Review of W Retreat Spa & Maldives

3 years ago

OVERALL VIBE:

OVERALL VIBE:
This is a secluded island where only the W Maldives lives. It is romantic, breathtaking, stunning and has a laid back, small island feel. This is all at the same time as melodic beats are playing in the background at the pool and bars. There is a DJ playing sometimes at the pool or at night at the SIP bar over the water until 11pm. The music while we were here was fun: oscillating between smooth and melodic to more upbeat later at night. It was never too much or overbearing, but really added to the amazing vibe of the hotel and island.

The W mantra is "Whatever, whenever" and they really do try to live up to that. The customer service from the staff is impeccable. They will literally do whatever you ask of them. You want them to design you a dish of the menu, yes, they will. You want them to cut off the heads of your prawns, yes, they will. You want to go to dinner a little later than you planned for, no problem, you can do it. It is whatever you want, whenever you want it. This hotel will make me consider staying at other W's in the future to see if the service is the same. One thing that must be said, is that there is AMAZING ambient lighting all over the island: at your room, the pool, the bars....when the lights go down, this light is just magical. And the sunsets are just some of the best I have ever seen! The sand on the sunset side of the beach is so white, with the crystal light blue water, and the light blue horizon...it all seems to melt together as one and seem to be never ending. Watching that view with the sunset and how the sky lights up is nothing less than awe inspiring.

We contemplated staying here or the St. Regis Maldives and decided to stay here because if you are going to be all alone on an island, we decided, you want great service and a good coral reef to snorkel. This hotel lived up to all of that and more! I highly recommend it!

PROS:
They offer free water in reusable glass bottles that are replenished in your room daily, multiple times a day. There's ladies night at the SIP bar where women get 1 free drink. Happy hour at the pool daily from 530-630 where is BOGO on drinks. Daily at 1pm they have free frozen fruit bars, 4pm has free magnum ice cream bars (they are so good). Beautiful, relaxing, chill vibe with gentle electronic music playing in the background in some areas--some areas are completely quiet and tranquil. Even with the hotel at full capacity, it never feels too full, and there are many secluded areas to have private moments on. Sometimes you feel you are on your own private island....aaaah. Housekeeping is constant...fresh towels, fresh water, clean room at all times. The reef here is great with many beautiful fish.

CONS:
Some of the really small things is that the AC goes into eco mode, which I understand, but then you come back to a fairly hot room that takes a while to cool down. Maybe they could have it not be SO eco or have a longer turn off time. There is alot of knocking on the door daily. KIDS: they allow them now and there is no separate pool or area for them, so they are in the pool with their noodles and super soaker guns, being kids. It ruins the tranquility. When we were here, there were only a few, so it wasn't horrible....but I was told the week before there was 20 of them...eek...that would not be fun as it is small sleepy island.

FOOD
There are 3 main restaurants that rotate with 1 being closed daily (Kitchen, Fish, Sip). There is also sushi at the SIP bar as well as some burgers and pizza at the WET bar pool

SERVICE
IMPECCABLE.

ELITE LOYALTY
As a platinum elite, was allowed to choose breakfast as my amenity. It was great! Glad we chose it. There is no lounge here for elites, but one is not really needed. They had a sunset reception for elites one night on the jetty with champagne and cocktails, dj spinning, and appetizers. Did I mention the sunset view from the jetty! WOW