We spent five nights at the Ithaafushi of the Waldorf Astoria. I was curious to check out the most luxurious points points hotel in the world and see if it lived up to the hype. I'm happy to report that the hotel has some quirks, but I'd recommend staying here!
Before we get into a detailed review of the property, I would like to give you a few basics about the property.
There are a couple of ways to maximize value at the Waldorf Astoria, so let's go over those details.
You can redeem points at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives. I locked in my stay many months ago and have been ever since. With elite members getting a fifth night free on award redemptions, we were paying an average of just 96,000 points per night.
To me, that's the equivalent of paying $480 per night for a hotel here. The paid rates for our dates started at $2,500+ per night after taking in the room rate and taxes.
There are a few things to remember if you redeem points at the hotel.
The demand for travel due to the Pandemic has caused luxury hotel rates to go through the roof. Depending on the time of the year, the base rooms at the hotel can be as high as $3,000 per night.
If you're booking a cash rate at the hotel, I would highly recommend booking through a travel advisor.
When you combine the promotions being offered directly by the hotel with the ability to earn points, the value looks a bit better than the initial rate you see online.
For those wondering about elite recognition, here's what's offered to members of the Hilton Honors Diamond program.
The happy hour is the only elite perk at this property.
The happy hour can add up if you are a drinker. Cocktails at the hotel will typically cost you $30 each, so for a couple that costs $60 per round of drinks.
You can get Diamond status just for having the American Express card, and it's a great value.
Getting to many resorts in the Maldives requires taking a seaplane, but that's not the case at the Waldorf Astoria. You can get to the resort via a speedboat ride from the airport.
This was the first time I had stayed at a resort that was close to Male.
The yacht transfer costs $730 per adult, plus a 23.2% tax and service charge, so it's $899 per adult. This is comparable to standard seaplane transfer costs, but obviously this is a ton.
The yacht used for transfers is very nice and has a lot of seating. There are two bedrooms, but they aren't really needed for such a short journey.
They serve free-flowing drinks, including Veuve Clicquot champagne, as well as some snacks. The price of alcohol makes it a nice experience.
It was cool to see Male in a boat.
We were lucky to arrive in the evening, as this turned into a sunset cruise.
On our journey to the hotel, we had the yacht all to ourselves, while on the return journey we shared the yacht with another family.
The arrivals experience was easy to understand. Marco, the resort manager, and Tiffany, our personal concierge, were with us when we arrived. We were given a cold towel and a drink and taken to our villa in a golf cart.
The archipelago of islands is home to the Waldorf Astoria. It is 3.5 kilometers from one end of the resort to the other. The map below gives you a sense of the layout of the property. Since the resort isn't just one island, at most points of the resort you can see the lagoon.
For some context.
There are paths connecting the entire property, and they are easy to walk or bike down, or you can always call a golf cart to pick you up. It's not a very relaxing biking experience, as you're mostly just getting out of the way of golf carts, and the paths get quite a bit of traffic.
The bridges connecting the little islands are always beautiful to bike down.
It can be enjoyable to bike up and down the jetty even if you are not staying at the far end of the resort.
You can see the private island from the far end of the jetty, as well as the two Stella Maris villas, which can only be accessed by boat.
At sunrise and sunset, the views across the property are simply stunning.
The standard accommodations at the hotel are in villa 309, which is a king reef villa. The rooms are located on one of the small islands between the main parts of the resorts.
This isn't an overwater villa because the room is on land. You feel like you are in an overwater villa because the terrace is overwater. You don't have to go on a jetty. I wouldn't pay the upgrade surcharge for an overwater villa, and I liked the central location of the villa, as it offered easy access to everything.
Two bikes were parked outside. The only way to get to the outdoor area of the villa was through a double door, which was enclosed by a wall.
The outside of the villa was amazing, but let's start with the inside.
While the villa is marketed as being over 3,000 square feet, it also includes outdoor space, and the indoor space is maybe one-third that size. The bedroom area of the villa had a king size bed, two chairs looking out over the terrace, a TV, and a hybrid desk and Vanity setup that was better than nothing.
The well stocked minibar was close to the entrance. Coffee and tea were available for purchase.
There was a fruit plate, chocolates, and a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut in the side table, which was a welcome addition.
Half of the indoor villa space was devoted to closets and the bathroom. Two sets of closets were on each side of the bedroom. When opening the doors, the lights inside the closets would only stay on for a short time. It didn't make sense to me if there was a glitch in our room or if the closets were programmed that way.
The bathroom had a walk-in shower, double sinks, and a soaking tub.
All of the toiletries were in containers that were easy to use.
I let the hotel know before the second guest arrived that there were two containers with personal care items. It sounds obvious, but you would be surprised how often that doesn't happen.
