Sep 4, 2015, 4:52 am
Last edit by: cbellero
Transportation Resort Charge Policy
The resort will arrange combined speedboat transfers to and from Male International Airport and the fee is 136 USD per person (inclusive of the 12% GST and 10% Service Charge). International flight details are required to arrange transfers.
Some rate plans are inclusive of the transfer fee. Please check the rate description. Other terms and conditions may apply.
As of March 2021, hotel website states speedboat transfer is complimentary.
Information for Guests with Children
Due to the design and the general layout of our Water Bungalow, Water Villa, Water Suite and Ocean Villa children below the age of 12 cannot be accommodated in these room types. Children above the age of 12 are allowed when staying with a parent (maximum of 2 pax per room including child).
Please contact the resort for further information.
Mandatory Transportation Information
The resort is just a short 20 - 25 minutes speed boat ride away from Male' Airport.
Please contact the resort at sheraton dot maldives at sheraton dot com for transportation arrangements or fill in your details here.
New Green Tax Beginning November 1, 2015
Beginning November 1, 2015, a new Green Tax of 6 USD per day per person will go into effect. This will be in addition to the 10% Service Charge and the 12% Goods and Services Tax.
Mandatory New Year's Eve Dinner: December 31, 2015
There will be a compulsory New Year's Eve dinner supplement for all guests staying over or arriving on December 31, 2015. The rate is 431 USD per adult and 172 USD per child ages 2 to 11. This will be automatically added to the room bill. Please contact the resort for further information.
Reaching out to the hotel
[email protected]
The resort will arrange combined speedboat transfers to and from Male International Airport and the fee is 136 USD per person (inclusive of the 12% GST and 10% Service Charge). International flight details are required to arrange transfers.
Some rate plans are inclusive of the transfer fee. Please check the rate description. Other terms and conditions may apply.
As of March 2021, hotel website states speedboat transfer is complimentary.
Information for Guests with Children
Due to the design and the general layout of our Water Bungalow, Water Villa, Water Suite and Ocean Villa children below the age of 12 cannot be accommodated in these room types. Children above the age of 12 are allowed when staying with a parent (maximum of 2 pax per room including child).
Please contact the resort for further information.
Mandatory Transportation Information
The resort is just a short 20 - 25 minutes speed boat ride away from Male' Airport.
Please contact the resort at sheraton dot maldives at sheraton dot com for transportation arrangements or fill in your details here.
- Transportation is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
- The cost for the combined roundtrip transfer service from/to MLE International Airport is 136 USD per person.
- Please note that all speedboat transfers are subject to weather conditions and may not be able to operate in extreme weather.
- Advance notice for changes is required at (960) 665 0225 x4.
New Green Tax Beginning November 1, 2015
Beginning November 1, 2015, a new Green Tax of 6 USD per day per person will go into effect. This will be in addition to the 10% Service Charge and the 12% Goods and Services Tax.
Mandatory New Year's Eve Dinner: December 31, 2015
There will be a compulsory New Year's Eve dinner supplement for all guests staying over or arriving on December 31, 2015. The rate is 431 USD per adult and 172 USD per child ages 2 to 11. This will be automatically added to the room bill. Please contact the resort for further information.
Reaching out to the hotel
[email protected]
Sheraton Full Moon Resort & Spa, Maldives [Master Thread]
Dec 2, 2011, 11:42 am
#76
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,828
I went there for 7 nights for my birthday last month. The boat ride from MLE is pretty quick, about 15-20 mins. When you land at MLE, do your immigration and stuff, you will go outside, walk to the left and there will be hotel reps there. You will see a Sheraton employee there with a clipboard. They then collect your luggage and take you to the boat, which was waiting for us. We were the only ones on that trip over to the resort. Also, if you need a sim, there are a few companies at the airport, grab one on the way out. I paid 15 usd for 13 usd of credit, plus 2 dollars for the sim card. I think its like 20 some odd cents a min back to the states.
