Carq

As I mentioned on my last TR, I tried for a month to book a trip to both Seychelles and Maldives but couldnīt come up with award availability to match my plans. So I went to China.
This time was just the opposite: I was trying to book a trip to Harbin Snow and Ice Festival in China and couldnīt put all the pieces together, as I specifically wanted to fly on ANA and Asiana first class but TAPīs Victoria program had a problem booking them. They could find the space but couldnīt use it.
So, where I was going to? Letīs try Seychelles and Maldives again. This time I had more miles and programs to work with and it wasnīt too difficult to put together award space I found to my destinations.
First, I was going to Seychelles flying from Brasilia to São Paulo to Zurich to Geneva to Doha to Seychelles. Then an easy Seychelles to Abu Dhabi to Maldives. And coming back home, Maldives to Abu Dhabi to Istanbul to Zurich to São Paulo to Brasília.



Flying roundtrip from Brazil to Switzerland on Swiss Air business class costed 120k Victoria miles. Then from Switzerland to Seychelles on Qatar business class, 100k Latam miles. From Seychelles to Maldives on Etihad business class, 55k AAdvantage points. From Maldives to Abu Dhabi on Etihad First class, 40k AAdvantage. And from Dubai to Zurich on Turkish business class, 45k Avianca Amigo miles.
On the hotels front, Hilton was an easy choice for Seychelles. Between Hilton Labriz on Silhouette Island and Hilton Northolme on Mahe Island, I liked more the pictures from Northolme, even though reviews usually gave Labriz the edge. But for just two nights, I wasnīt wanting to take a ferry boat to Silhouette and waste time waiting either at the airport or at the docks due to the limited schedule of the ferry. So 95k Hilton Honours points for each night at Northolme.
On Maldives, it was a pick between Conrad and Park Hyatt. The pictures and reviews of Conrad were more appealing to me, but the cost of the PH would be lower with the 40% bonus on points sales versus the 80% bonus on HH points. In the end, it was again 95k HH points for each night on Conrad. And this choice got even better when Hilton released overwater bungalows for the same price.
As I didnīt have more points to book the OW bungalows and was afraid to cancel my original booking and rebook on OW, I sent an email to Conrad asking for this change on their system and it was promptly done.
As I had a long night layover on AUH, I also booked 6 hours on AUH Aerotel for U$ 135.
In the end, I thought this was going to be a balanced dispute between the islands on which was the better choice, but it was a lopsided victory.
A few highlights of the trip:

MarkCron

cool. looking forward to this

thibderoc

looking forward too !

chongl

Looking forward to seeing Maldives vs. Seychelles so I know whether to return to the former or explore the latter

offerendum

Nice combination,often thought about Seychelles and Mauritius as I have no Intention to visit Maledives at the moment. Nevertheless looking forward to it!

FlightNurse

Thank you for posting the miles used, this gets missed in many reports. I'm very much looking forward to your report. Since Seychelles is one of the places I want to visit.

aquamarinesteph

Looking forward to your trip report!

757

Looking forward to this report!

Carq

Thank you all, I hope not to disappoint.

Thanks, I think this will be more about a head to head comparison between properties than the islands themselves, as the experience can be vastly different depending on where you stay.

Thanks, this should be even easier as there are direct flights between those islands.

Thanks, the best part is that I transferred my points to Amigo and Victoria with a 100% bonus and to Latam with 60% bonus, so the cost to me was significantly lower.

Carq

As usual, my trip started with a stop at the always nice VIP Club lounge in BSB airport.



After an eventless flight with Gol from BSB to GRU airport, we landed at terminal 2 and it was a 10 minutes walk to terminal 3. As I was travelling with just a carry-on and had checked in online, I went straight to security and immigration through e-gates, which were both empty on the internal path from T2 to T3.
Another stop at Star Alliance lounge in GRU, which was full. Food options were good and I had a delicious pineapple caipirinha. If going to the lounge, from around 4pm there is always a barman making delicious caipirinhas (made of lemon or other fruit, with cachaįa or vodka), which I strongly recommend.





Swiss flight to Zurich was operated by a 77w featuring the new business class. The cabin looks very sleek and the monitor and IFE system were great. I donīt know the reason for using a three point seat belt, is there any advantage for this other than a questionable safety enhancement?



I found the seat to be a bit hard, but the worst part was the diminutive foot cubicle. It was very difficult to sleep with my feet in any other position than side by side. They also offer a small pillow and a bit rough blanket.
Dinner was slow paced, taking more than two hours after take-off and not completing the service. The cabin was full, so this may be the reason. Nuts serviced was actually bad, tasteless and withered. Garlic bread wasnīt good also, but the starter and main course were tasty. I skipped dessert as I wanted to get some sleep and this would take even longer.
There was also a new amenity kit, featuring the usual stuff on a can tin. I had an average sleep and asked just for a fruit plate for breakfast.





