W Retreat & Spa, Maldives

[Keith009]

Better late than never - our trip to the W Maldives from Easter 2012. It was of course WOW in every single way. It was the most anticipated W visit and top of the bucket list to tick off, and indeed the pinnacle W experience of my life.

Airport to W:

Sea plane jetty

W lounge at the airport

These came in very handy on the plane

And we're off - Male from seaplane

Random little atolls

 

[Keith009]

And we're here

Welcome entourage - LOL

An entire week of pure bliss ahead - Paradise gets its tips from here

Crystal clear waters - could see stingrays, sharks and schools of fish

Our Ocean Oasis

Awesome view to wake up to

 

[Keith009]

Very breezy decor, a tad Maldivian but not too much

Sunset coughtails - we also got 2-for-1 drinks using the W app special

This fella appeared at the same time at the same spot every evening

 

[Keith009]

Bubbly brekky at Kitchen

Wagyu burger from the room service menu is yum - goes so well with the NZ pinot noir from the in-room wine chiller

Nearly tripped on one of these - they come very close to shore!

Feeding time for the reef sharks too

15 Below nightclub

 

[Keith009]

It's a hard life - also great way of getting rid of hangovers

One of the many highlights of our visit - renting Gaathafushi Island for a moonlit dinner.

5 mins by speedboat

 

[Keith009]

Mellow start to the Cuban Night beach party

coughtail making school

Our experiments - my ginger mojito came out tops!

Leaving ain't as fun as arriving!

 

[Princess Fiona]

Jealous, moi???? :mrgreen:
Fab photos and have just added it to my Mr & Mrs Smith list !
Thankyou for posting

 

[Globetrotter]

I've always wanted to stay at W Maldives. Thanks for sharing the pics. I'm jealous

 

[samh004]

That looked amazing!

 

[Keith009]

Jealous, moi???? :mrgreen:
Fab photos and have just added it to my Mr & Mrs Smith list !
Thankyou for posting

Defo a fab once in a lifetime experience. Except we really miss the place now and would love to go back soon. A heroi_ addiction would be cheaper I think.... (joke, joke).

 

[Keith009]

Oops missed a few - more of our villa:

Overlooking the Indian Ocean - this is why I'd always go for an overwater villa

Glass floor

Easy access to lagoon - but mind the corals

Veuve and coughtails by the pool - a daily ritual

 

[RWJ777]

It looks like you guys had the best time. Veuve by the pool of an evening, every evening; my sort of holiday too!

I'm going to look into this now for next year's vacances.

 

[drron]

Now this is one W I think I could enjoy.Thanks for posting.

 

[robd]

Wow! Just WOW!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Thanks for posting the pics Keith.Lisa and I are planning the Maldives but are unsure for how long. Would a week tend to get a bit boring or is there enough to do? (Mind you, that might be hard to answer as we're thinking the Conrad rather than the W).Glad you two had a great time! Was Easter OK for the weather?

 

[flyingfan]

Love the trip report! The abundance of photos really give a sense of what it'd be like to be there enjoying it The Maldives would be a dream destination for me, one day I hope to be able to scrimp and save enough pennies to make it there.

 

[RWJ777]

Thanks for posting the pics Keith.Lisa and I are planning the Maldives but are unsure for how long. Would a week tend to get a bit boring or is there enough to do? (Mind you, that might be hard to answer as we're thinking the Conrad rather than the W).Glad you two had a great time! Was Easter OK for the weather?

Given how long it takes to get there, surely a week would be well justified!

 

[Keith009]

Thanks for posting the pics Keith.Lisa and I are planning the Maldives but are unsure for how long. Would a week tend to get a bit boring or is there enough to do? (Mind you, that might be hard to answer as we're thinking the Conrad rather than the W).Glad you two had a great time! Was Easter OK for the weather?

We were there for 7 nights (in addition to an overnight at the Sheraton as our MH flight arrived too late for seaplanes to the W). Not boring at all. In fact, it felt like we were leaving in no time at all and can't wait to return. There are heaps of activities but we mostly chilled out around the villa doing absolutely nothing but sipping Veuve or a coughtail or 10, snorkelled and generally ate/drank too much (reminds me of the Capitol in the Hunger Games).

Some activities we did: parasailing, spa treatments, coughtail making class, dinner on Gaathafushi island (you rent out the whole island for yourself plus you get a personal chef and waiter - I think the Conrad has something similar according to a friend who's stayed there), night snorkelling tour of the entire reef. We also attended a few of the parties the W organised but they're mostly very mellow unlike a typical W party cause most people are relaxing in their villas. 15 Below only opened 3 nights a week and was similarly quietish but they had a pretty good DJ. DJ Angus Wong from W Burns' Lab and of W Hong Kong fame dropped in one night which was cool and got the place revved up a bit.

Easter is a great time to go. The weather was perfect every day. The best time to go is around end of year - April.

FYI: Weather in Maldives - Lonely Planet Travel Information

I am not sure if the Conrad requires a seaplane transfer, but if it does I'd recommend booking a daytime arrival into MLE. The seaplanes cease at 1600. You also get a much better view when flying into MLE on finals. Unfortunately MH only had night time arrivals for us. But we got a really cheap MH Business fare ($2500 per pax including a side trip to BKK and stopover in KUL), where the savings outweighed the inconvenience.

 

[djfuzz]

Incredible. Thanks for sharing Keith, this one is definitely on the never-say-never bucket list, so good to at least vicariously experience it through your TR.

 

[serfty]

Thanks for the TR and photos's.

(FWIW, I had to tun Ad Block off to see them.)