The St. Regis Maldives - A Week in One of the World's Top Hotels
When it comes to aspirational travel, the Maldives tops just about everyone’s list of epic destinations to visit. Powder white sand beaches, crystal clear blue water, and overwater bungalows may come to mind. For us, the Maldives is one of our favorite dive destinations. We’ve been blessed to visit twice and it holds memories of whale sharks, 100+ shark dives, fish life that has yet to be surpassed, and playing with mantas on surface intervals. So when the opportunity presented itself to merge one of the world’s top hotels AND one of our favorite dive destinations, we knew we had to go for it.
The St. Regis Maldives was recently caught up in the Marriott/SPG merger where rooms were pricing out at an abnormally low rate for a short period of time. We jumped at the opportunity to book it and scored 8 nights in a Garden Villa for our anniversary. Make no mistake…the room may be covered but the Maldives is up there in the aspirational category because of the cost of everything else. It’s a dry country (with the exception of hotels and resorts) and in the middle of the ocean so the cost of goods is way higher than normal. Then kick it up 87 notches to the St Regis level and let’s just say we saved a little more aggressively for this trip than most. :)
I want to tell you that everything is overpriced or everything is overhyped. I want to tell you that this is just another hotel that happens to be in a beautiful place and banks off of that. I want to tell you that it’s not worth it.
But that would be a downright lie.
They say the devil is in the details and the St Regis takes that to extreme heart. This is a relatively new property in the Maldives and set furthest south for the seaplane route. Flying over the 100+ hotels along the way gives you a sense of how insane this property is when you land. The villas are easily 3x the size of most others you’ll find and none have the famous John Jacob Astor Suite - a 3 bedroom monster of an overwater villa with its own beach…on the overwater deck. (it also has a dedicated butler staff, its own spa room, fully equipped chef’s kitchen hidden by a cleverly designed door, and a gigantic pool so theoretically, you never have to leave it. Oh and it’s roughly $12k/night.) Each villa type is so well-thought out for its location and extremely classy in decor. A mix of light and dark woods, cream tones, and hints of blue (down to the threading on the sleeping pillows), it blends so well into the surroundings without being “beachy” or having a clear “theme.”
So let’s dive in…
We left Dallas and flew to Doha in QSuites (also ridiculously amazing) and then onward to Male.
Once we landed in Male, our vacation began. We cleared immigration and customs, collected our insane amount of luggage, and were immediately greeted by the St Regis airport butler, who already knew us by name. He took our bags and we headed to the Seaplane check-in counter where he gathered our boarding passes and escorted us to the air conditioned, wi-fi enabled SUV that would drive us 1.5 miles to the lounge. Along that drive (which is basically going around the runway) he explained that the construction happening was to expand the airport and add a very large new Seaplane terminal. Both are half built and look promising to be gorgeous.
We arrived at the St. Regis seaplane lounge for our first “wow” of many this trip. It was understated but gorgeous and we were offered an option for a light snack and iced tea of our choosing. (no Lipton offered here) Check-in for rooms is also done while at the lounge, which is really nice, and it was at this moment that we were informed we would be staying in the room we booked (Garden Villa) for the first night but we were being upgraded to a Sunset Overwater Villa for our remaining 7 nights! We were perfectly happy with the garden villa option so this was a really nice surprise, especially considering this is a room type that’s 2 above our original booking. We just enjoyed our first overwater villa in May back in Bora Bora and weren’t expecting to be enjoying another one so soon.
The seaplane was running late but we didn’t mind. We ordered another round of tea and when it was time to head over to the plane, we boarded a small bus and were distributed a small bag that included earplugs and mints for comfort. (Seaplanes aren’t pressurized) I loved the thoughtfulness! We boarded the flight, which included people going to another resort, and were informed we would be landing there first and our property last. Again, loved it - the seaplanes are so cool to us!
When we were descending to the hotel, the sheer magnitude of the property became clear. The pilot did a loop around so we could get some really great pictures and we landed to a jetty full of staff waving us hello. We were escorted to the welcome lounge and given coconuts and cold lemongrass-infused towels to cool down. The manager, Vincent, was there to greet us personally, thanked us for being Bonvoy members, and introduced us to our butler, Moosa. (the manager greeting was very cool - we’re not top tier status so a recognition still of our status was very nice)
So I’ve tossed out the word “butler” a few times now….the St. Regis employs a butler system at all of their hotels. Each room is assigned a butler and all requests, reservations, inquiries, etc. are done through that person. I mean everything from restaurant reservations to setting up dives to a bucket of ice. The butlers at this property essentially run the place and the CIA earpieces mixed with the use of Whatsapp for guests to contact their butlers was so fun to watch. They are the calmest when it comes to demeanor and yet I cannot imagine how much work they’re doing behind the scenes. More on Moosa later. :)
While exchanging pleasantries on the seaplane dock, a baby black-tip shark swam by and I knew I was in one of my happy places immediately. Moosa loaded us (not our bags - we no longer needed to haul anything ourselves ha) onto a golf cart and gave us a tour of the property before we made it to villa 103, one of the Garden Villas. We had seen photos and videos but honestly nothing prepares you for the overwhelming size of the villa until you’re standing in it. The ceilings vault to easily 20ft, the lush surroundings give them a completely private feel, and the pool was massive, beckoning us to jump in as soon as possible. We were told that everything in the villa is controlled via iPad, something that seemed fun at the time and later because a great source of entertainment. (the curtains are controlled by the iPad guys - that’s just cool)
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the pool and taking a billion photos before heading to sundowners at Whale Bar and our first dinner at Alba, the main restaurant on the property. Dinner was really, really good and we quickly learned that the portions aren’t as small as we were thinking so it helped us avoid over-ordering for future meals. (also a money-saving tip ha) We started with a spiced Maldivian tuna appetizer then Curtis had the Lobster and Crab Ravioli and I had the Littleneck Clam pasta. My pasta was our favorite!