On our way to the resort there was a school of dolphins, was nice they shut down the engines and let me take pics and videos. On the boat they give you a cold towel and water bottles as well. Upon arrival, there are employees waving at you, nice welcome with smiles. As soon as you get off the boat, there is a welcome center. They seat you down, get you a cold towel and some sort of fruit drink, which wasn't bad. Check in process was pretty quick. All over water bungalows were taken, so since we used the free nights, we were upgraded to a beachfront deluxe from the standard room booked with the free night promo. OWB is the upgrade for plt's if avail. The next day I inquired about the the OWB again, they said they were fully booked. Then asked about the ocean villas, they said it would come open in a few days. The up charge is 100 usd a night, plus their taxes, in Nov were 13.50 per day. So for 113.50 a night extra, we were in the Ocean Villas. These Villas are amazing. Own private pool, outdoor shower, etc.. You can look at some pics online or Ill post some when my sd card reader arrives. I had uploaded a video while I was there, link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP9W03QTqVk
The food here is expensive. My first night of arrival, it was my bday, we ate at Sea Salt. The restaurant is decent, but not over the top. I ordered a lobster tail a whole fish cooked in sea salt. Did a bottle of red which was not good. The bill was about 300. Prob the worst meal we had while we were there. I ate at every restaurant at the resort and drank in every bar. The best meal we had was a tie between Sand Coast and Baan Thai. I would suggest that you do the breakfast buffet every morning, for two will be currently about 54 usd. That should hold you over until dinner. We did dinner almost every night, but shared an appy, a entree and a dessert with a bottle of wine. If you do that, you can get away with about 100-150 a night. Also, at the Sand Coast, they give you free naan bread, which isn't bad, instead of bread. Drinks at drifters bar are the most reasonable, as they do happy hour from 9-11 I think daily. Drinks are very expensive here, as is everything else.
Overall the stay was decent, Ill try to post some pics up and videos. The whole notion of its really expensive to ship food and drinks there is a great marketing tool. I paid about 40 bucks for a small 37.5 bottle of vodka in the room. Employees can get a 750ml bottle at cost for 13 usd. A fish that cost 3 bucks, they will charge you in the 30 range. You are on a secluded island so they can charge what they want. They best just tell us we are gonna charge you an arm and a leg, not try to say it costs more. The fruits come from near by places and fish local. Most meats were from suppliers near by as well, but IIRC they said it was Australian beef.
We did do a chefs lunch one day, prob the best meal we had during the whole trip. The head chef comes out at sea salt, does a few dishes with paired wines for like 60 usd. When we got there, they gave us cosmo's, with some canapés. Then we went over to the bbq and they did some huge prawns, a steak as the main and a choc dessert, IIRC. Ill look at the pics.
The buffets they do on the beach are ok, we did one, but the food was average. I say go to one of the restaurants unless your really, really hungry. I think to enjoy yourself, plan on 200-400 for food and another 100-200 a day on drinks, per day. I think we spent about 2000 on food and drinks for the week.
I highly recommend getting the ocean villa, if you can. We went snorkeling over by the OWB and thought they were ok. Ask questions, ill try to answer. I did take lots of pics, including menus and room service items. Will try to post later.
On our way to the resort there was a school of dolphins, was nice they shut down the engines and let me take pics and videos. On the boat they give you a cold towel and water bottles as well. Upon arrival, there are employees waving at you, nice welcome with smiles. As soon as you get off the boat, there is a welcome center. They seat you down, get you a cold towel and some sort of fruit drink, which wasn't bad. Check in process was pretty quick. All over water bungalows were taken, so since we used the free nights, we were upgraded to a beachfront deluxe from the standard room booked with the free night promo. OWB is the upgrade for plt's if avail. The next day I inquired about the the OWB again, they said they were fully booked. Then asked about the ocean villas, they said it would come open in a few days. The up charge is 100 usd a night, plus their taxes, in Nov were 13.50 per day. So for 113.50 a night extra, we were in the Ocean Villas. These Villas are amazing. Own private pool, outdoor shower, etc.. You can look at some pics online or Ill post some when my sd card reader arrives. I had uploaded a video while I was there, link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP9W03QTqVk
The food here is expensive. My first night of arrival, it was my bday, we ate at Sea Salt. The restaurant is decent, but not over the top. I ordered a lobster tail a whole fish cooked in sea salt. Did a bottle of red which was not good. The bill was about 300. Prob the worst meal we had while we were there. I ate at every restaurant at the resort and drank in every bar. The best meal we had was a tie between Sand Coast and Baan Thai. I would suggest that you do the breakfast buffet every morning, for two will be currently about 54 usd. That should hold you over until dinner. We did dinner almost every night, but shared an appy, a entree and a dessert with a bottle of wine. If you do that, you can get away with about 100-150 a night. Also, at the Sand Coast, they give you free naan bread, which isn't bad, instead of bread. Drinks at drifters bar are the most reasonable, as they do happy hour from 9-11 I think daily. Drinks are very expensive here, as is everything else.
