Wide-open business class Avios availability (9+ seats per day) to the Maldives in November

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• cin3 says:

  26 Apr26 April 07:43

  Many people with school age children just leave them at home during term time…

• Joan says:

  26 Apr26 April 09:17

  I saw this article and have just rather recklessly booked 2 business class flights with my companion voucher in January for 10 nights … without any research… treat for my birthday !
  Hoping January is a nice time to go ?
  We don’t have hotel points so have to pay in full so can anyone recommend a nice all inclusive hotel for a couple in their 60s … maybe accessible by boat .. something not too crazy expensive . Thank you 😊

  • Rob says:

    26 Apr26 April 09:24

    Not reckless at all – you can cancel for £70!

    Reethi Rah is accessed by boat but is very top end. Arguably with the market softening holding off may not be a bad idea.

    Doing the maths on buying Hilton points in a 100% bonus sale is also worth doing, assuming you have Hilton status and get 5-4-4 on redemptions. Hilton’s redemption cap globally is 150k per night which is $750 of purchased points with a bonus (before the 544 discount too) – you will struggle to book an equivalent to the Conrad, Waldorf etc for that to put it mildly.

    • Joan says:

      26 Apr26 April 09:33

      Thanks Rob … I’ll have a look at that 😊

      • Robin N says:

        26 Apr26 April 09:47

        Sheraton also good option – half board rate usually includes speedboat transfers if you book direct

    • Erico1875 says:

      26 Apr26 April 15:29

      Meeru is a nice resort, not to far from Male. £3k for a week, full board in a beach villa in January inc speedboat transfers.
      You have an option to upgrade to AI

  • will says:

    26 Apr26 April 09:53

    I don’t know your dates but look into the Hilton Amingiri on points, it’s 440,000 points for 5 nights (5 nights for price of 4), you could buy those points in the present hilton sale for around £1800. The boat transfer from MLE is only 20 minutes and is relatively reasonable at $300 per adult round trip.
    If you are gold or diamond breakfast is complimentary I believe and from what I have read reports are very positive from the resort, people comment that the base level rooms are very nice with private pools and beach access.

    Rob did refer to a very reasonably price on secret escapes for the hard rock hotel but be aware it was for an apartment style room which I’ve also seen the like of at Patina which is fine, just worth understanding that as for some people they want their own privacy and to spend most of their day in their own villa when they visit the Maldives.

    For 10 days I would be tempted to try 2 resorts on the same atoll, you can often arrange a direct boat transfer between resorts for sensible money, if you do ask both hotels. I wanted to go from Iru Veli to St Regis, St regis quoted me $1350 and Iru Veli $450 for the same trip. The $450 boat was perfectly fine, I suspect it may have been a very similar boat no matter who organised it. There’s a lot of gouging in the Maldives.

    • Kevin C says:

      26 Apr26 April 15:58

      Yes, base level rooms at the Amingiri are amazing. Huge indoor outdoor bathrooms and a really nice swimming pool that wraps around two sides of the villa. Breakfast (free for gold and diamond) is excellent. A huge buffet plus egg dishes to order. Happy hour with free drinks for status members is from 3 to 4pm which was a bit early for me but they do mocktails and coffees if you don’t want to drink alcohol at that time.

      Most people there were on half board, which I imagine they got included with a paid stay.

  • Durwin says:

    29 Apr29 April 15:27

    For a boat connection to an island, you need to concentrate on North Male and South Male atolls, the two nearest the airport. The seaplanes are an interesting option and open up the whole country, but they are very expensive and can waste many hours waiting around (they don’t have a published schedule) plus they don’t fly outside around 6am-6pm.
    If you are not looking for the silly-price high-end “brand” hotels that are becoming more and more prevalent in the Maldives, I would recommend looking at Angsana/Dhawa Ihuru (small, lovely snorkelling), Coco Palm Bodu Hithi (Island Villas are huge with a pool – good snorkelling, try to get a dine-around option so you get 4 restaurants), Baros if the price is right (another great housereef). There are also a couple of All-Inc Oblu resorts which are close to an hour away, Helengeli has a wonderful housereef for snorkelling, full of life, but we found the general atmosphere a little “basic” – the other is Sangeli, we haven’t been yet but will do early next year. These are all North Male, we haven’t been to South Male for more than 20 years…
    Not sure how you can book these without paying “rack” rates, maybe they are available on hotels/booking/expedia type websites, but it’s also worth trying them direct for a discount – also check you get the transfer included, even a boat trip can run $100 each ?

