Introduction
The Conrad Maldives is a 150 room luxury island resort located on the Alif Dhaal Atoll in the Maldives. Arguably one of the best Hilton properties, the Conrad Maldives is an excellent award booking while also being one of the few resorts that offer over water villas using point redemptions.
While the Maldives is a far off destination requiring much travel time, once at the resort, the destination is certainly worth the journey. Once you plop in your private hot tub and watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean, all is good.
Booking
The nightly points rate at Conrad Maldives is 95,000 points. However, Silver, Gold, and Diamond Elite Members will get every 5th night free when booking a Standard Room award. That will bring down the average nightly point rate down to 76,000 points per night or 380,000 points total for a 5 night stay.
Hilton weekend award certificates can also be redeemed on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Award certificates can be obtained by signing up for the Hilton Aspire credit card or by meeting other spend requirements detailed below.
The best strategy for a week long stay at the Conrad Maldives is to use points for weekdays and award certificates for the weekends.
American Express currently has several promotional offers for Hilton credit card signup bonuses which will be detailed below.
Unlike similar resorts, point awards are frequently available and even offer over water villas as a standard option. Properties such as IHG Bora Bora are impossible to book using points and Park Hyatt Maldives does not have over water villas available using points.
Getting There
Getting to the Maldives is no easy feat. If you are flying from the east coast, you are looking at an 18 hour flight minimum to Male, Maldives. Once at Male, you will have another 30 minute seaplane ride to get to the Conrad Maldives. Seaplane transfer costs are around $500 per person round trip.
There are no direct flights from the US, so stop overs in either Europe or the Middle East are required. If traveling in economy class, I recommend Emirates or Qatar Airways since, the planes tend to be newer and more comfortable.
If you have flyer miles, use pointimize.com to determine what flight options you have available for mileage awards. Long flights like this warrant spending extra miles to book business or first class awards.
After arrival in Male Maldives, a Hilton representative will take you to the lounge at the seaplane terminal to wait until the next available seaplane ride is available.
Snacks were not impressive, however the shower in the lounge was appreciated after the long flight.
The seaplane fits about a dozen people and takes about 30 minutes to reach the resort. There is no air conditioning but the views are amazing as you fly over several other resorts. Try to sit near the front for the best views.
Check-In
Once the plane lands and docks at the resort, you will be greeted by a representative assigned to you that makes sure your entire trip goes smoothly. After a few minutes of getting briefed on all the resort’s various features, you will be escorted to the room. Right from the start, it is evident that the resort is well organized and efficient.
Property (4/5)
The resort is spread across two islands with a long bridge connecting them together. Compared to smaller resorts like the Park Hyatt Maldives, this resort feels massive. To get around the resort, frequent golf cart rides are required due to the long distances between the various restaurants, spas, bars, and pool areas.
If you have been to other resorts in the Maldives, the Conrad feels a bit less private since there are so many guests staying in the 150 guestrooms. However, once inside your villas, it feels very private and secluded.
There is a large range of activities to take part in and a whole host of dining and bar options available. However, food is incredibly expensive with a couple of hamburgers and sodas costing $75USD.
The “quiet island” has only over water villas with the adults only pool while the main island has the beach and spa villas.
The shopping mall, gym, tennis courts, and most the restaurants are located on the main island. If you are staying on the quite island, get ready for many golf cart rides.
Pools and Beach (5/5)
Infinity pools are located on both the main island and the quiet island with both having glorious views. The main island pool has shallow areas with chairs inside the pool, which is a cool idea. The adults only pool was very peaceful and serene with no insane screaming.
The beaches were picturesque with almost no waves since the ocean around the Maldives seems more like a lake rather than an ocean. If you are staying in a beach villa, the chairs located on the beach in front of the villa are reserved, so no worries about fighting over beach chairs.
Snorkeling (3/5)
If you are into coral reefs, you will be disappointed since almost all the coral reef is dead around the resort. The last few years in the Maldives have been extraordinarily hot, which has killed off a significant amount of the corals in the Maldives, especially in the northern atolls.