Overall the stay was decent, Ill try to post some pics up and videos. The whole notion of its really expensive to ship food and drinks there is a great marketing tool. I paid about 40 bucks for a small 37.5 bottle of vodka in the room. Employees can get a 750ml bottle at cost for 13 usd. A fish that cost 3 bucks, they will charge you in the 30 range. You are on a secluded island so they can charge what they want. They best just tell us we are gonna charge you an arm and a leg, not try to say it costs more. The fruits come from near by places and fish local. Most meats were from suppliers near by as well, but IIRC they said it was Australian beef.
We did do a chefs lunch one day, prob the best meal we had during the whole trip. The head chef comes out at sea salt, does a few dishes with paired wines for like 60 usd. When we got there, they gave us cosmo's, with some canapés. Then we went over to the bbq and they did some huge prawns, a steak as the main and a choc dessert, IIRC. Ill look at the pics.
The buffets they do on the beach are ok, we did one, but the food was average. I say go to one of the restaurants unless your really, really hungry. I think to enjoy yourself, plan on 200-400 for food and another 100-200 a day on drinks, per day. I think we spent about 2000 on food and drinks for the week.
I highly recommend getting the ocean villa, if you can. We went snorkeling over by the OWB and thought they were ok. Ask questions, ill try to answer. I did take lots of pics, including menus and room service items. Will try to post later.
Dec 29, 2011, 8:31 pm
#77
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Singapore
Programs: SPG Plat, HH Gold, CX DM, A3 Gold
Posts: 49
hi there, i've 2 questions:
1) is there wireless internet, or just wired?
2) what is the range of free and chargeable activities? e.g. how much would they charge for rental snorkelling equipment?
1) is there wireless internet, or just wired?
2) what is the range of free and chargeable activities? e.g. how much would they charge for rental snorkelling equipment?
Jan 1, 2012, 9:18 pm
#78
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: AA Plat, SPG Plat, CO, UA, HHonors
Posts: 41
I just read on Huffington Post that an opposition party in the Maldives has made a claim that all hotel spas are a front for prostitution. As a result ( or better put, an overreaction) the Maldivian govt. has ordered a ban on all spas in the country. Some hotels are ignoring this ban, but hundreds are shuttering (at least temporarily).
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Jan 2, 2012, 1:08 am
#79
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: ua mm, aa plat, starriott LTPP, ihg plat, hh gold.
Posts: 13,017
I just read on Huffington Post that an opposition party in the Maldives has made a claim that all hotel spas are a front for prostitution. As a result ( or better put, an overreaction) the Maldivian govt. has ordered a ban on all spas in the country. Some hotels are ignoring this ban, but hundreds are shuttering (at least temporarily).
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Jan 2, 2012, 4:08 am
#80
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium/LTG, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,921
We Flyertalk'ers are a tough bunch to please. I know most of us are well travelled so I guess our expectation are somewhat generally quite higher than the average traveller who goes on vacation once every two years or so, that's why the reviews by us here aren't as high as what Tripadvisor makes it to be.
Most of the reviews on TA are very positive, which I generally disagree with, some even call the Sheraton Full Moon as 'perfect', 'heaven', which in my view, was nowhere near it.
Anyway, here's my review on Tripadvisor.
Just a comment about the Baan Thai restaurant. We ordered some sauvignon blanc wine and this wine is suppose to be served chilled. It came out room temperature. I sent the wine back. I was thinking a new chilled bottle would have done the job, but the waiters tried to quickly chill it by placing it into a cold bucket of ice water. About 10 minutes later, my wine returned but this time with the wine label all soaked and soggy because of the iced water bucket. The bottle felt much cooler, but the wine itself remained still room temperature. Again I sent it back ..... 10 minutes later, at least they opened a new bottle and served some wine at the proper chilled temperature.
Anyway, the only good meal/s we had was the buffet breakfast at Feast. This is the only value for $$$ meal for the resort ($27 per person) and everything else IMO is a bit of a rip off. Good luck to those who are having long term stays at this resort.
Most of the reviews on TA are very positive, which I generally disagree with, some even call the Sheraton Full Moon as 'perfect', 'heaven', which in my view, was nowhere near it.
Anyway, here's my review on Tripadvisor.
Just a comment about the Baan Thai restaurant. We ordered some sauvignon blanc wine and this wine is suppose to be served chilled. It came out room temperature. I sent the wine back. I was thinking a new chilled bottle would have done the job, but the waiters tried to quickly chill it by placing it into a cold bucket of ice water. About 10 minutes later, my wine returned but this time with the wine label all soaked and soggy because of the iced water bucket. The bottle felt much cooler, but the wine itself remained still room temperature. Again I sent it back ..... 10 minutes later, at least they opened a new bottle and served some wine at the proper chilled temperature.
