Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Review: the Conrad Maldives Rangali resort – getting there and overview

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

This is a review of the luxurious Conrad Rangali resort on the Alifu Dhaalu atoll in The Maldives.

The Conrad Rangali is a popular choice amongst HfP readers, in part because it has historically offered exceptional redemption value, and it remains an excellent use of Hilton Honors points. Remember that elite members of Hilton Honors get ‘5 nights for 4’ when redeeming which really helps on resort stays.

Long-time reader Cat recently stayed at the resort and offered to review it for us. As this is such a beautiful location, and because it is such a great redemption, we were happy to accept.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali website is here.

Conrad Maldives Rangali

It’s not every month that we publish a three-part review of one resort – in fact, the last time was probably in 2017, for this exact hotel before it was refurbished. We hope it is useful for anyone who has already booked a stay at the Conrad Rangali or who is seriously considering it. I’m pretty sure Cat has covered all the bases!

Over to Cat:

“I am aware that the Conrad Maldives can be a contentious topic on HfP, and that the mere mention of Rangali Island can incur a degree of comment-thread polarization normally reserved for the Trump Turnberry, marmite and £220 recycled plastic swimming shorts.

However, the resort has just re-opened following an extensive refurbishment of all 50 over-water villas and the rooms look all sparkly and new again, so here we are.

I’m not here to convince you that this is the holiday to end all holidays, or that you’re missing out, but it is an undeniable bargain as redemptions go. To me and many others, the Conrad Rangali is paradise.

I have been saving my Hilton Honors points with the intention of redeeming them in the Maldives for the best part of a decade now, and I finally had enough for a 10-night trip. When the April 2022 dates were made available, I pounced. Even better that it doubled up as some much-needed post-pandemic pampering!

Conrad Rangali website

Booking Conrad Rangali with Hilton points

If you book the Conrad Rangali as a redemption – and frankly you’d be crazy not to, as it’s far cheaper to buy Hilton points in a points promotion and book a redemption than to pay cash – you have the choice of a Beach Villa or a Sunrise Water Villa.

Both of these options are available as Standard Room Reward redemptions for 120,000 points per night (or 96,000 if you have Hilton Honors Silver status or above, and book 5 nights for the price of 4). We were lucky enough to book before the redemption rates went up, and managed to book for 76,000 points per night (95,000 points per night, with 5 nights for the price of 4). 

It is worth noting that redemptions tend to become available 11 months in advance, usually in the first 6 days of the month. While there is generally good availability for the Beach Villas at any given time, the Sunrise Water Villas are often snapped up pretty quickly – in peak season they can to go almost as fast as HfP party tickets. I checked to see if redemptions were available 3-4 times a day for the first few days of May 2021 to ensure I got them. 

Once you’ve secured the booking, you can email the Rangali directly to get a quote for an upgrade (don’t expect a complimentary upgrade – even Diamond Honors members are unlikely to receive one.)

You will receive a custom quote that seems to vary wildly from one person to the next. I’m assured that this is a function of time of year and relative occupancy levels of the different room categories, but the quotes I received were far more steep than I was expecting.

If you do plan to upgrade, try to book the Sunrise Water Villa, as this is a higher value room than the beach villa, and the upgrade prices are generally significantly lower from the base level water villas than from the base level beach villas.

Conrad Maldives Rangali 1200

Getting to the Conrad Maldives Rangali

The journey to the Conrad Rangali is pretty arduous at the best of times – once you land in Male you have to get a connecting sea plane – but throw in the Easter holiday airport chaos, pandemic restrictions (including one or two details that Qatar Airways neglected to tell me), and luggage that we were convinced had been rerouted to Mongolia, and frankly I think it’s a miracle that we made it at all!

We arrived at Male, desperate to grab our bags and make our way to the Conrad lounge before our sea plane to the Alifu Dhaalu atoll, but it was not to be. Em’s luggage stubbornly refused to appear on the carousel and after waiting a good 90 minutes we decided it was a lost cause and headed through customs.

We were met at arrivals by a Conrad rep who was looking rather stressed, as they had been holding the seaplane and were wondering where we were. The rep took us to the seaplane check in desk, which resembled a scrum, and pushed through with our luggage to get it weighed.