The resort recently has setup coral reef nurseries to try and restore the loss of the reef. Also, the resort is located by huge sand bars which kicks up sediment when the water current increases, which affects the clarity of the water.
Despite all that, there is an abundance of wildlife around the resort to include many species such as reef sharks, manta rays, sting rays, dolphins, octopus, and various tropical fish.
Gym (5/5)
While small, the gym has high-end equipment in a well air-conditioned environment. The variety of equipment is enough to get a complete aerobic or weight lifting workout session. As you work out, staff will hand you ice cold wash cloths, which is a nice touch.
Rooms (5/5)
A whole variety of villa options are available to choose at the Conrad Maldives. The Water Villa and Beach Villa are considered standard rooms and are available for points bookings at 95,000 points per night. Once booked, other rooms are available for upgrade for cash rates the depend on factors such as capacity and time of year.
Water Villa
The water villas have recently been refurbished and are located on both sides of the quite island. Neighboring villas are located close by, which shouldn’t be a problem, so long as you don’t have loud folks next door. Request villas on facing the sunset for the best views.
Superior Water Villa
Superior water villas are the next step up from the standard water villas. They are not larger than the water villas, however the villas are more spread apart providing more privacy. Superior water villas also have better sunset views due to the direction they face. Request villas 335 or 339 which have less obstructed views.
Beach Villa
Beach villas are located on the main island and are bookable using points. Beach villas come with direct access to the beach with reserved chairs. Avoid lower numbered rooms located near the restaurants which can be noisy.
Retreat Villa
The retreat villas are insanely large with gigantic private decks. If you have a budget set aside for upgrades, spend it all on upgrading to the spa villa and then stay in the basic water villa the rest of the time. The size of these villas is unbelievable and well worth the upgrade. Request rooms 419, 420, or 421 towards the end of the pier for the best views. Room 421 is the last villa on the pier and has the best unobstructed views.
Food (4/5)
The resort has 12 award-winning restaurants and bars including the world’s first undersea restaurant. However, dining experiences are some of the most expensive around, so be prepared to spend a lot on food.
The good thing is, Gold and Diamond members get free breakfast which helps reduce costs significantly.
Service (5/5)
Staff is well trained, very professional, friendly, and accommodating. The logistics of running a resort of this type are complex with many things that can go wrong at any moment.
Despite this, the operations on the resort run like a while oiled machine. For such a large resort, the staff still made guests feel special by paying attention to the little things that matter.
Upgrades
After bookings are made, the hotel usually contacts guests a few weeks out to offer paid upgrades to villas that are still available. You can upgrade the entire stay or only part of your stay. Moving from one villa to the next is easy and staff will move all your luggage to the next villa seamlessly.
The water villa is just fine but the spa villa is epic and certainly worth the cost to upgrade. For recent information on upgrade experiences and costs, read up on the Conrad Maldives flyertalk thread.
Diamond Status Perks
Diamond status perks at the Conrad Maldives are among the most generous in the Hilton portfolio. While free villa upgrades are not offered, diamond status guests receive free full breakfast, tea time, and happy hour daily.
Food costs can be reduced by enjoying a large late breakfast and by eating the free snacks offered at tea time. This saves money on breakfast and lunch which can be better used towards villas upgrades or other activities.
The American Express Aspire Card comes with complementary Diamond Status which upgrades your Hilton account shortly after approval.
How to Get Hilton Points
American Express currently is offering 4 separate Hilton credit cards offering signup bonuses ranging from 75,000 to 125,000 points. If your goal is acquire enough points for a week long stay the Conrad Maldives, the best option is to sign up for both the Hilton Honors Aspire Card and the Hilton Honors Business Card.
Assuming you are not traveling alone, your travel partner could also sign up for the Hilton Honors Aspire Card and the Hilton Honors Business Card which would amount to 450,000 Hilton Honors points combined.