Anyway, the only good meal/s we had was the buffet breakfast at Feast. This is the only value for $$$ meal for the resort ($27 per person) and everything else IMO is a bit of a rip off. Good luck to those who are having long term stays at this resort.
Jan 3, 2012, 1:17 pm
#81
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: SoCalifornia
Programs: SPG-Plat, Marriot-Plat
Posts: 6
Best Water Bungalow @ Sheraton Maldives
Hello FT -- I am traveling to the Sheraton Maldives this April for my Honeymoon (using SPG Points) and have booked an over water bungalow. I have heard the location of certain bungalows is better than the others. Can anyone recommend a room number of the best over water bungalow?
Also how’s the snorkeling around the hotel?
Thanks
Also how’s the snorkeling around the hotel?
Thanks
Jan 18, 2012, 7:17 pm
#82
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,828
The snorkeling gear is free. IIRC you can get it at around 930 or 1030am and has to be back by 5pm or so.
Jan 18, 2012, 7:18 pm
#83
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,828
I just read on Huffington Post that an opposition party in the Maldives has made a claim that all hotel spas are a front for prostitution. As a result ( or better put, an overreaction) the Maldivian govt. has ordered a ban on all spas in the country. Some hotels are ignoring this ban, but hundreds are shuttering (at least temporarily).
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Has anyone who has stayed recently experienced a problem at the Sheraton Maldives recently as a result? My Wife and I have a trip scheduled in May, any input is appreciated.
Jan 18, 2012, 7:21 pm
#84
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,828
Hello FT -- I am traveling to the Sheraton Maldives this April for my Honeymoon (using SPG Points) and have booked an over water bungalow. I have heard the location of certain bungalows is better than the others. Can anyone recommend a room number of the best over water bungalow?
Also how’s the snorkeling around the hotel?
Thanks
Also how’s the snorkeling around the hotel?
Thanks
Jan 18, 2012, 7:24 pm
#85
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: All over
Programs: AA-LTP, HH-DIA, Marriott-LT+AMB, Hyatt-Globalist, Hertz-PC, UA-GS
Posts: 6,828
We Flyertalk'ers are a tough bunch to please. I know most of us are well travelled so I guess our expectation are somewhat generally quite higher than the average traveller who goes on vacation once every two years or so, that's why the reviews by us here aren't as high as what Tripadvisor makes it to be.
Most of the reviews on TA are very positive, which I generally disagree with, some even call the Sheraton Full Moon as 'perfect', 'heaven', which in my view, was nowhere near it.
Anyway, here's my review on Tripadvisor.
Just a comment about the Baan Thai restaurant. We ordered some sauvignon blanc wine and this wine is suppose to be served chilled. It came out room temperature. I sent the wine back. I was thinking a new chilled bottle would have done the job, but the waiters tried to quickly chill it by placing it into a cold bucket of ice water. About 10 minutes later, my wine returned but this time with the wine label all soaked and soggy because of the iced water bucket. The bottle felt much cooler, but the wine itself remained still room temperature. Again I sent it back ..... 10 minutes later, at least they opened a new bottle and served some wine at the proper chilled temperature.
Anyway, the only good meal/s we had was the buffet breakfast at Feast. This is the only value for $$$ meal for the resort ($27 per person) and everything else IMO is a bit of a rip off. Good luck to those who are having long term stays at this resort.
Most of the reviews on TA are very positive, which I generally disagree with, some even call the Sheraton Full Moon as 'perfect', 'heaven', which in my view, was nowhere near it.
Anyway, here's my review on Tripadvisor.
Just a comment about the Baan Thai restaurant. We ordered some sauvignon blanc wine and this wine is suppose to be served chilled. It came out room temperature. I sent the wine back. I was thinking a new chilled bottle would have done the job, but the waiters tried to quickly chill it by placing it into a cold bucket of ice water. About 10 minutes later, my wine returned but this time with the wine label all soaked and soggy because of the iced water bucket. The bottle felt much cooler, but the wine itself remained still room temperature. Again I sent it back ..... 10 minutes later, at least they opened a new bottle and served some wine at the proper chilled temperature.
Anyway, the only good meal/s we had was the buffet breakfast at Feast. This is the only value for $$$ meal for the resort ($27 per person) and everything else IMO is a bit of a rip off. Good luck to those who are having long term stays at this resort.