There is a 27kg checked luggage allowance and 3kg hand luggage limit. If you’re over (like I was on my hand luggage – oops) then you are charged at $5 + 23.2% tax per kg.

We then waited in the seaplane waiting room for about five minutes before being taken out to board the seaplane which was alarmingly small: 

Conrad Maldives Rangali sea plane

Not the start to our holiday we wanted, but the excitement finally started to bubble up again through my befuddled jet-lagged state, as we flew past blindingly white coral atolls speckled with palm trees in the midst of azure blue seas that made me repeatedly rub my eyes – surely the sea can’t really be that colour?

Conrad Maldives Rangali sea plane view

We arrived, with the seaplane taxiing/floating to the seaplane dock on the walkway between the islands, where we were greeted by our host, Bema, who came bearing the most refreshing coconuts ever.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali resort

Conrad Rangali actually comprises of two islands, connected a walkway and seaplane dock. It’s more obvious on the map:

Conrad Maldives Rangali map

The skinny island on the left is the adults-only Rangali island whilst on the right is the family-friendly Rangalifinolhu island which is also the main island. The main island has two pools, including a kids’ pool, whilst Rangali island features only a ‘quiet zone’ pool above the water.

We were whizzed across to the main island in a buggy to complete check-in. I took the opportunity to grab us both snorkelling gear, available to borrow free of charge for the duration of your stay from the scuba centre.

We were then shown to Rangali island, the quieter, adults only half of the resort and our over-water villa, which I will tell you all about in a future instalment.

Note that the Rangali has its own resort time zone. Male is GMT + 5hrs, but Rangali (a 30min seaplane west) is GMT + 6hrs. This may sound strange initially, but once you’re there it actually this makes sense – it means sunrise is approx 7am and sunset approx 7:30pm.”

This is end of Part 1. Click here for Part 2 of our Conrad Maldives Rangali review, where we look at the different villa types available and here for Part 3 where we look at the best restaurants at Conrad Maldives Rangali – and at how to keep food costs down.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali website is here.


How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (December 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit

10,000 bonus points, Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

NEW: Hilton Honors Debit

2,500 bonus points, Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (84)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Anuj says:

    I’m currently at the new Hilton Maldives. I decided against the Conrad because during emailing them it just felt like every single little thing was an opportunity for them to extract more money from me. In contrast at the Hilton while expensive, the prices are much more reasonable. The rooms are newer and bar the slightly rainy weather I’d highly recommend it here. I was worried the vegetation and sea life would be non existent but I can confirm the island is lush (although not as lush as Conrad from pictures) and we’ve seen plenty of fishes, even under the glass from within our room.

    • ToffeeTom says:

      That is good to hear. Will be there in January. What are the dining options like so far?

      • Anouj says:

        So far I’ve only been to habitat and aura. The breakfast is in habitat and while it’s nice it’s not quite 7 different types of honey fancy. For dinner habitat is perfectly good. The food is delicious and the items can be surprisingly affordable (at least to me 25usd++ for lobster and chips seems quite cheap for the Maldives). I was very surprised that the water with food is free as I’ve read about many other places making you pay outside your room. They also offered us free in pool breakfast for one day, 15 mins free spa sessions for each of us, one free 45 min spa session and a free photo shoot with one digital image complimentary. It really feels like I’m in a luxury hotel in Greece as opposed to the maldives and they don’t seem to be stingy or trying to extract money at every second. I think they’ve got the balance right but this could just be while they drum up more customers.

        Aura has an incredible cocktail tasting room where they’re aging many types of spirits in mini kegs and even have some kombucha they’ve produced.

        Eden and origin are the fancier food places, I’ve not got round to going yet so I can’t say anything of those two.

        • ToffeeTom says:

          Thanks, it sounds like a promising start. Were the complimentary amenities (spa session etc) offered because of Diamond/Gold status? Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

  • Lady London says:

    So glad you got there in the end Cat!
    Will we hear more about the pampering?

    • Polly says:

      Hey Cat, LL best me to it. Delighted you made it too. You really earned the holiday girlie.
      Sorry not to catch up at the party, well atm anyway…cheers

      • Cat says:

        I’m hoping we’ll be able to catch up at the Christmas party Polly 🤞🏻!

        It really was a well earned break!

