saying the JW is a horrible place to be, it's by far not but if I chose and booked the W that meant this is the caliber of hotel I wanted to stay at after the far trek to the Maldives and to just shove me/you to a lesser place is downright infuriating.

Legally they probably can - 'hotel is closed'. From a PR perspective with a major renovation having gone bad ... not advisable. The last thing they need is having 6 months of frustrated angry travels flood the review sites with negative reviews when you want to get back on track after being closed for a year.

Marriott is a toothless organization and the Lurkers don't care either - I doubt the W management will come around and offer 'sensible' solutions.

There is certainly nothing stopping them legally from doing this and I think that if the JW is inseed available cheaper than you paid they shuld be offering you the difference back and some sort of upgraded room type, promise to look after you. That or an option to move your stay at the W to a later date, again with a promise to look after you, improved room type etc.

To expect the St. Regis to take all the W guests that are being cancelled however maybe a step to far as the St. Regis is several steps up from the W and the owners and Marriott are very unlikely to be willing to swallow these costs. I think when issues happen, its great to try and get what you can, but you also need to be realistic about what maybe offered instead and moving all W bookings to St.R is just never going to happen!

From the pricing, JW is inferior to W.
And depending on personal preference, W is closer to the airport and has better sea conditions than JW.

In the end, it is unfortunate that we are not offered the same things as W.
But, I just want some "consideration."

I'm not convinced that everything has changed, but only the room rate has stayed the same!

It has been frustrating, because 2 weeks before the cancelation notice the W Maldives 'confirmed' that our reservation would be safe as the renovations would be completed prior. We bought non-refundable airplane tickets and also bypassed other available hotel options for the same dates. Then I get a rebooking notice for the JW. Our entire trip is built around snorkeling. The W has that for sure, so we originally chose it. The JW is not up to those standards for us. Ironically, other than the JW, the other option the W Maldives gave us was to change the dates to mid-January.

I understand that legally they "can" give you the JW and call it a day - they can probably just put you up at the Sheraton near the airport as well as long as they give you a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, and access to dining which seems to be their understanding of meeting their obligations to their guests, legally or otherwise.

I meant that from a PR/sensibility/moral standpoint they "can't" do this because they are not meeting the expectations of the guests at all who specifically booked at the W and they may suffer from the backlash of doing that as you have pointed out.

I think they can split the guests between the Ritz and the St Regis and if they're paying cash to these resorts anyway then there are comparable non Marriott resorts they can transfer guests to as well. The JW should only be an option if it comes along with an offer of compensation (perhaps meals included?) that the guest can then decide if it's worth for them to accept that or not. But it shouldn't just be the JW or bust.

We had booked the W for November back when it was supposed to be reopened Nov 1st. We were rebooked at JW several months ago and went through this same quandary. We're at peace with going to the JW, but we also weren't happy.

Is there any information why the reopening date is being postponed again?

Booked here for end of March. A little bit torn between the W and the new JW. Both look great.

The new JW isn't even open yet and it is a new island that is being built ... so forget marine life for some time ...

I have a reservation in February, but I have not heard from W.
If they are reopening in March, they should contact Jan and Feb guests!!!!

Is there any chance that they will open on schedule?

First date available to book is now March 1st.

Only if you care about your guests and your reputation ... they haven't contacted anyone yet.

Any chance they will re-open march 1st? Who knows at this point with 2 major delays on the books already