Hilton Maldives Rangali Conrad booking details

[zooby1]

So I have some points to book here and I’ve found out that they charge 600usd pp for seaplane transfer from Male airport to the island. Also, if you’re a diamond member you do not get any free room upgrades. However, diamond members still get the breakfast free.

I’ve enquired about the Amingiri resort but that will be opening up in July and there’s no details around that as of yet. Other than taking reservations for stays starting September 1st.

[KevinC]

Yes a you get a full (excellent) breakfast at the Rangali as diamond. Status members get free drinks at the happy hour daily at the somewhat early time of 4pm plus diamonds will get a bottle of sparkling wine on arrival.

There is an extensive wiki about this property on flyertalk if you haven’t already found it.

There is also the Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives if you have enough points, can find availability and are willing to pay the yacht transfer prices.

[zooby1]

Whenever I check the price in points for Waldorf Astoria, they are well in their 7 figure range.
What is a reasonable figure to pay for the WA and do you get any free room upgrades being a Diamond member?
Also, do you have any idea of how much the yacht transfers are?

[KevinC]

Standard redemptions at the WA are 150k (up from 120). Conrad redemptions are now 120, up from 95.

The flyertalk Waldorf wiki says that transfers are a mere $650 per person plus service and tax.

I don’t know if you will get room upgrades – i doubt it. That said, the standard redemption room at the Waldorf looks pretty spectacular.

[zooby1]

Thanks! Had a look at FlyerTalk Wiki and it’s really comprehensive! 🙂

[Benilyn]

Don’t expect any upgrades in general in Maldives with status, very rare.

Transfer costs (and food) are high everywhere in Maldives.

Hilton Amingiri might be mildly cheaper as it’s not far from the airport and so a very short ride and unlikely they get a luxury yatch like WA have.

[ToffeeTom]

I am booked at Amingiri in Jan 2023. The transfer cost is $300 + 23.2% Tax per adult.

[iamlost]

I’ve stayed at both resorts on points (Waldorf @480k for 5 nights in 2019, Conrad @760k for 10 nights this year).

At the Conrad I would highly highly recommend paying the small upgrade fee to move to the recently refurbished villas – the difference is night and day from the ones you get on points. I split my stay between a sunset water villa and deluxe beach villa. Both were excellent, but still a notch below the beach villa at the Waldorf which was near faultless.

The transfers are similarly priced – I probably preferred the seaplane as it’s a fairly unique Maldives experience, but the Waldorf’s Princess Yacht felt luxurious enough to almost be worth the price tag. Almost. One difference is the Conrad seaplane lounge is not allowed to serve alcohol as it’s on the mainland, while on the Waldorf yacht I went through most of a bottle of champagne each way.

I had exemplary service at the Waldorf, from every single staff member. The only slight snags were buggy delays once or twice, and being given wrong information about dinner reservations one night that they made up for by giving me a private tour of their private island the next day. At the time, it had only ever been booked by one guest – a Saudi prince. Service at the Conrad was distinctly average, including a few communication issues with my concierge and being left to wait around unnecessarily at times. Nothing egregious, but I expected better. Also, having visited the Muraka, I left thinking it’s overhyped inside and out.

Gold and Diamond benefits were not too different between the resorts. The Waldorf breakfast far trumps the Conrad, as you’d expect. Happy hour at the Waldorf was a five-star experience, including a decent menu of cocktails and impressive canapés. The Conrad happy hour had only one cocktail a day and a budget plate of canapés. On arrival, the Waldorf gave me a bottle of Delamotte champagne while the Conrad gave an unremarkable Cabernet.

I was expecting to be underwhelmed by the food at the Conrad, but every meal was surprisingly good. Standouts were the wine cellar dinner as well as the lobster and champagne beach barbecue event. The undersea restaurant is gimmicky but fun. The Waldorf in-villa dining was the best room service I’ve ever had, and every dinner was as good as you’d expect at a Waldorf. Conrad menus are slightly cheaper, but both were worthwhile despite the Maldives pricing.

The quality of the house reef is much better at the Conrad, though I didn’t appreciate how far out you have to swim for the best parts compared to the Waldorf. The location of other watersports activities at the Conrad was a little odd, I much preferred the lagoon at the Waldorf. The main pool at the Waldorf is also in a different league to the Conrad’s.

I’ll stress that most of the negatives I mentioned about the Conrad are relative to the Waldorf, which set a very high bar. The Conrad still a great way to use points, but I’d feel differently if I had booked it with cash. I would definitely return to the Waldorf (though I’m eyeing up the Raffles for my next Maldives trip), but one visit to the Conrad was enough for me. Hopefully a useful perspective.

[NorthernLass]

It’s the transfer situation which puts me off visiting the Maldives again. When we went years ago we booked the seaplane, but had to wait 3 hours for it at MLE as we had to fit in with its schedule. Fellow guests who took the boat transfer (which took 3 hours so we arrived at roughly the same time), were horrendously sea sick and said the experience was mostly being thrown about and stifled with diesel fumes! On the way back we again had to fit in with the seaplane schedule which meant spending more hours at MLE. And these days the prices are nothing short of outrageous, of course.
In fact, if I were to go again, ease and cost of transfer would probably be the number one priority!

* This was back in the days of Teletext specials, being able to book a holiday at 2 weeks’ notice and direct flights from MAN – the golden era of travel 😂

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[zooby1]

Wow. Thanks for sharing your breakdown and experience of both resorts @iamlost. Appreciate the response.

Yeah, likewise its the transfer cost that’s putting me off and gearing towards mango house seychelles instead.

I’d love to go to the Waldorf but cannot find suitable dates within the 150k points range.