I would rate my flight experience as a simple good. Service is professional but impersonal. The cabin and entertainment system are great, but the seat is below average and catering was just average.
We landed a bit ahead of schedule on chilly 0° C Zurich. The walk from terminal E to terminal A took around 20 minutes but the A lounge was still under development. Another three lounges, located in the same place, were available as replacement, but none worth mentioning.
My flight to Geneva was delayed and I started to worry as I had only 3 hours layover before my flight on Qatar, on a separate ticket. I was following my aircraft online and it seems I would make it, on a tighter connection. Take-off was 90 minutes behind schedule and, again, check-in online and travelling with just a carry-on was handy.
On the short 40 minutes flight to Geneva, it was served three small appetizers, which tasted good. The views from the snowy Alps peaks over the polar mass (?) were beautiful. After landing I went straight to my gate with some 30 minutes spare before boarding.



We had a bus transfer from the gate to the plane. Coming from hot summer Brazil and going to beach destinations, I wasnīt exactly dressed up for a freezing Geneva tarmac boarding, but it was just a couple of minutes of intense cold.
This flight on Qatar would show the difference between a great product and a good one. The reverse herringbone seats are very comfortable, missing just some privacy. Both the pillow and blanket were soft and high quality. Catering was excellent and I always end up eating all the bread basket, with tasty, fresh and warm breads.







I watched a movie and napped for a bit. When I woke up, a box with two Godiva chocolates were left on my seat. On the Swiss flight, chocolates were also on the menu as dessert, but as a stark difference between services, werenīt offered or left as a yummy good morning.
The views from the window were again great and we landed on schedule.

chongl

That's perfect since I stayed at Conrad Maldives last year and was considering Seychelles Northolm

Carq

I went to a quick stop at Al Mourjan lounge in Doha and it was a 20 minutes walk from the arriving gate to the lounge. As usual, it was quite full at 01am and this time it was quite hot inside. I stayed there for a while to catch on news and went to my gate for a bus ride to board the plane.
As I wrote before, my flight from Geneva to Doha was excellent, especially as it was an A350. This time it was going to be an A330, with has the worst seats of Qatarīs wide body fleet, with a tight 2-2-2 layout. But as the seat next to me was empty, this wasnīt too bad.
My main complain to this flight is that my previous one was 6 hours long and this one was blocked with 5:35 duration, but it was a redeye. No pyjamas were provided, ok with that, but the blanket available was worse and no amenity kit or chocolates were given, just because of a 25 minutes shorter duration. Seems a bit cheap and unfair to me. There was just a crappy amenity consisting of eye mask and socks.
As I had eaten a bit on the lounge, I slept right away and asked to be awakened for breakfast. The breadbasket, fruits and frittata were all very good.
Getting closer to Seychelles, there were already some glimpses of the beautiful beaches, as well as my companions during my stay: clouds. There was a thick layer of clouds covering the entire surroundings of Mahe Island.





After landing and waiting about 10 minutes in immigration, I took a taxi to Hilton Northolme for 700 rupees on a 20 minutes ride. I arrived at the hotel at 11am and was expecting to hear that no rooms were available at that time, but instead I got some great news: I was upgraded from the basic room with a balcony to a room with a private pool and it was ready for me.
The room reminded me of the Conrad Koh Samui, but it was bigger and nicer. Just the round bathtub from CKS seemed better to me than the one in this Hilton. I actually donīt understand why this property is just a Hilton and not a Conrad, as it is quite similar to CKS.





Anyway, the balcony featured a nice private pool and I was expecting to have some amazing sunset views as the ones from Koh Samui.



But usually it was like this:



It seems like I had a really unlucky choice of period to visit Seychelles, as the taxi driver taking me back to the airport told me that the previous week the weather was the best they had in years.
My plans for this stay was to read a book, watch some movies and just relax, while enjoying beautiful views and having some walks around a nice scenery. The first part was fully fulfilled, but the second part was hampered by the weather, as it was always cloudy or raining.
Nevertheless, the property seems to me like a copy of CKS on another location, with both their virtues and weakness. The public areas are nice but small, just like the main pool. The beaches are small and rocky. There was available gear for kayaking or snorkelling. One major flaw, to me, was a really slow internet.