The Hilton Honors program now allows points pooling between separate accounts for the purposes of award booking. Conrad Maldives also allows paying the final bill with multiple cards, so both members with Aspire cards can receive the $250 resort credit benefit that comes with the card.
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card:
- 150,000 Points signup bonus
- $4,000 Required spending in first 3 months to qualify for bonus points
- $450 Annual fee
- Complimentary Diamond Status
- $250 Hilton Resort Credit (Can be used at Conrad Maldives)
- $250 Airline Credit
- One Weekend Night Reward on account renewal
- Earn 14x for Spend at participating Hilton properties
- Earn 7x on flight booked directly with airlines, car rentals, dining
- Earn 3x on all other eligible purchases
American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Card:
- 125,000 Points signup bonus
- $3,000 Required spending within first 3 months to qualify for bonus points
- $95 Annual Fee
- Complimentary Gold Status
- Weekend night award after $15,000 in spend in a calendar year
- Earn 12x for Spend at participating Hilton properties
- Earn 6x on Restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
- Earn 3x on all other eligible purchases
American Express Hilton Honors Business Card:
- 125,000 Points signup bonus
- $3,000 Required spending within first 3 months to qualify for bonus points
- $95 Annual Fee
- Complimentary Gold Status
- Weekend night award after $15,000 in spend in a calendar year
- 10 Free Priority Pass Visits to Airport Lounges
- Earn 12x for Spend at participating Hilton properties
- Earn 6x on US wireless telephone providers, shipping costs, gas stations, US restaurants, car rentals and flights books directly with airlines
- Earn 3x on all other eligible purchases
American Express Hilton Honors Card:
- 85,000 Points signup bonus
- $1,000 Required spending within first 3 months to qualify for bonus points
- Earn 7x for Spend at participating Hilton properties
- No Annual Fee
- Earn 5x on Restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations
- Earn 3x on all other eligible purchases
- Complimentary Silver Status
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Conrad Maldives is an amazing resort and one of the top aspirational award bookings in the Hilton portfolio. Despite the long travel time, the experience is well worth the journey. Best of all, award redemptions are well within reach due to frequent award availability and multiple credit card signup bonuses currently being offered.
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I am looking to reserve Conrad Maldives in January using points from Hilton Honors program. However, first of all I would like to know if in addition to the use of points for reservation (95,000 per night), is it necessary to pay any other type of fee or charge?
Because I am concerned about the expensive service charges and taxes charged on the regular booking.
If you are making a strait points booking, the only mandatory fees are the seaplane transfer from MLE to Conrad, which is $590 round trip per person. Don’t forget if you book 5 nights using points, the fifth night is free. I’m actually at the Conrad Maldives right now and I can say it’s worth visiting a second time around!
Nice review but a shopping mall? Did I read that correctly? hmmmm
Dreaming of white sand beaches is very calming. Stayed here and at Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma a couple of years ago and it was the best vacation I’ve ever had. When work gets stressful, I close my eyes and repeat the first sentence to take me back there mentally and then I’m ready to face that stress head on. To be honest, the customer service was waaaay better at Kandooma. They are two different experiences and enjoyed both locations. Had a private birthday dinner at Ithaa, private in the sense that there was only one other couple that evening, which made it more special. The free breakfast is awesome and if you time it right it’s brunch to really get you through the day. Never made it to the free tea time, but free happy hour made up for it!!! Splurged for Lobster dinner on the beach. Upgraded the rooms: Deluxe Beach Villa and Deluxe Overwater Villa and got both of the room numbers I specifically wanted for my special vacay which were the most private and perfect. At Kandooma, I had them make a special request red velvet birthday cake which was not only beautifully decorated as requested and tasty but it was a whole sheet cake for almost nothing in cost and we shared it with the whole restaurant and staff; we were famous for the rest of our stay there! I need to go back; no, I want to go back…
Haven’t been to Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma, but seems like it is easier to get to.
Fantastic review. I really enjoyed this post. I don’t have any plans to visit anytime soon, but I’ve always wondered what the experience is like to stay at the Maldives.