Jan 18, 2012, 10:30 pm
#86
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: ua mm, aa plat, starriott LTPP, ihg plat, hh gold.
Posts: 13,017
Feb 4, 2012, 3:38 pm
#87
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: sd
Posts: 22
Extremely Gorgeous Resort and Absolutely Perfect Hospitality!!
Extremely Gorgeous Resort and Absolutely Perfect Hospitality!!
I don’t even know where to begin narrating our near-heavenly experience at the Sheraton Full Moon Resort, Maldives. The resort is in a stunning location about 15-20 minutes speedboat ride from the Male airport. The resort property itself is very elegant and classic contemporary, and completely exudes an unmatched tropical charm.
Our stay was for 5 days in December 2011 and the weather was just perfect. Due to my SPG Plat Status, we were extremely fortunate to have been upgraded (the resort was at full occupancy) to one of the water bungalows which obviously further enhanced our experience at this resort. The water bungalows are roomy, very classy and have a private deck with stair access right into the water underneath it! The layout is simply amazing and gives you a strong feeling of calmness especially when you are hanging out on your private deck watching the sting grays and exotic fishes swimming by in the shallow crystal clear waters around and under the bungalows.
The resort is extremely well laid out and offers different areas of entertainment such as snorkeling, gymnasium, billiards, fitness center, spa, internet café, restaurants, bars and lounges. It was so much fun just walking around and exploring the resort itself. We opted for the resort conducted snorkeling excursion. I was a beginner in snorkeling but Rameez, our instructor and his entire crew very great and very patient with us and were always around us in the deep water, to ensure safety. After that, we went snorkeling several times (the snorkel gear was free rentals) in and around the resort on our own, the remaining days. My spouse even snorkeled right around and below our water bungalow which had clear blue water and schools of pretty fishes.
Everyone at the resort including guests and staff were super friendly to say the least. As a result, we ended up making friends with 2 other honeymooning couples and we continued to meet and hang out with them occasionally during the rest of our stay.
Since we are big foodies and actually big food snobs too, we tried out almost the restaurants while we there. Baan Thai, where we dined the first night has phenomenal Thai food (the closest we came to tasting authentic Thai food outside of Thailand!!) Sand Coast has such absolutely delicious food and also the most romantic restaurant for dining by the beach, that we ended up there 2 nights in a row! Their curries were incredibly yummy and authentic. Sea Salt has a great vibe and is great for a lounge/bar atmosphere - We had lunch there couple times. Feast has a ginormous spread of breakfast everyday and was totally great. All in all, every restaurant including room service served amazing food – huge kudos to the chefs who prepare with such attention to detail and all the serving staff who were so respectful and accommodating for us being vegetarians. I know a lot of people have said that food is expensive in Maldives but we really didn’t find it to be any different than any other island resort… It was about the same as Hawaii or any of the Caribbean islands to me...
Although all the staff members throughout the resort were extremely courteous and always willing to help out, there were a few in particular who stood out – Wilson (dining services), Laxman and Abdul (Sand Coast). Folks in the hospitality industry around the world could learn a thing or two from the finely trained, friendly and chivalrous staff of this resort run by an extremely warm, friendly, professional and gracious General Manager, Ursula Schoefl. P.S. - We had a chance to interact personally with her one evening, at a welcome reception cocktail hour for SPG guests, and thereafter ran into her several times during our stay. Each time she would spend a few minutes chatting with us and entertaining us with some of her many many stories she has to share about her experiences running this island resort as well as running other hotels around the world…
My spouse and I are world travelers and have stayed at several exotic Starwood properties around the world including Hawaii, Thailand, Italy, France, Bali, Puerto Rico, Spain etc.. The pristine location, blissful waters, coupled with the unparalleled hospitality of the GM and her staff at this resort have totally compelled us to want to go back to experience this all over again in spite of being halfway around the world for us. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect holiday experience and I am simply amazed that anyone could ever complain or rate this property anything but a perfect 10 on 10!!!
I don’t even know where to begin narrating our near-heavenly experience at the Sheraton Full Moon Resort, Maldives. The resort is in a stunning location about 15-20 minutes speedboat ride from the Male airport. The resort property itself is very elegant and classic contemporary, and completely exudes an unmatched tropical charm.