    • Cat says:

      There will be lots of information about pampering, lazing, eating and drinking to follow in the next couple of days!

      It was *amazing*! I’m still astonished it actually happened in the end!

      Are you able to make the party on Wednesday, after the date change Lady London?

  • Chag says:

    Oh Maldives, the most boring prison!

  • krys_k says:

    Any Marriott options that folks can recommend that come close to Conrad (or perhaps even exceed!)?

    • Rob says:

      Whilst possibly lower quality the new Le Meridien is exceptional good points value as it tries to gain customers.

      Obviously the Ritz Carlton’s are higher end.

    • will says:

      St Regis will serve you a lovely wagyu steak and charge appropriately for everything you can imagine and more, ++.

      I couldn’t fault the service there, but honestly it was daylight robbery.

      I personally would recommend a local run resort in the maldives, and if you must visit a multi national chain, try island hopping within the Atol and staying a few nights at a local one. You might be pleasantly surprised.

      Recommend Sun Siyam (I stayed at Iru Veli), service levels not the same as st regis but offered much more of what I wanted from the Maldives with the natural beauty front and centre rather than staying in a 5 star hotel and the natural beauty of the place as a side show.

      1/10th of the price too, and lots of bit’s taken care of (complimentary childcare, kids eat free) that St Regis absolutely gouged us for.

      • Cat says:

        I’ll make a mental note of the Iru Veli recommendation, in case I ever go back. Thanks!

      • Tracey says:

        I stayed at Sun Siyam Olhuveli years back and was going to agree. Looked into it for 2020 it had grown massively. Instead went for Angsana Velavaru, a different local run resort that was just beautiful, in the “no news, no shoes” true Maldives style. Literally the only place I will travel to where I only take one pair of flip flops.

  • Nate1309 says:

    Great review thanks Cat.

    Has anyone been to the Conrad Bora Bora? That is my dream redemption and I would love to hear what others have done. And if you did go how did you get there? Route/points etc

    • Cat says:

      Me too! Bora Bora is my absolute dream too! Tricky to get to from the UK though! One day…

      • Nate1309 says:

        Really tricky to get to. I would love to hear how people get there. Even if for me it’s probably shelved til the kids are grown up

    • Otinane says:

      We did go to Conrad Bora Bora in 2019. It was a great hotel but everything inside the resort was very expensive. Also we could book only the beach villa (which was fantastic) with points (which we booked months in advance. Overall it was a great hotel but we enjoyed our stay in the intercontinental overwater villa more.

  • Kevin C says:

    Enjoying the review.

    We were there in April, probably just before Cat.

    We stayed on the big island in a couple of beach villas. I didn’t feel the big island was overly busy. The staff were all great. If you have small kids, you can easily fit a family of four in one beach villa.

    We spent a fair bit on food and paid for a two bedroom overwater villa for our last night with the result that I’m now diamond and feel obligated to spend even more money with hilton.

    Visitors should make sure they get a Trans Maldivian Airways tote bag. They are awesome.

    • Cat says:

      We got there on 5th, so we may have overlapped!

      Gutted I didn’t get the tote bag now!

      • Kevin C says:

        We also got there on the 5th so we certainly did overlap!

        • Cat says:

          We probably sat near to each other at Happy Hour then!

          • Kevin C says:

            I think we only made it to happy hour twice but yes! So did it rain the last few days of your trip?

      • Cat says:

        Yes, the monsoon broke on day 6 or 7 I think – we tried to go kayaking, as it was finally cool enough to consider it as an option, but it was far too windy apparently. We just enjoyed the changing shades of the insanely blue sea and moody storm clouds from our infinity whirlpool instead!

  • mj says:

    Stayed in January 7 nights on points. Got upgraded from sunrise water villa to sunset water villa. Flew direct with BA in new club suites on points and used AE 2:1 voucher. Fabulous experience. Hotel is amazing.

    • Cat says:

      It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? It was so much more beautiful than I expected!
      Well done for grabbing the BA flight in club suites, they’re much in demand!

  • mkcol says:

    Don’t recall the island time thing when I was there – either a new thing or I was so jetlagged on arrival I didn’t know where the hell I was!

    • Cat says:

      Unless you spend the night in Male, you probably wouldn’t notice!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.