jackh5

I am scheduled to travel to the Maldives in November of 2007 and I am currently booked at the W Retreat & Spa in the Maldives.

Does anyone have any experiences they would like to share with me on this hotel?

Thank you.

Kagehitokiri

just curious, why the W?

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=694019 link to the only trip report, as well as some November rate comparisons.

edit - seems like prices can get pretty good during some periods >
Aug 27
$700
$900
$2200
$? (published $5K)

jackh5

Kagehitokiri:

Thank you for your response and you link. Can you please send me a brochure of the W hotel like you said you had. my email address is [email protected].

We are leaning towards the W because of all the reviews i have read on the hotel and awards it won for deisng and service form publications such as conde naste etc...

anaggie

In Jan the prices are even more absurd...I booked Taj Coral Reef resort -- water villa for approx 1k a night with food and drinks and bus transfer....but what can you do when you do not have vacation during off peak times !!!

all properties are at the same price....

Kagehitokiri

IMHO the W is usually overpriced compared to say FSLG and OORR..

jack, i sent the brochure.

anaggie, you might also consider these >
-Hilton
-Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu

what was the actual room rate at Taj Coral?

jackh5

I got a rate at the W maldives for 895 / night (pre tax) for a beach oasis room (which i want to stay at).

I was looking at the one and only reethi rah and was quoted $925 / night (pre tax) for a beach villa with pool.

Doing a side by side comparison:
Total Room size W: 2023SQ Feet
Total Room Size O&O: 1776SQ Feet

Pool Size W: 142SQ Feet
Pool Size O&O: Unknown

Newer Hotel: W
Winner of 2007 Conde Naste Desing Award: W

The second floor of the W hotel is very enticing. There are two daybeds in the W and a hammock in every retreat.

The W also has a dance club and i have read has a better spa.

Please give me your thoughts on my comparison.

xracer

Break down of beach pool villa at Reethi Rah:

Pool = 69sft
Interior of the room= 850sft
Shaded exterior space = 280sft
Pool Deck = 646 sft

I can pretty safely assure you that the interior of the beach villa at the W is not 2000+ sft. You are being given combined indoor/outdoor space.

Something else to keep in mind is that the W is on a very small island and the villas are very tightly packed together. Privacy will be an issue if the place is reasonably full. RR is on a HUGE island and the villas are all very private.

OTOH, the island that the W is on is surrounded by one of the nicest reefs of any resort in the Maldives. RR does not have much of a reef at all.

I've been to RR (and the two FS properties), but not the W. I think it's a safe bet that the service at the W will NOT be better than the service at either RR or either of the FS properties (where it was beyond wonderful). And if you are looking for the biggest pool/biggest room/nicest outdoor area, the FS LG beach villa wins hands down.

Kagehitokiri

good to know about the reef, thats an important factor for some people ^

do any of the beach villas at FSLG come close to OORR in terms of location of / view from the pool (directly on the beach with no garden area) ?

xracer

They really vary. We had one that was completely surrounded by vegetation, so it was private even from the beach. There were others where you could hang in the pool and get a clear view of the ocean. So, the quick answer to your question is yes.

Just another note, I specifically asked for a beach villa that was shielded from the beach because I feared a bunch of traffic walking by and having people look into the villa. But the place was so large that this almost never heppened. I spent a good 3-4 hours on the beach in front of the villa every day and saw maybe 8 people over the course of 5 ngihts.

The same was true at RR - the place is even bigger than LG, but I can't imagine this would be true at the W (which is on such a small island) - nor was it at the FS KH.

anaggie

actual room rate was 800/night for an overwater deluxe villa.

Kagehitokiri

thanks xracer

one other question - in the 2BR overwater at FSLG, how far are you from the 1BRs? do you have a view of them from the side?

xracer

You were far, far away. It really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. There were NO privacy issues at all. There are two of these villas and we were in the west facing one, so on the right side as you faced the ocean, there was nothing but open sea. On the left side there was a barrier to shield those in the other villas from seeing into your villa. That barrier was a good 100 feet away from the our villa deck and the other villas were at least three times further away still. You really had to go out into the water itself to see past the barrier.

ktp28

Hi,

We looked at the website for the W Retreat & Spa at the Maldives and we were very impressed with the Beach Oasis.

Right now, we are considering either one of the following

Option A
- 2 nights at the W (Ocean Oasis)
- 1 night at the Hulhule (because when we arrive we will have to

Option B
- 2 nights at Kuda Huraa (Water Bungalow)
- 2 nights at Landaa Giraavaru (Water Villa)

Both are the same prices. I'm leaning towards Option B because it seems like a better deal.

Please let me know what your thoughts are and I look forward to hearing from you FTers.

Cheers,
KTP

trach500

I just priced out the W hotel for Dec 22-29, 2008 and they want $2250/night for a beach room and $3250 for a water villa.

Kagehitokiri

3X low season for XMAS isnt that unusual..

FSLG and OORR are 2X for some villas.