Our stay was for 5 days in December 2011 and the weather was just perfect. Due to my SPG Plat Status, we were extremely fortunate to have been upgraded (the resort was at full occupancy) to one of the water bungalows which obviously further enhanced our experience at this resort. The water bungalows are roomy, very classy and have a private deck with stair access right into the water underneath it! The layout is simply amazing and gives you a strong feeling of calmness especially when you are hanging out on your private deck watching the sting grays and exotic fishes swimming by in the shallow crystal clear waters around and under the bungalows.
The resort is extremely well laid out and offers different areas of entertainment such as snorkeling, gymnasium, billiards, fitness center, spa, internet café, restaurants, bars and lounges. It was so much fun just walking around and exploring the resort itself. We opted for the resort conducted snorkeling excursion. I was a beginner in snorkeling but Rameez, our instructor and his entire crew very great and very patient with us and were always around us in the deep water, to ensure safety. After that, we went snorkeling several times (the snorkel gear was free rentals) in and around the resort on our own, the remaining days. My spouse even snorkeled right around and below our water bungalow which had clear blue water and schools of pretty fishes.
Everyone at the resort including guests and staff were super friendly to say the least. As a result, we ended up making friends with 2 other honeymooning couples and we continued to meet and hang out with them occasionally during the rest of our stay.
Since we are big foodies and actually big food snobs too, we tried out almost the restaurants while we there. Baan Thai, where we dined the first night has phenomenal Thai food (the closest we came to tasting authentic Thai food outside of Thailand!!) Sand Coast has such absolutely delicious food and also the most romantic restaurant for dining by the beach, that we ended up there 2 nights in a row! Their curries were incredibly yummy and authentic. Sea Salt has a great vibe and is great for a lounge/bar atmosphere - We had lunch there couple times. Feast has a ginormous spread of breakfast everyday and was totally great. All in all, every restaurant including room service served amazing food – huge kudos to the chefs who prepare with such attention to detail and all the serving staff who were so respectful and accommodating for us being vegetarians. I know a lot of people have said that food is expensive in Maldives but we really didn’t find it to be any different than any other island resort… It was about the same as Hawaii or any of the Caribbean islands to me...
Although all the staff members throughout the resort were extremely courteous and always willing to help out, there were a few in particular who stood out – Wilson (dining services), Laxman and Abdul (Sand Coast). Folks in the hospitality industry around the world could learn a thing or two from the finely trained, friendly and chivalrous staff of this resort run by an extremely warm, friendly, professional and gracious General Manager, Ursula Schoefl. P.S. - We had a chance to interact personally with her one evening, at a welcome reception cocktail hour for SPG guests, and thereafter ran into her several times during our stay. Each time she would spend a few minutes chatting with us and entertaining us with some of her many many stories she has to share about her experiences running this island resort as well as running other hotels around the world…
My spouse and I are world travelers and have stayed at several exotic Starwood properties around the world including Hawaii, Thailand, Italy, France, Bali, Puerto Rico, Spain etc.. The pristine location, blissful waters, coupled with the unparalleled hospitality of the GM and her staff at this resort have totally compelled us to want to go back to experience this all over again in spite of being halfway around the world for us. I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect holiday experience and I am simply amazed that anyone could ever complain or rate this property anything but a perfect 10 on 10!!!
Feb 4, 2012, 10:13 pm
#88
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum, AA million miler, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 296
Thanks for the information Chanp. I am considering a visit there next fall. According to your information food and drink costs should run be about $2000 for the week. If it my wife and I with 3 meals a day and a handful of drinks a day would I figure $3000 - $3500 for the week more or less? Thanks. I figure $50 for breakfast, $50 - 75 for lunch and $200 for dinner? Then add on the drinks - a few glasses of wine and a few more cocktails a day $100 - 150 a day?
Feb 10, 2012, 8:27 am
#89
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: EWR
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 519
Really not all that.
I just returned from a short stay and here is my 2 cents. The resort itself is fine but there is nothing special about the place. If you travel so many hours to vacation at an exotic location such as Maldives, you would want the feeling that you are at a special exotic island. Sheraton does not exude that feeling. It feels more like just any other typical run of the mill resort with so so pool and very average food. If you are happy with a typical beach resort, you will be satisfied here but if you want to take a once in a lifetime trip to Maldives, you will surely be disappointed and I wouldn't recommend Sheraton.
This was just our transit hotel before we moved on to a more exotic Maldivian resort/island via seaplane. The difference in experience is night and day and the extra money you would spend will be so worth it.
This was just our transit hotel before we moved on to a more exotic Maldivian resort/island via seaplane. The difference in experience is night and day and the extra money you would spend will be so worth it.