On the garden side of the villa there was a large outdoor shower, which could be accessed by walking through the main shower.
The outdoor space was the highlight of the villa. The outdoor space was a great place to hang out because of the variety of furniture options and the covered spaces.
The furniture was endless, from two lounge chairs at the end of the pool to a dining table that can seat four, to another dining table with two seats, to a sitting area with two seats, to two loungers down on the dock by the ocean.
There were stairs leading into the ocean.
The distance from Male to the resort was not an issue for me. You can see a picture of Male in the distance from our deck. Since I had never been so close to Male before, I liked having a view of something, and there were no issues with boat traffic, noise, or anything else.
I thought our room was great. This is an amazing redemption. There are a few notes and thoughts.
The Maldives is a place where guests spend a lot of time in their rooms. Villas are often large and have private pools. When you aren't in your room, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives has a lot to offer. Let's talk about the facilities of the property.
I have never seen anyone use the two shared pools at the Waldorf Astoria. There was a huge pool with a cool design.
The pool for adults had a different design and 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611
There is a large beach area at the resort. Many resorts in theMaldives don't have a proper beach, so it's cool that the Waldorf Astoria has one. The sand was powdery and the water was calm.
There were many water sports to choose from here. Kayaks, paddle boats, and stand-up paddle boarding are free while most other options are charged.
You can find the spa treatment menu at the hotel. We had a signature massage here one day, which was upgraded from a 60 minute massage to a 90 minute massage because of my Diamond status.
The facilities at the spa are great. We were welcomed by the staff and asked to choose our preferred oil for the treatment.
The massages took place in overwater villas, which had glass floors, so that you could look into the ocean during your treatment.
The overwater villas have great outdoor spaces.
It was nice to have an indoor activity when it was hot, and our treatments were very good.
There is a gym next to the spa area.
The gym has a good selection of equipment, though it was busy at times, and the resort was only half full when we were there. The trainers on staff were friendly and offered to help guests.
I appreciate that the hotel sells shakes. There are so many hotels with amazing gyms, but it's hard to find a shake. This is something I would like to see more of.
There is a paddle tennis court at the hotel. It was fun to play with Ford and I would recommend doing it early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Should you want to take lessons, there is a tennis coach on hand.
The food and beverage outlets at the hotel are the most well-known of them all. It's not like you have 10 dinner options, though some are just bars, and most restaurants are only open on certain days of the week.
Below I will cover each outlet in more detail, and you can find all the restaurant menus at this link.
There are a few things to note.
I'm going to put the dining outlets in order of the time of day where we visited them, so breakfast first, then lunch, and then dinner.
Breakfast is served daily from 6:30AM until 10:30AM at Tasting Table. The restaurant has high ceilings and sliding doors, so you can enjoy a breeze no matter where you sit.
Guests have access to an unbelievable buffet, and on top of that there is a menu one can order off of to supplement the buffet. The buffet had a lot of amazing dishes from the Middle East, India, and the Maldives.
Should you want a glass of champagne or a mimosa, there is a free flowing Taittinger.
The server in the restaurant were happy to serve coffee and juice. I'm a tough coffee critic and the cappuccinos here were a 10/10.
The iced lattes were very good.
While we mostly stuck to the buffet, we also tried the avocado toast and the Maldivian omelet, both of which we liked.
The most popular restaurant for lunch is the Nava at the Waldorf. The menu at the restaurant includes salads, sandwiches, and pizzas.
We shared a salad with a pizza.
They serve pitchers of drinks. It was claimed that they had the equivalent of five drinks in there, since the cocktails were $22 and the pitchers were $60. We wondered if they had any alcohol in them after they were weak.
You will find a bar at every Waldorf Astoria. Near reception, Peacock Alley is located. It has both indoor and outdoor seating.
There is a happy hour from 4-5PM every day where you can find a variety of drinks and refreshments. The drinks have nuts in them.
The staff here were very kind and generous with their help. There was live music, which is a reason to attend this. There seemed to be around five or six couples here.
You can find the menu at the sunset bar at the resort. There is a small bar area on a dock with a selection of cocktails. We came here for drinks, but we didn't stay until the sun set.
Terra is the most famous restaurant in the world, so I wanted to check it out. The restaurant consists of seven tree houses and each has a table. This is a unique concept you won't find in other places, so kudos to the hotel for that.
You can get to the individual tree houses by going up a set of stairs and then using a circular walkway.
The two tree houses that are higher up have better views. Since seating is on a first come first served basis, I recommend getting here earlier so you can get one of those. They have views that look out over the ocean and you can see Male in the distance, but from the other tree houses you will mostly see trees.
You can find the Terra tasting menu here. An amuse bouche trio was presented at the beginning of the meal.
A selection of bread was also offered.