We fell asleep by 8:30pm without any regret and were excited to dive the next day!
The next morning was our first breakfast at the boujiest buffet on the planet. As gold status, breakfast isn’t included as an amenity so we planned to only do this a few times during our stay. (It’s $130 for two people - for breakfast) We knew we were diving that afternoon so the complimentary mimosas were out but we partook in just about everything else lol. I ordered the Lobster & Caviar Omelette and Curtis ordered the Sashimi & Sushi platter and keep in mind this is in addition to a few plates from the actual buffet! We filled up on fresh juices and smoothies as well - I’ll never, ever not order a watermelon juice. Stuffed and happy, and still only being 9am, we parked by the main beach and took in our surroundings.
We headed to the dive shop close to our villa for our afternoon dive and were the only two people booked for diving that day. Private diving in the Maldives? Yes please! Our dive location was very close to the resort and was an easy wall dive consisting of schools of bat fish, triggers, and tons of macro life. Bat fish are super fun to dive with because they’re curious and friendly and will swim directly up to you to check you out.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of walking around the property while Moosa moved rooms for us. (literally, you don’t lift a finger here) We found the jungle cinema and contemplated a viewing of OU/TX there…then promptly passed after inquiring on the costs, ha. That area though was really fun to walk around in because the lizards and geckos love it so we saw the most colorful little guys running around everywhere!
We were alerted by Moosa via Whatsapp that our room was ready and he would pick us up by the dive shop in the cart (cart = golf cart) to take us to the new villa. Giddy and anxious, we hopped on to be whisked away to Maldivian heaven.
Nothing prepared us for this.
This wasn’t a room on the water. This was art we were going to get to live in for a week! Not only was it absolutely pristine, but Moosa had unpacked (and pressed!) our clothes for us, setup every single thing we had, and stored our luggage. Talk about spoiled!
It was dark when we arrived to the room so we didn’t get any view pics but let’s just say, the iPad controlled curtains opened the next morning on a view I’ll never, ever forget.
We quickly headed over to the dive center to head out once again for some champagne diving. And again, the only divers going out that day. Private diving in the Maldives can set you back hundreds of dollars per dive so this naturally happening was such a treat!
Returning back to paradise, we hit up one of our favorite places there, the pizza hut on the beach. Prices here for a basic sandwich can easily run you $50+ so splitting a pizza is not only a good way to save money, but a tasty way to justify adding a few beers to the mix. :)
Back in the room, we enjoyed lounging by the ocean and swimming in our private pool. The skies were shaping up to give us a decent sunset so we wanted to enjoy our first sunset in the Sunset Villa! Moosa stopped by with our bottle complimentary sparkling wine (we saved it from our welcome gift) so we popped that open and proceeded to be rewarded with one of the most amazing sunsets! The Maldives absolutely rank in the top 3 locations for incredible sunsets.
The next week or so was spent diving, sunbathing, and walking around the property as much as we could. This was such an aspirational location that we wanted to make sure we were soaking in everything!
We spent our time by the multiple pools, enjoying sunset at the Whale Bar & our room, indulged in room service a few times, diving, and soaking in pure relaxation!
A few highlights to call out:
Whale Bar - the main bar that is shaped to look like a modern art whale. Drinks were always excellent and service was able to keep up with the guests at all times. Every evening, they would saber champagne and pass out a glass to everyone in attendance; a staple of the St Regis brand across the world.
The Spa - easily one of the best spas I’ve ever been to. I had a 3 hour spa experience that included their infamous “Blue Hole” jacuzzi overlooking the ocean and curtis did a massage that included the jacuzzi as well. This was a treat to ourselves and the entire spa staff wrote sweet well wishes to us as a couple.
The Food - every single restaurant we dined in was top tier! We tried Alba, Cargo, Orientale, Crust, Whale Bar, and room service. The only restaurant we didn’t dine at was the pre-fix wine cellar, Decantur, simply due to price. (we chose to dive instead!)
Anniversary Touches - our room was definitely recognized for our anniversary and everyone at the resort would wish us happy anniversary when they saw us. Mind you, these are people we hadn’t seen before! It was such a thoughtful gesture. I enjoyed cake in bed the morning after our anniversary while Curtis dove and it’s one of my favorite moments from the trip haha.
The Diving - WORLD CLASS. While the reef around the resort is still recovering from it’s construction, diving in the Maldives is so pristine and beautiful. I personally prefer the diving near the Conrad Rangali property but honestly you won’t be disappointed diving just about anywhere in the Maldives. If you want to snorkel around the St. Regis, I recommend by the sunset villas as the wall drop off brings in all kinds of fun marine life!
So, was it worth it?
Abso-fucking-lutely. This is one of those places you read about in luxury magazines and wonder how on earth people can afford to go there. We spent 8 full days & nights here and that’s more than most people spend. Points to cover the room (which was going for around $2,200/night at the time we stayed) helped tremendously but some creativity and budgeting was the main reason we were able to enjoy ourselves. I cannot recommend this property enough.
It’s what luxury should be; calm, thoughtful, fun, and exclusive.
-Frances-
The Details
Accommodation: 8 nights at 60k points/night St. Regis Maldives. Note, this was pre-devaluation of the program. 1 night in a Garden Villa and complimentary upgrade for 7 nights in a Sunset Overwater Villa.
Routing: DFW > DOH > MLE > Seaplane to St Regis. Reversed on the way home.
Biggest threats to the country: Climate change causing rising sea levels & temperatures