Updated on November 29, 2014

Conrad Maldives – Upgrades, Seaplane, Honeymoon Benefits

We will be arriving at the Conrad Maldives in a couple days.  This part of my trip required some extra planning including a hotel night on Male before and after the trip (just in case).  The hotel contacted me to provide information on the Seaplane transfer (very expensive!), Upgrades, as well as Gold status and Honeymooner benefits. The Conrad Maldives also made some improvements/changes recently which are detailed below.

• I think I made a mistake booking a hotel near the seaplane terminal. I booked LVIS Boutique hotel thinking we would take a quick cab to the sea plane terminal in the morning but the Conrad staff said I need to meet them at the airport.  I should have just booked a hotel near the airport which is on a separate island. This means that after arriving later than 10pm, we have to take a ferry and taxi to the hotel (LVIS boutique arranged the transfer for a discounted price of $15) then in the morning go back to the airport where I suspect Conrad staff will transfer us to the seaplane terminal back near my hotel.  I recently heard someone describe the city of Male as “Hell on Earth”… this person was supposedly a Male native.  We shall see.

UPGRADES:
The Conrad offered to sell me an room upgrade and said they don't do complimentary upgrades.  I booked a room using points which gets me a King Beach Villa.

Here are the prices they offered me:

1. A discounted upgrade from Beach Villa to Water Villa (over the water) $340 + tax (they said the actual price difference for these rooms is $560 per night).  This is $50 less than the original upgrade prices below.
2. The original upgrade prices I was quoted:

WHATS NEW?

1. July 2014: The resort re-opened in July after closing for 2 months while they built a third island called Ranfinolhu. It's not for guests. They moved housing for the staff and most of the infrastructure there. This freed up space where they added 2 tennis courts and more.
2. Many villas were recently upgraded with soft furnishings.
3. Sept 28, 2014: Conrad is the first resort in the Maldives to open an authentic Chinese restaurant, Ufaa, mainly featuring cuisine from the Guangdong province.  It's the first restaurant in the Maldives to serve Kobe beef. There is also a new “spin-off” Chinese café called Yum Cha which features dim sum and mah-jong tables (something new to try).

HONEYMOONER BENEFITS:

1. Fruit Basket & 1 bottle of Champagne in the villa upon arrival
2. $100 USD credit per couple per stay against the excursion of the guest’s choice (amount to be deducted from the room account at the end of the guest’s stay). No cash refund will be offered.
3. One romantic 3-course menu candlelight dinner, excluding beverages.

GOLD STATUS BENEFITS

• Complimentary breakfast for cardholder and one guest per day. Additional guests will be charged at $35 + taxes per adult per day. Children below 12 years old get 50% discount.  (Fingers crossed that no one really brought their children to this honeymoon hotspot!)
• One bottle of wine upon arrival 
• Chocolate & Fruit amenities upon arrival 
• Daily Happy Hour at Vilu restaurant for cardholder and one guest from 17.00 – 18.00 hours
• HHonors™ Global Benefits:
  • Two complimentary bottles of water per day (2 bottles on an island?  I think they should be providing 4 bottles a day minimum to make sure guests are not dehydrated)

IMPORTANT NOTES

• The breakfast on day of arrival is not included and costs $35 USD per person.  I was thinking I would head over there early and have a long breakfast until my room was ready.
• You will find out the seaplane schedule a day or so before your visit so you won't be able to plan your exact time of arrival (as I was trying to do).

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