The St. Regis Maldives Resort – An Exquisite Overwater Experience
Perched atop the alluring waves of the Indian Ocean, the St. Regis Maldives Resort is no doubt “the best address in Maldives”. Located in Vommuli Island right on the Dhaalu Atoll, this secluded archipelago is a bucket-list and a dream-come-true to many.
After a 13-hour flight in Emirates First Class, a day stopover in Dubai, and another 4-hours flight in both Emirates First and Business Class, we were so excited to finally be in The Maldives.
In this post:
- Le Meridien Hotel Dubai
- Aerotel Transit Hotel Changi Airport Singapore
- American Airlines Flagship Business (MIA – LAX)
- Our Round-The-World Honeymoon Trip [External Link]
BOOKING:
A trip to the Maldives doesn’t come cheap, but that doesn’t make it impossible to do. After planning our own wedding, the least we could do is to splurge a little on our honeymoon. And thankfully, we had a couple of millions of Marriott Bonvoy points saved up.
We originally booked an Overwater Bungalow for 425,000 points for 5 nights. A month later, I checked and realized there has been a price drop from 425k to 395,000. I immediately canceled and rebooked. After a couple of cancelling and rebooking, we ended up spending 365,000 Marriott Bonvoy points on a Sunrise Overwater Bungalow. Just by keeping an eye on our upcoming trips, we saved 60,000 points.
ARRIVAL AT MALDIVES (MLE) AIRPORT:
The immigration process was a bit easier than expected, especially with the travel restrictions and advisories that were in place during our visit. As at the time of this post (effective March 13, 2022), PCR Test is no longer required to enter Maldives.
We were approached by one of The St. Regis’ airport butlers as soon as we retrieved our baggage and were escorted to the shared bus to be transported to The Great Room, which is the St. Regis Lounge at the airport. With a little wait at the lounge while they sort out our check-in process for the seaplane, we used that time just to stretch a little bit as we snack on some light bites.
One of the things you want to avoid is carrying more than you need, as the seaplane weighs everything you carry. Yes everything, including your handbag. We went a little over the allotted 30kg and had to pay about $75 for excess luggage.
THE SEAPLANE TRANSFER:
Since the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is located on a private island, you are required to take a 45-minute seaplane transfer from Male (MLE) airport to the hotel. As at the time of this post, the cost of the seaplane ride is $745 per adult (12 years and older).
While I’ve been on so many worlds’ best flights, including helicopter rides, I won’t be exaggerating by saying that was one of the best views I’ve seen on a plane. While there was nothing special about the DHC-6 TWIN OTTER 300/400 FLOATPLANE itself, the excitement of passing over all those tiny looking islands on your way to the best address in Maldives did make up for that.
ARRIVAL AT THE HOTEL:
Seeing many of the hotel butlers amongst other staff members lined up as each one of them placed his/her right hand on the chest while bowing down to welcome us was just amazing to me. I quickly accustomed myself to this Maldivian way of greetings, something I did throughout our entire stay in the Maldives. Afterall, “when you’re in Rome, do like the Romans do. Right?
Our butler, Remon, introduced himself to us and informed us that we have been checked in to Villa 514. We only needed to provide our credit card for a $2,500 authorization hold. The check-in experience was a formal St. Regis Resort type, where you’re seated and offered a tropical drink while being checked in. In no time, we were driven off to our overwater villa in his buggy.
Though I was a bit disappointed upon entering our villa. In my opinion, I felt like the St. Regis Overwater Villa was lacking that wow-factor. And the fact that I wasn’t offered any upgrade was a letdown especially since I had just achieved Marriott Ambassador status prior to this stay. But again, the overwater bungalow was a perfect choice, and we had such a blast during our 5-nights honeymoon stay at this hotel. Keep reading.
We took a tour of the villa, and I must say it wasn’t disappointing per se. The overwater bungalow had an amazing design with modern features. We were welcomed to a handwritten note from the resort manager, a plate of fresh fruits, chocolates, and champagne. That sort of make up for the lack of upgrade.
While the villa is not your regular 2-room suite, the seating area did consist of a loveseat, and a rocking chair with a stool. There’s also a table, which I refer to as a dining table, and another side table was also present.
The 1 King, St. Regis bed was dreamy and provided us some good sleep. I personally love the techy aspect of the villa where you can pretty much control every part of the room with a tap of a button from the bedside tablet.
Another feature of the room that’s worth mentioning is the high ceiling. Although, the best part of the room was being overwater. For me, that was the exquisite part.
Right behind the bed was a table, but not a worktable. Afterall, who goes to a Maldives overwater resort thinking of work? The St. Regis brand is known for its’ tailored butler service. Remon, our butler offered to unpack our suitcases, but we decided not to bother him with that since we could handle it ourselves.
One of my favorite parts of the villa was the bathroom. The design was aesthetically pleasing, and the deep soaking bathtub was desirable. There was also a walk-in rain shower with very good water pressure.
