Hi everyone! I'm back from paradise.. though caught the cold while on the last day there. Sigh..
Just to share my experience in case others are considering maldives too. We booked Hilton Irufushi for 4 nights, stayed one night at Relax inn in Male. Did everything ala carte. Was quite happy to get SQ tickets at a slightly cheaper rate of 1.7k for 2. USD also slightly down at the time of my booking... Manage to stay within budget.
Upon arrival at Male, immediately received by Hilton representative. Help us transfer to Relax inn. Next morning the representative was slightly late. But only abt 10 mins. So still ok. Had an early flight too. About 7 plus or 8am if i am not wrong. Left Male abt 6am. Manage to catch abt 6 hrs of sleep so was quite happy enuff. Thank god i saved some money by booking Relax Inn. Settled breakfast with our own prepared milo satchets and biscuits..Ha..
Seaplane into Hilton was lovely. Long at abt 45 mins. Saw a lot of atolls. No turbulence. So feel more safe. Haha.. Upon arrival i was first told no early check in since they were running at 95% to full occupancy (peak season). But after a while i was told they gave me another room. So i got to check in at 10 plus in the morning. Happy with that.
Took the horizon water villa room. Had an outdoor jacuzzi. I am crazy over such stuff. But realise that there is an ispa actually. Does pretty much the same thing. Ha.. So i reckon for future travellers considering hilton, just go for the normal water villa. Save the money. But overall, i did enjoy myself in the outdoor jacuzzi... Saw a variety of fishes swimming pass from the balcony and washroom. Cannot identify wat is wat.. saw a ray too.. I assume its a manta ray. Ha..
Service was good in general. Some staff were really frenly (wonder is it becoz of the tips we gave.. haha) and can remember our rooms and stuff. Others greet u prob only becoz they haf to. But in general, everyone was nice and frenly. Easy enuff to make bookings for dining, excursions and spa.
Didn't do any excursions in the end. Sunset fishing was fully booked and the sunset dolphin cruise can cancelled due to the rain. But well.. we entertained ourselves by nua-ing in the room. Ha..
Spa was really good. I went for spa 3 times when i was there. Would have gone one last time if not becoz i was sick. But its costly. I think it made up half of my expenditure there. Ha.. Anyone gg there can try their hot stone massage. Fantastic.
Dining was ok. We survived eating the same breakfast spread in the morning. Usually we skip lunch. Did a variety of dinner options. Had a gourmet grill by the beach, went for a maldivian buffet and did a private destination dining. Tried room service on the rainy day as well. Generally more american, european fare. Loads of BBQ and grilled stuff. Which is prob why i fell sick. But worthwhile to go for the destination dining though a bit exp. Lovely experience. Never felt so romantic in my entire life. Too bad it was very windy that night. But at least there was no rain.
Weather was ok. Rained one full day while i was there. The other 4 days had lovely sunshine. Though 2 of them were really windy. A bit freaked out by the rain esp since i was staying over the ocean. Ha.. But well.. gave my hubby a chance to be macho.
Got my late checkout. But prob coz i was ill. They extended it till abt 2pm. Went for lunch, used their free internet at their library and its time to check in for our seaplane!
In general, hilton was worth the price that was paid. I do think they did deliver up to 5 star quality. Not the very very posh 5 star.. But can consider 5 star. Island may be big (easily got to walk about 15 mins from water villa to main restaurant) but give us time to stroll and chat. Those who are lazy, just flag for a buggy. They are like the taxis in the resort. Though at full occupancy, i didn't see that many people ard. Most of them stay in their rooms i guess. Only see the crowd during breakfast in the morning. I also manage to get extra water in my room free of charge just by requesting from my room attendant. So we got by pretty fine. Oh.. but beware the mozzies there. I kena a lot man.. Just by walking ard the island or dining at the main restaurant. So dun book the beach villas. Its a NO NO. At least i dun have mozzies in my water villa.
Finished my long story writing. Hopefully it helps if anyone is considering Hilton. Maldives is truly a paradise. No wonder everyone help raves abt it... We are still visualising the ocean in front of us. Ha..
Pat> didn't get the guidebook for u. There were more than one that come in many languages. Was worried that i get the wrong book. So my hubby told me better not get it. They all cost 40 USD or more i think. Maybe i am in the wrong shop. :S Sorry...