The next course was burrata with tomato sauce and balsamic vinaigrette.
The next course was Norwegian salmon with cauliflower, cucumber, and parsley oil.
Next up was a lobster with ponzu gel and beluga caviar.
A basil and bergamot sorbet was next up.
There were two options for the main course. I ordered the dover sole with charred asparagus, green pea mousseline, chanterelle mushroom, tarragon cream, and citron beurre blanc.
The miyazaki wagyu beef tenderloin was Ford's main dish, with mashed potato, cipollini caramelized onion, king eryngii mushroom, and polenta chips.
The main dessert consisted of chocolate and cassis, with 4% dark chocolate, cheese mousse, hazelnut cake, and cassis ice cream.
There were some petit fours at the end of the meal.
This was a really special experience, and of course it comes down to the setting. It is the most expensive dining experience on the property at $345 per person.
The food was good and the experience was good. The food was good, the plates were good, and the service was good.
I have to say that Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc Maldives is a bit cheaper than Le 1947 in terms of food and service, but it is in a league of its own. Don't expect Terra to be life-changing or an experience you'd expect at aMichelin-starred restaurant, even though you'll get a good meal. You are definitely paying for the view.
The Middle Eastern restaurant is called Yasmeen. It is set in a courtyard with views of the ocean and beach. The restaurant is a prime example of the hotel taking themes too far to the point of feeling kitschy. I loved the food at this restaurant and would recommend it to others.
We were offered some Arabic coffee as we arrived at the restaurant.
There is a set menu or you can order as you please off the standard menu. The set menu is what we decided to do.
The meal started with meat, cheese, and olives.
The cold mezze included tabbouleh, fattoush, hummus, and labneh.
Next up was the hot mezze, with ras asfour, chicken liver with pomegranate molasses, spicy potatoes, and a mouajanat mix.
Chicken, beef, lamb, and veggies were included in the main course.
There was a dessert with apricot puree.
The meal was huge and delicious, and we were able to see some gorgeous sunset views.
The farm-to-table restaurant is called Glow, and it is very good. You can find the menu on the island. The restaurant is located on the beach near the sunset bar.
We were offered juice and bread at the beginning of our meal.
We ordered a salad and a paper roll.
We ordered the fried rice and chicken curry.
We split the organic flourless chocolate cake with fruit.
I recommend dining here if you are staying at the resort because this was a really great meal that exceeded our expectations.
The Ledge is open for lunch and dinner. The restaurant is based on a restaurant in Singapore. The small restaurant has an open kitchen and both indoor and outdoor seating.
The menu can be found here. The first thing we had was the eggplant. It was good.
Chicken peri peri and reef fish were our mains.
We had a date with ice cream.
Excellent food and excellent service made this an enjoyable meal. We still preferred Glow.
You can find the menu at Li Long. It was convenient that the restaurant was across the path from the villa. There is an outdoor space overlooking the water and a heavily themed interior space.
While there is a set menu, we decided to just order individual items. I had the hot and sour soup, while Ford had the chicken dumpling soup.
The kung po chicken had cashews and the green beans.
This was the only disappointing meal we had. The food was unremarkable. I wouldn't recommend dining here.
You can find a meat-based menu at The Rock, which is only open to request. We didn't eat here, but I took a few pictures. It's cool, but I'm not sure most people will go to the Maldives to eat beef inside a wine cave.
The first restaurant in the Maldives will be opened by the resort, which will soon have enough food and beverage outlets. It is still at least a few months away from opening. The structure is done, but there is still a lot of interior work to be done. One of the piers has overwater villas.
I found the service at the hotel to be better than I anticipated.
Tiffany, our personal concierge, was awesome. She was quick to respond and would take care of any request within minutes. She provided many great tips. She recommended that we move around some of our reservations based on the nights that certain restaurants are closed, and that we arrive at Terra a bit early so we could choose one of the two highest tree houses. The hotel assigns staff to rooms in this way.
Service was very good even beyond that. The employees were friendly and professional. There are a few notes that are positive and negative.
The service at the hotel was great.
If you can find award availability, you can use your Hilton Honors points at the hotel.
It's easy to get to the resort, it has endless food and beverage outlets, and it has great service. This is one of the bigger resorts I have stayed at in theMaldives, so it isn't going to be as personalized as some other resorts. It also means you will likely not get bored here.
I can recommend a stay if you can redeem your points here. The transfer costs and the food and beverage costs are not free.
I'm a bit more conflicted if I pay with cash. It's hard to judge the value of hotels based on absolute pricing, because luxury hotel rates are through the roof in so many places. I don't know if you can get a more personalized experience at the best resorts in the world, but you can definitely get one at the best resorts in the world.
I loved this hotel and would recommend it to anyone.
What did you think about your stay at the hotel?
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