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort was generous with bathroom amenities of different kinds.
What sets the overwater villas apart is having your personal plunge pool on the deck of your villa perched right on the Indian Ocean. It felt peaceful, a paradise like no other.
Having stayed at many St. Regis properties worldwide, I can attest that the St. Regis brand doesn’t disappoint when it comes to food, especially its’ complimentary breakfast offering. As a Marriott Ambassador, we were entitled to free breakfast for 2, and a 20% discount on other food and beverage (excluding in-room dining and alcohol).
During our 5-nights stay, we tried almost everything on the menu at Alba Restaurant. For me, my favorite of them all was the spicy curry soup with roti, while my wife loved her Japanese breakfast every morning. We felt the Maldivian Lobster and Kani Stick didn’t worth the hype.
For dinner, our least favorite was Orientale. We felt like dinner at the Orientale could have been better as we experienced a slow service, and the food wasn’t anything extraordinary. But the staff was awesome, and the vibe was great.
It was also disappointing having to pay $14 for each bottle of water at the restaurant. This is a debate that has been going on among travel bloggers and frequent flyers for some time now, if you can provide complimentary water in the villa then it shouldn’t be that hard to do the same at the restaurants. What is your thoughts on this?
We had dinner at Cargo Restaurant, and we loved the ambience. The vibe was chill, and the setup was nice, and it truly felt like “dining under the stars.” Our last night on the island, we had made reservations to have dinner at the Whale Bar, but the weather was pretty bad. We instead have our Lobster Thermidor delivered to our villa. It was delivered cold, but we blamed it on the weather.
One of the nights we returned from dinner to a surprise in our villa. Remon, our butler, had prepared us some desserts with Happy Honeymoon on the table, with jazz music playing from the TV, and a bubble bath with hearts shape made of flowers. Very thoughtful and romantic. Made us want to change our tickets by extending our stay here at the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort.
Another lovely afternoon, we returned to yet another surprise. Sabah, from housekeeping was using palm trees to decorate Happy Honeymoon on our bed. We were blown away with these acts of gestures and exquisite touches from the St. Regis Maldives team. Although we ruined the surprise from Sabah, but it was still a surprise to us haha.
Every corner we turned to at the resort was just picture-perfect. This indeed was an exquisite stay with an experience of a lifetime.
The swimming pool didn’t get crowded during our stay, even though we didn’t use the pool since we have our own personal pool. Because it’s our honeymoon, we were offered free access to the blue hole hydrotherapy pool at the Iridium Spa. Unfortunately, time did not permit us to visit the spa even though we were at the resort for 6-days. Where did the time go?
Other amenities at the resort includes, but not limited to, Drawing Room, Library, Tennis Court, Watersport Center, etc.
During our last night on the island, we had an emergency which we have reasons to believe it was food poisoning from the lobster we had for dinner. We spoke to the house doctor in the middle of the night, and she told us she would be right at our villa. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t show up. We found this very disappointing as it was an emergency, and something could have gone wrong.
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort utilizes one of its’ Garden Villa with private pool as the resort’s clinic. We stopped by here for our Covid test for our return flights to Singapore and then the United States. This Covid test cost us a whopping $250 each.
THE POINTS ENGINEER’S VERDICT:
For most trips, departure times are usually something many don’t look forward to, but in our case, we were glad it’s finally time to go home. Or at least, to our next destination. But we had such an amazing time during our stay. We couldn’t have asked for any other honeymoon trip. We were glad we finally checked off the St. Regis Maldives off our to-do list.
A trip to the Maldives, St. Regis Maldives for that matter, doesn’t come cheap, hence we have no complain about food and beverage at the resort. When you’re in such a remote island, things won’t come cheap.
This was a great way to have redeemed our 365,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. But I would have had more to complain about assuming we paid for our stay with cash which would have cost nothing less than $10,000.
What we love about the hotel:
- The location and privacy of the overwater bungalow.
- The crystal-clear water of the Indian Ocean. We felt the house reef was also good enough.
- Complimentary swags (St. Regis branded hats, bags, and flip flops).
- Unlimited free water in the villa.
- Remon our butler, Sabah our housekeeping, the waitstaff at Alba during breakfast, and the entire staff altogether.
What we do not like about the hotel:
- It was quite disappointing that the doctor didn’t show up during an emergency.
- Having to pay $14 for each bottle of water at the restaurant.
- We felt dinner could be better as there were not enough varieties.
- Food poisoning from the lobster.
- The entertainment system didn’t provide a “frustration free” experience.
- The WiFi at the resort was not an “enhanced internet”.
Nigeria-born, California-based.
Kayode currently holds higher status on multiple airlines and hotel programs. He has visited 4 continents, 30 countries, and 35 of the 50 US states.
He began his adventure journey after selling his first cellphone ever, and used the money to apply for his first passport. He said to himself, “I’d rather have a passport than a cellphone”. And since then, he has been globetrotting.
Great write up…$14 for bottle of water, that’s absurd. Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon.