Maldives Travel Guide
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Hilton Maldives Iru Fushi Want Guests To Keep Paying Half Price
When the President attended the reopening/rebranding of the Hilton Maldives Iru Fushi Resort & Spa, we knew this was a place to watch, and we also mentioned the great value offered by their two-for-one opening deal. Well, that was supposed to conclude at the end of this month, but now they've extended it all the way through until the end of October 2009.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Maldives Hotels / Hilton Hotels / → All Tags
Hilton's Iru Fushi Opening Is A National Event in the Maldives
It’s not every day that you get a national president to attend your hotel opening, but since tourism is the main industry in the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed was on hand to help open the Hilton’s new Iru Fushi Resort and Spa.
The new resort is Hilton’s second of four planned properties in the Maldives. The Conrad Maldives is already open on Rangali Island, the Beach House will join the Waldorf-Astoria Collection starting November 1, 2009, and a Doubletree will open in the island nation’s capital of Malé sometime in 2011.
Iru Fushi is located on the island of Medhufushi in the Noonu Atoll (no joke, that’s its name) about 40 miles north of Malé, and looks like 52 acres of paradise. President Nasheed gushed, “I am delighted to be here for the inauguration of hits beautiful resort and am sure that the Hilton family will continue to set the standard for hospitality excellence in the Maldives with its latest opening.” That’s a much more positive reaction than most “Hilton openings” receive. Tee hee.
Tags: Best Western Hotels / Hotel News / Maldives Hotels / → All Tags
Who's Ready For The Best Western Madoogali?
...Because it's coming soon! It's just been announced that Best Western, they of continental breakfasts and drive-up motor lodges, will open their first Maldives property this September.
Set about 50 miles west of Male, the Maldives' capital, the island of Madoogali will be dedicated to the 56 palm-thatched chalets of the resort and spa. According to the press release, it will also include "a refined restaurant, a spa, a dive center and numerous water sport activities, including windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, water-skiing, catamarans and pedalòs." This doesn't sound like the Best Western we know.
While no estimated room rates have been released, we doubt that they'll be anything near the $700+ a night of the W Maldives Retreat. For those dreaming of a relatively affordable Maldives vacation, the Best Western could be a great option. Or, how about all of us Maldives-fanatics put our money together to buy a little island for ourselves? Neighboring Dhinnolhufinolhu looks promising, but then we'd have to write that on our envelopes all the time.
[Madoogali photo: IsoleMaldive]
Tags: Regent Hotels / Hotel Openings / Maldives Hotels / → All Tags
The Predictably Romantic Regent Maldives Probably Opening Soon
The Regent Maldives might've been slated to open in 2008, and then the first quarter of 2009, but we're kind of used to the Regent Hotels people rescheduling their opening dates. Now we're hearing late 2009 for the Maldives and some rumors are going solidly for December 1, 2009. We've gotta say, though, that this place looks like it'll be worth the wait.
Of course, it's easy to look gorgeous when your hotel is made up of 50 luxury villas on a private coral island. To be precise, the Regent Maldives is on Maalefushi Island, eight hectares of tropical plants surrounded by white beaches. That's easy to love.
Of these 50 villas, 23 of them are planted on the beach and 27 of them are overwater villas; they've all got private plunge pools, indoor and outdoor showers and vast wooden decks where you can enjoy the view. But what really tweaks our romantic bones is this:
Small uninhabited islands near The Regent Maldives can be arranged as the perfect venue for romantic dinners or private parties with bonfires, barbecues and traditional Maldivian drum music under the stars.
No word yet on opening rates (we're guessing they won't be too cheap) and their website isn't allowing bookings yet. Is that because December's too far away or they're not quite sure they'll be ready? We don't really mind, we're just waiting to hang out on our special uninhabited island.
Tags: Hilton Hotels / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Maldives Hotels / Doubletree Hotels / → All Tags
Hilton To Get Three New Hotels in The Maldives
Last time we checked in with Carsten Schieck, General Manager of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, was in February, when he told us about the resort’s dizzying menu of "barefoot luxury" offerings.
But as it turns out, Hilton's offerings in the Maldives won't be limited to this one resort anymore. Hilton is taking over three new properties in the Maldives and Schieck will be overseeing them all.
The first is the new Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa (formerly the Iru Fushi Resort) which is scheduled to open on July 1. The second major project from Hilton is the transformation of the year-old Beach House Resort at the northern tip of the archipelago on Manafaru Island (pictured.) The plans here are to turn this into the first Waldorf Astoria Collection property in the Asian Pacific. The luxury property was already listed on the Condé Nast Traveler Hot List, so presumably Hilton won’t have to make too much of a fuss before the scheduled November 1st changeover.
The final property that Hilton will launch is the new Hilton Doubletree in the Maldivian capital, Malé. That hotel is set to open in 2011. Yes, a Doubletree in the Maldives. They are now, officially, everywhere.
Tags: Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Maldives Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Mandarin Oriental Focuses on The Maldives
Right on the heels of the burning down of their prized, under-construction building in Beijing, Mandarin Oriental has flipped their fortunes and diverted attention to it by announcing their plans for a Maldives Resort in 2010.
Plonked onto the private island of Maavelavaru in the Noonu Atoll (ha, "noonu"), the super-luxe retreat is going to be 115 miles from the capital of the Maldives and its main airport in Male, meaning that this baby will only be accessible by seaplane transfer. How's that for exotic? A proposed 7 restaurants, 114 villas (20 of which are on the water) and 4 Presidential villas make us wonder at their positivity; will there still be people willing to drop over $10K for less than a week's island vacation?
Tags: Pitch Your Hotel / Interviews / Conrad Hotels / Maldives Hotels / Carsten Schieck / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Traveling 10,000 Miles for Barefoot Luxury: The Conrad Maldives
Carsten Schieck, the tall, tan, genial General Manager of The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort, breezed into Los Angeles last week on a tour of the U.S., and sat down to tell us why a visit to his resort is worth flying 10,000 miles (plus an extra island hop of 50 miles.) Turns out that even if you hate traveling long distances, once you get to the Maldives, the Conrad will do everything in their power to make you forget just how long and tiring that trip was.
But first, we had to ask--what is Conrad. This is actually one of Hilton’s ultra luxe-brands ("but still hip," says Carsten) with just a handful of properties around the world. This location was actually once the former Hilton Maldives but underwent a recent $35 million refurbishment to emerge as a brand-new, shiny and sparkling Conrad Hotel.
Tags: Honeymoon Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Fergie / Josh Duhamel / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Fergie Ferg and Josh Duhamel are Each Other's "One and Only"
Fergie (aka Stacy Ferguson) and Josh Duhamel finally got around to tying the knot last weekend in Malibu and the newlyweds are now reportedly at the Reethi Rah One and Only Hotel in the Maldives. Hmm...maybe they got the idea from our Top Five Best Hotels in the Maldives list.
We've always envied the private villas at Reethi Rah, some of which are on the beach and others that are above the waters of the lagoon. But in this economy, the only people who can afford to stay here are money-making celebrities.
The hotel has a honeymoon special that really doesn't seem so special, thanks to the restrictions on it. The package includes a five nights stay minimum, a candlelit dinner (booze not included), a signature honeymoon amenity and flower bed decoration. Honeymooners must show a copy of their invitation or wedding card for this deal. And the dinner is not combinable with any other offer. Um...ok.
Without the honeymoon "perks", rates are currently $1,750 for a private beach villa which comes with its own villa host and assistants. The two-bedroom Grand Beach villa with a private pool is $6,950 per night. Yes. PER NIGHT. Oh and don't forget, it costs $150 each way for the trip from the Male Airport to the hotel via its luxury yacht. We sincerely hope that Fergie and Josh got a price break here for being famous. Oh wait, nevermind. They can afford it.
Tags: Maldives Hotels / Hotel Nightclubs / Hotel Openings / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
Where to Party in the Maldives...If You Must
Still rolling out some of its luxury services and amenities after soft opening in May this year, the Diva Hotel in the Maldives has already picked up a reputation for being one of the few places to party on the otherwise totally relaxed islands.
A UK Times report actually got pretty excited about the nightlife possibilities at Diva:
The Diva hotel is about to launch the archipelago's first seriously hip-swivelling disco. Get into the zone at the Iru Bar, where the concept is "shoeless", before shimmying your way into the Musik nightclub, where it will probably tend towards legless.
Iru Bar with its barefoot attitude is understandably right next to the beach with views across the sea, and the name itself comes from the local word for "sun".
There are a couple of other bars and close to half a dozen restaurants at the Diva resort complex so it's probably a place you can spend more than one night.
Don't hurry: half of these restaurants and bars aren't open yet, most of them being scheduled for September openings. Check back on Diva's site for opening specials, because they're not even publicizing room rates yet. And then you can get disco-ing.
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Conrad Hotels / Maldives Hotels / Hotel Lust / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': The Lust for Conrad Maldives is Never-Ending
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Jennifer Merritt heads to the Maldives...in her head. Enjoy.
Ever since a PR person's pitch for the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island arrived in my inbox, I cannot stop thinking about this place--and that was a year and a half ago.
Set on two private islands accessible only by seaplane, the hotel is surrounded by coral reef and a lagoon. It features an all-glass, undersea restaurant, two spas and various levels of luxury water villas scattered throughout miles and miles of white sandy beaches.
Tags: W Hotels / Hotel Boats / Snapshot / Maldives Hotels / → All Tags
Snapshot :: The W Boat at the W Maldives
A friend of ours was fortunate enough to be able to make the trip to the W Maldives a few months ago and of course the green-eyed monster came out when looking at her vacation pics.
The W seems to be everything it promises on the website, in the magazines, in the ads and more. We will go there someday. Oh yes, we will go there someday.
In the meantime, check out this sweet W boat that ferries guests around where they need to go--like the airport. Do you think they would sell that in the W online store?
Tags: Maldives Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Island Getaways / → All Tags
Maldives Heaven: Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru
A relatively recent opening in the Maldives, the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru has quickly become a very popular destination over its first couple of years. In a UK Independent report last week it got an extremely positive write-up:
Food and cabins - there are some 50 "beach pavilions" and 38 "water bungalows" - are, needless to say, so faultless you'll want to cry when it's time to leave.
When we see this photo of the pool out the back of a water villa, we can understand never wanting to say goodbye. And each room and villa come with such a long list of life's daily needs that we could probably stay and work from there anyhow: they have CD and DVD players, multi-line telephones with voicemail and wired and wireless internet access. Plus the housekeeping service drops by not once, but twice a day.
However, our dream of living at the Landaa Giraavaru forever has already been quickly shattered because we checked the prices. The cheapest nightly rate (and that's not for a water villa with this pool, obviously) comes in at US$700 a night using a stay four, pay for three package; if you want a Bed and Breakfast deal it comes in at $960 per night. Might have to be satisfied with a short vacation there instead.
[Photo: FMUBSU]
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