Best of the Maldives: Loyalty Reward – W Retreat

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W Retreat Starwood Preferred Guest

If your hotel loyalty endures as long as a Soneva house reef, then sign up for W Retreat’s Starwood Preferred Guest Program. I do a fair amount of business travel and have frequent stay points piled up for most hotel chains. And yet, when I have tried in the past to use these points for discounts or bonuses for a Maldives resort I have found that deep in the gotcha fine print that seems to pervade loyalty programmes that the Maldives properties were excluded. Often loyalty programmes try to pay off benefits with surplus inventory in low periods and for well run and popular resorts in the Maldives there simply isn’t much surplus.

Starwood is an big exception to this tendency. They embrace reward guests. In fact, on average 25% of their guest are members of the SPG programme. We have several friends who have gone there because of the Starwood points and though that it was the best hotel reward ever.  Mind you, a stay at the W Retreat will burn a few points, 95,000 for a beach villa, but the fact that so many people manage that is a testament to the generosity of the programme in giving out points as well as the popularity of the Starwood hotels to welcome so many stays.

Even better than a chocolate on the pillow.

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Best of the Maldives: Dive Package – Palm Beach

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Palm Beach dive centre

If you want a sweet package for diving, then Palm Beach still harkens back to an age of simple accommodations at rock bottom prices so all of one’s money can go on dives, dives, dives and more dives. It takes me back to the original dive resorts like Biyadhoo (before it was taken over by Jumeirah to be converted to Vittaveli) it was a Spartan place for divers on a budget to come, buy a beer, eat some fish curry, sleep in rooms with no TV, AC, phone or just about anything.

Palm Beach really leads the way with bargains. Like their exceptional Ful Board offering, they also have a package called ‘Dive Club’ which is almost like a Diving All Inclusive. They include special budget rooms in the interior and slightly smaller with very simple fixtures and fittings. But clean and neat and perfectly comfortable. But the real winner is that the room package includes *unlimited diving*! Dive Club is not advertised on their website so you need to email reservations for details and pricing.

Palm Beach dive units

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Best of the Maldives: Full Board – Palm Beach

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Palm Beach ful board sushi
Unlimited sushi buffet just one of the Palm Beach offerings on Full Board

The best board in the Maldives is not Surf boarding, Wake boarding or even Kite Boarding…but Palm Beach’s ‘Full Board’. They offer a ‘Full Board’ which includes more stuff than many All Inclusives. It’s sort of like a ‘dry’ or ‘tee totaller’ All Inclusive as it includes just about everything, but no alcohol. That said, even beer IS included there. Free beer! Nuff said.

I’ve already spoken about their non-stop food schedule (which is all included in the Full Board). Other freebies include..

  • Instruction (golf, tennis, squash pros on staff)
  • Excursions (snorkel trips twice daily to the house reef, picnic island once each week, fisherman’s local island once each week)
  • Equipment (bicycle and the Presidential suite gets their own golf buggy, snorkelling gear)

So what do you actuallty have to pay for?

  • Motorized water sports
  • Special coffees (cappuccino)
  • Wine and cocktails

Full on.

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Best of the Maldives: Luxury All Inclusive – Lily Beach

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Lily Beach All In cocktails

‘Luxury’ and ‘All Inclusive’ don’t typically go hand in hand.

All Inclusive resorts have tended towards the budget end of the market where people wanted to have a very defined price for their holiday without risk of overspend. Also, budget conscious travellers value the ‘quantity’ (all you can eat) versus ‘quality’. The problem with having ‘All In’ for premium travellers is that when they want extra wine, it could be £100 per bottle wine. An evenings drinking session could consume more than the cost of the holiday. If you start excluding all the treatments, yacht trips, Blue Label scotches and lobster dinners, then the high end traveller wonders what the point is.

But if you want your cake and eat it too in wanting a 5 star resort with an All In plan, then the Lily Beach is the place to go. Trip Advisor Forum reports and reviews consistently rate it as the highest quality all inclusive resort.

They offer a special ‘Platinum Plan’ which they describe as…

“Keeping the overall concept of ‘Affordable Luxury’ in mind, ‘Platinum Plan’ is a Premium All-Inclusive Plan, offering the discerning traveler absolute value-for-money and a hassle-free holiday with uninhibited enjoyment and peace of mind. Our ‘Platinum Plan’ will delight you with a fantastic array of quality services including premium wines & spirits, sumptuous dining experiences, hand-crafted excursions, sport activities, and much, much more!”