>>>”Seaplane transfer costs are around $500 per person round trip” — it’s definitely way more expensive than I’d thought!
Thanks! Seaplane costs are pretty high, but seems to be in line with other transport costs like the Park Hyatt Maldives.
This is the best review I have ever read on this hotel. Did you have to pay, and how much, for an over water room? Also, any entertainment there? Just wondering what I will be doing there everyday.
Thanks for the complement! The water villa was free using points, the superior water villa cost $95 and the retreat spa villa cost $300 extra per night. This prices vary often and some folks have had success negotiating with the hotel. There are so many things to do there, most of which cost money. They do have snorkeling equipment for free though. For the five days there, I was completely content hanging around the villa, sitting in the hot tub, and snorkeling occasionally. They do have musical performances at night as well. I considered doing an excursion to swim with whale sharks for $200, but they were all booked up.
Very informative! Ant info on the happy hour!
The free champagne and appetizers were great!
Did they have beer, wine, and liquor too?
Yes, and mixed drinks also.
The “quite island” has only over water villas with the adults only pool while the main island has the beach and spa villas.
Quite is mentioned several times. Do you mean”quiet?”
How did you book the seaplane?
Thanks! Fixed it. The hotel will book the seaplane rides for you based on when you arrive and depart Male. Payment is due at the end of your trip.
So since they Seaplane is through the hotel, can you use your $200 Hilton resort credit for it? The Aspire card just keeps looking better every day for me…
The Aspire Card comes with a $250 resort credit..per calendar year. So you technically can get the credit in 2018 and in 2019 before your annual fee hits again. However, I intend on keeping the card since I like to free weekend night certificate each anniversary. As for credit on seaplane, as long as the hotel continues to bill the seaplane at check-out as part of the total bill, you should be able to get credit from the aspire card. When I went in April, that was the case. YMMV. If you decide to get the Aspire card, use my referral link please.
You didn’t comment much about the food. Looking at some of the menu prices on the Conrad website, food seems to to be ridiculously over priced even for the Maldives. Prix fixe menus for $200 a person or ala carte entrees for $40 and up, plus 10% tax and service fees. Mixed drinks or basic wines end up being over $20 a glass. Even A piece of cake for dessert is about $20. Seems like one would have to budget about $300 a person per day to comfortably eat and drink at the resort, even with free breakfast included.
How was your experience?
Yes, food is obsurdly expensive. Dinner at the underwater restaurant is around $700. To be honest, I brought my own food and snacks to eat for dinner. The breakfasts are real heavy and tea time had a good amount of food. So the food I brought was enough for a light dinner. The only meal I paid for was the two hamburgers that cost almost $100 at the bar. I prioritized my budget towards the villa upgrades and found that a way better use of funds.
Thanks for your honesty. This is something most bloggers who talk about the Conrad Maldives neglect to mention / gloss over. You should have posted the receipt for your two hamburgers lol. Or maybe a picture of the beef jerky and granola bars you ate for dinner.
Still one of my dream spots to visit though, maybe some day. That $500 sea plane transfer hurts though…
We brought freeze dried meals and cooked them using the water boiler in the room. I figured it would be too tacky to post pictures of me cooking freeze dried beef stroganoff in a room that normally goes for $1,500 a night lol.
In 2019, Hilton will be opening two additional properties in the Maldives that will not require a seaplane ride, so you might be in luck.
We just completed 6 nights here and yup food was crazy expensive, while we loaded up on the Diamond breakfast, and skipped lunch, we made sure to have a filling dinner. Rangali bar does serve some great portion sizes for curries etc, but expect to pay $100-$120 in total for two people. Otherwise you can try the a la carte menu at Ufaa, the chinese restaurant at the resort, which is pretty good in the food portion vs cost area. The rest of the restaurants are way too expensive!
Thanks for sharing the tips and pointers in detail on the room types. Found those really helpful for people planning to book a trip to the Maldives.
Glad you found it helpful!