St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort [Master Thread]
Oct 12, 2018, 1:30 am
#1621
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Toronto
Programs: AC SE MM, Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,101
I'm debating between both too. Reviews for the W seem to indicate the reef is better and the rooms are more "authentic" - plus they waive the rollaway fee for the first child under 12 while StR charges $100/night. Also it doesn't seem StR will allow children in OWBs - and their 60k room is a garden villa, whereas the W room is on the beach.
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
Oct 12, 2018, 3:47 am
#1622
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,206
I'm debating between both too. Reviews for the W seem to indicate the reef is better and the rooms are more "authentic" - plus they waive the rollaway fee for the first child under 12 while StR charges $100/night. Also it doesn't seem StR will allow children in OWBs - and their 60k room is a garden villa, whereas the W room is on the beach.
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
Oct 12, 2018, 7:35 am
#1623
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 30
They wrote back saying that the rate is actually $665 for this year not $645 (which is a 2017 rate according to them) so I will only be extended the $665 rate - which I don't believe is correct but unfortunately have no way of proving...
Oct 12, 2018, 7:54 am
#1624
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 217
I'm debating between both too. Reviews for the W seem to indicate the reef is better and the rooms are more "authentic" - plus they waive the rollaway fee for the first child under 12 while StR charges $100/night. Also it doesn't seem StR will allow children in OWBs - and their 60k room is a garden villa, whereas the W room is on the beach.
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
I think we will end up sticking with a Beach Villa at the W. I had a 5 night cash booking for the Garden Villa at StR I cancelled and the availability did come back right away to be booked on points... it's gone now but keep an eye on dates
Oct 12, 2018, 4:57 pm
#1625
Join Date: May 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: AA LT PLT
Posts: 204
I'm leaning heavily toward the W. For me, the reef matters. I expect to spend a lot of time in the water snorkeling and I don't plan to learn to dive. Having to pay $75/pp to take a boat from the StR every time I want decent snorkeling is a bit obnoxious and eliminates the spontaneity of jumping in the water. That said, I do have friends who have gone to the StR and though the snorkeling was excellent...so the W must be that much better.
Food is so outrageously expensive at either place (and even more so at the StR, especially now that they ditched the 10-20% off) that I'll feel ill paying for it regardless. It'd be great to get the StR breakfast, but it's not enough to put me over.
No question I'll bring the average age way up at the W, but oh well.
Oct 13, 2018, 12:37 pm
#1626
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA ExPlat, DL Plat, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Hertz PC
Posts: 109
I think you answered your own question, it's a St Regis vs a W, completely different customer base, one is geared towards the luxury traveler, the other towards the lifestyle traveler.
Oct 13, 2018, 1:05 pm
#1627
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: BKK
Posts: 6,741
^I am still looking forward to St.R Vommuli. Many resorts do not have house reefs.
Oct 13, 2018, 4:59 pm
#1629
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: In the air
Programs: Occasional RTW club
Posts: 6,917
That said, it’s likely that the StR has better food, better accommodations and overall it’s a higher end brand than the W so there’s some automatic “oh yeah it’s a StR” recognition happening.
I’ll be fair that I’ve not been to the W and am going based on stuff I’ve read, but my assumption is the W has a significantly better reef. I hope it doesn’t end up like my quest to always experience something myself before trusting people on opinions - “Tahiti is better than Cooks! Ok... let’s try Tahiti ... umm no it’s not. Ok wait Maldives is better than cooks and Tahiti! Ok ... let’s try Maldives ... uhh no it’s not”. Lol. But for now this is the going-in position.
Oct 14, 2018, 4:30 am
#1630
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,206
I did discover scuba there and they take you to the the part where the island finishes and drops off into the deeper sea and the reef there is not bad. Lots of fish. Yeah you can't do it on your own as you need to be at a couple of metres depth before the drop starts.Its like the side of a mountain with lots of caves for fish.
Oct 16, 2018, 1:55 pm
#1635
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 243
I was having the same debate and that's ultimately why I am keeping my 85k/night STR OWV reservation. If I go back ill go back to Maldives I can do a Hilton Property or the W or potentially one of the other new Marriott properties.