Breakfast was very good quality but a bit limited in terms of options and service was a bit slow. It was reasonably priced at 550 rupees, though. One thing that caught my attention was not hearing a good morning or hello from employees when crossing with them around the hotel. Not that I think this is relevant or necessary, but it seems to be usual on other properties.





There were some glimpses of the beauty of the property, but I think that even with a good weather, I would choose another place to stay. The hotel is very good, especially the rooms, but for its price tag I would expect better surroundings. Unless with a sunny sky the views are as dramatics as the sunset on Conrad Koh Samui.

Carq

I took a taxi back to the airport. Etihad uses Air Seychelles lounge in SEZ, which is just average but much better than waiting near the gates. The flight to Abu Dhabi was operated by an A320, which was quite empty. The seats arenīt very comfortable, as they donīt recline much, but the food was quite good. The entertainment is available on a small monitor that is stored on the seat arm.







Anyway, my flight landed at 19:30 and my next flight to Maldives was at 08:40 the next day, so I spend some time in Etihad Business lounge and later went to sleep on Aerotel inside terminal 1.



The room with bathroom was nice, but at U$135 for 6 hours, it was expensive. But having to pay for a transit visa to leave the airport would have costed more.



The flight to MLE was operated by an A330, which was way better than Qatarīs same plane. The seats are on 1-2-1 configuration and are very comfortable.
As I had eaten in the lounge, I watched a movie and asked to eat close to landing. The food was good but the flight attendant miscalculated the timing and there was no time left for dessert. The views were great.





After going through immigration, which didnīt take long, I went after the Conrad booth on the airport. After meeting the representative, I was told that Iīd have to wait a bit for other clients to arrive and was led to Trans Maldivian to check-in and had to check my carry-on. Then I was driven to Conrad lounge at the airport, but as soon as I arrived I was told that my flight was ready for boarding and I went straight to the gate. I didnīt understand much but it was better than waiting in the lounge.
I hadnīt flown on a seaplane before, but it was less thrilling than I was expecting. There was a stop before arriving at Conrad and it was funny that the plane landed and disembarked some passengers on a small wooden platform in the middle of the ocean, but there was no boat to greet and transfer them. We had to wait about 10 minutes for their arrival, but I chuckled at the idea of the plane taking off and leaving those passengers alone, with their luggage on a 6x4 meters wooden platform surrounded by the sea.



Some 15 minutes later, I arrived at Conrad, was meet, went to check-in and was driven on a golf cart to my room. As I had my first stay harmed by the weather, I was afraid to have another bitter stay with clouds and rain, as it was what the forecast on Hilton app was showing. But thankfully, I got a great sunny weather, with some occasional clouds and sparse rain.
Conrad Maldives is probably one of the most reviewed properties on FT, so I wonīt digress much. The overwater bungalow is great and the sunset views I got from going downstairs from the deck to the sea were spectacular. The more than 50 shades of green and blue of the ocean were gorgeous.















Breakfast is excellent, with great spread and quality. When you consider how isolated the location is, I donīt think it could get much better. I also used the spa, which is a beautiful wooden construction, the funny part is that the shower is outdoors, so I think that if there is someone swimming near there might be some unblocked views from the water, under the wooden high panels.



There are lots of activities to do in the resort, most paid. I thought this would be a destination more suited for couples, which I still think it is, but if going with kids they will have their share, also.
Check-out time is 12:00 and my seaplane was leaving at 16:00. I asked if it was possible to stay at my room until that time, but the response was no. Ok with that, but half an hour later I got a call telling me that if I left the room at 11:00 I could stay at a beach villa, which is the basic room. Great!
This was good for a comparison between those two rooms. If going alone or as a couple, I would choose the bungalows, for the novelty and secludedness. I preferred to have breakfast on the main restaurant, Atoll Market, which was on the main island and required some walking or taking the transfer ferry. On my island, the swimming pool was smaller and breakfast at Vilu was less extensive.
But if going with family, Beach Villa would be my choice, as the room is bigger to accommodate two small children, there is less walking involved and the activities for children are all on main island. My only grip with the room is that I couldnīt make it really dark (I was just doing a day experiment), as there are no curtains to close a corridor leading to glass windows.





On check-out, I mentioned that the charges for breakfast were missing, but was told not to worry.
Anyway, I had a great time there and Iīm already planning to go back with family, as I really thought that the experience was fantastic. The property is great, the views are eye popping and service is excellent. Conrad Maldives is on a much higher league than Hilton Seychelles Northolme.
There were just six flights left to come back home.

offerendum

Only 6 flights...... More than I do at most of my vacations.

Bretteee

I was told to go to the Seychelles in June to October. Maldives January to March.