Lily Beach is the place were high rollers can go ‘all in’.

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Best of the Maldives: Lowest Price AI – Club Faru

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Club Faru

While the absolute lowest price for the Maldives seems to be Asdu Sun, if you want a refreshing brew, pool-side pina colada or glass of wine with dinner, those refreshments can add a tidy amount to an tight budget. As a result, many prefer the ‘All Inclusive’ scheme which minimises those mounting extras and can provide the lowest total cost of a holiday.

Equator Village has an All-Inclusive (AI) for $167 for 2 people sharing making it $84 per person per day which would seem nearly as low as Asdu Sun’s FB offer. Unfortunately, it does take an extra plane transfer to get there which adds $337 per person or $48/day for a 7 day stay.

But, Club Faru quoted $184.00 on All Inclusive for two people sharing for $92 per person per day. That not only covers an extra meals, but drinks (including spirits), soft drinks, coffees and even an city tour excursion to Male. That could be an even a better deal than Biyadhoo’s FB offer overall.

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Best of the Maldives: Lowest Price – Asdu Sun

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Asdu Sun resort

 

This week the UK budget was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a pretty stark theme of austerity. So what is a Maldives aficionado to do in such times of austerity?

Naturally, all sorts of pre-booking, pre-opening, last-minute and other quirky deals can be found. But all things being equal, the rack-rate lowest starting point is Asdu Sun. They quoted a penny-preserving rate for mid-July of $70 per person per day on full board (flights not included).

But you do get less…unless you truly think less is more. Speaking with Reservations, Asdu Sun takes pride in being back to basics island. No mini-bars. No spa. No fitness centre. No underwater golf range. Not even hot water! The reservations assisted boasted (perhaps another superlative for them) of being the ‘simplest island’. Old school nostalgic simplicity. A plot of sand and a palm tree.

If you are looking for something a little less spartan, Biyadhoo is often cited as one of the best economy-priced resorts. They have hot water and a spa as well as a one of the best house reefs. They quoted $191 for two people per day (for 2 people sharing) Full Board in July which works out to $95 per person per day.

Hopefully, in the future the Maldives government will pave the way for even more economical options according to recent reports on their concerns about catering to the mid-market.

Maybe Asdu Sun’s nickname should be ‘ASDA Sun’.  The tag line fits, “Saving you money every day.”

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Best of the Maldives: Recommended All Inclusive – Athuruga

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Athuruga All Inclusive

An example of the kinds of questions that TripAdvsior Forum and its experts can help you with was a topic that comes up regularly – ‘All Inclusive’ packages. Many guests are drawn to the notion of all-inclusive so they can truly relax without worrying how much more in ‘extras’ they are going to rack up at the end of their already wallet-biting holiday. But what is included in ‘AI’ packages varies dramatically. Typically, they do include drinks, but some resorts have only a limited selection of drinks available to AI guests and all other drinks are extra. Some activities are included and others are not in places.

According to Spammie, one of the top all-time Maldives destination experts, Athuruga is the premier offering when it comes to ‘all inclusive’…

  • “to my knowledge, there are only two resorts that will give you “real AI” – without the dreaded exclusions that mount up to a big bill at the end – as their base standard. the newly refurbished Athuruga and its sister island Thudufushi , which is due to close for refurbishment over this summer. depending on when you are planning to go, Athuruga is your only choice.”
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Best of the Maldives: Short Stay – Holiday Inn Male

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Holiday Inn Male - Pool 

Most people want to stay in the Maldives as long as possible. Some friends have shared that they really downshift into super-relaxed mode after the better part of a week there making a second week all the more indolent. It used to be that two week trips were not that much more expensive in total than the one week equivalent, but the shift to commercial flights from charter and the generally more expensive resort rates have made the costs more proportionate.

However sometimes travel logistics mean that just a short stay is called for (‘Male Short Stay Hotel’). I personally was just blown away by the Holiday Inn Male when we visited there on a day trip (Best for Pool Seating, Best for View). Now that they have made it even easier to just pitch up and ‘stay’ there, I really think it is the best option for someone with just a day to spend in the Maldives.

“Our hotel has developed a series of day packages, allowing travellers to use the facilities of our hotel, taking away the frustration of waiting and instead providing a pleasant and relaxing end to their stay in the Maldives.”

They have a ‘Day Use Room Package’ from $165 and a ‘Facilities Use Package’ at $75.

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