I'm trying to write as many trip reports as possible. I have written reviews of several trips in the past few weeks, and I want to share my next trip, which is currently underway. I hope OMAAT readers enjoy the reviews of flights and hotels that I will be writing soon.
I've been to the island several times before, but haven't been in the last five years. In the last few years, there has been an impressive number of new hotels opened in the country, and the one that has interested me the most is the Ithaafushi.
It is possible to redeem points at the hotel, but it can be difficult to get an award. I locked in an award stay there nearly a year ago when I saw availability for a five day period around my birthday. I wasn't sure if we'd actually take the trip, but I figured it was worth it.
The basis for planning this trip was the timing that worked out.
Sometimes our plans change while we are still on the trip, which is why it is fun to start these trip reports. We redeemed Skywards miles for our outbound trip, as we flew in first class from Washington to DC to Male, with a stop in D.C.
This was exciting to me since we got to fly the new first class on a long haul flight and it was a unique opportunity.
I am still working on our return itinerary. We're flying from Male to Doha in first class, as the airline is currently leasing some of the same type of aircraft from Cathay Pacific. I look forward to that opportunity. I will get to Hong Kong soon.
It gets a bit more difficult from there. I can't find a single business class option from Doha to North America at the moment. I'm going to keep an eye on it.
I would like to do a more interesting return route, but I'm not seeing anything, and service out of Doha is limited on other airlines. I'd love to hear your ideas.
We spent a couple of nights at the hotel in the first place. I look forward to reviewing this hotel as it is my new favorite option in the city.
The primary destination in the archipelago is the Waldorf Astoria. We redeem just 120,000 points per night, and you get a fifth night free if you are a elite member, so that's an average of 96,000 points per night. It's like paying just $480 per night all-in, at a valuation of 0.5 cents per point. The cash cost of a stay here is nearly $3,000 per night, including taxes and fees.
We decided to check out the property, which is often considered to be one of the best in the country. I think it will be interesting to compare the best points hotel in the Maldives with the best all-around hotel. How big is the difference?
It was nice to be back in the Maldives after a long time. There will be several airline and flight reviews in the coming days. Thanks so much for reading, and keep an eye on it!
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