• Marie says:

  26 Apr26 April 12:53

  Hmmm maybe this isn’t as good as I first thought if it’s as expensive as what Northern Lass said 🙁 I was looking for a mid range holiday destination- we don’t have any hotel points. Any thoughts ? looking for an adults only place

  • Rob says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:08

    There are cheaper Maldives resorts – search for our Holiday Inn Maldives review – its just that they aren’t normally written about much because (from the UK) the flights are so pricey that people only want high end options. The cheaper resorts tend to appeal to those in the Middle East etc who can pop across for a weekend break in the same way you may go to Barcelona.

  • David says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:26

    God forbid anyone does it like we did and do it DIY and stay on local islands. £40-80 per night in great hotels with actual Maldivian locals around. The horror.

    • barry cutters says:

      26 Apr26 April 15:28

      David
      Have you ever thought that people go to the Maldives for a specific reason. -I.e. to go for a swanky all inclusive getaway.

      Appreciate you , and people who post similar comments like to go to see the other side of the Maldives but for most people the whole reason they have chosen the Maldives for a destination is for exactly what people are talking about on this forum.
      Most people would rather do a bit more adventurous travel in places like India, SE Asia, south America etc.

      Clearly its a case of horses for courses. And for luxury all inc travel – the Maldives is one of , if not the best place in the world.

  • JDB says:

    26 Apr26 April 13:29

    It seems there are a lot of independent resorts which are of similar standard but hugely cheaper than the chains, so it’s worth researching those. There was a review of Tranquil Nest (on the island of Rakeedhoo) in The Times, apparently designed by the same people as Amangiri that people mention positively here but there are loads of others that the cognoscenti visit.

  • Tracey says:

    26 Apr26 April 14:28

    Try the tripadvisor forums, they provide more information on non international chain hotels and what key questions to ask eg whether it has a house reef.

    Most hotels are totally isolated, so we always go all inclusive to avoid costly prices. Consider whether you “need” an over water villa for the whole of your stay.

    IMHO the standard of service in the Maldives is high enough that a 4* hotel really is a 4* hotel and perfectly reasonable for a wonderful holiday.

    Our last trip we stayed at Angsana Velavaru, we didn’t notice any children, though there is a kids club, so they must have been some. Resorts are spread out, so other guests are not as obvious as in say Spain.

    • NorthernLass says:

      26 Apr26 April 15:37

      Beaches are the main attraction for me (might be something to do with my nearest being Blackpool!), so I’ve never really seen the appeal of a water villa. We stayed in an adorable little beach house on Kuredu Island many years ago (apart from the open-air bathrooms, who in God’s name ever though that would be a good idea?!) A colleague of mine stayed in a water villa on her honeymoon but was too terrified to use the glass-bottomed bathtub in case a fellow guest swam underneath 😂

      • Will says:

        27 Apr27 April 10:16

        Agree with staying on the beach as opposed to overwater.
        Outdoor bathrooms though, literally made for me. Nothing like an outdoor shower imho.

• Joan says:

  26 Apr26 April 19:24

  Thanks all for the very helpful advice … much research to do this weekend to find the right hotel and I will look in detail at all these comments … and thanks as always to H4P for the heads up for the avios flights . We have booked 10 nights .. flying mid Jan 20245 🙏🏻

• Gordon says:

  27 Apr27 April 07:46

  Wow! I didn’t think you could book that far ahead with BA!

  • Joan says:

    27 Apr27 April 18:41

    2025 sorry 😬

    • Gordon says:

      27 Apr27 April 19:52

      No need to be sorry Joan, I’m the big 60 next weekend! So i know where your coming from 😉

• Mo says:

  27 Apr27 April 14:01

  I’ve booked two business seats for december. Which are the best seats for a couple? It’s showing as CS layout, so I’m assuming middle two seats? rows 5, 6 and 10 are already booked. 7 and 8 are showing as either side of a toilet.

  • Rob says:

    27 Apr27 April 15:08

    Two window seats, forget your partner. You are quite separated even in the pairs.

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