While in the Maldives, I had the chance for a day tour of the main island Male. Now getting from your resort island to Male, will usually involve some exorbitant day fee … get used to it. You’re in the Maldives now – things are going to be expensive as a foreigner – that thought will make you pass the time better. Coming in by boat into the main island – you get a small sense of how crowded it is …
Now I’ve been some of the world’s most crowded cities : Mexico City, Manila, Buenos Aires; but Male takes the cake. The island is 1.7 km long and 1.0 km wide, but with over 100,000 people crammed onto it, Male is by some measures the world’s densest city.
Because of the extreme lack of space on such a tiny island, there are very few cars … in fact, many locals ridicule the cars because the lack of functionality is so ridiculous – however cars are a huge status symbol, since they are prohibitively expensive. Any clear pathway around seems to be a “road” …
It’s one thing to have paths, but another thing for paths to become roads for these scooters. The majority of Maldivians live in Male, hence they have has to find inventive ways to contain nonsense like this …
Since the city is a small island, they had to get creative to contain so many people and shops and everything. Some of the impressive ways they manage this:
Almost all roads are one-ways
Many buildings are multistory and quite narrow.
Many elevators are small and can carry 6 people at a time.
People use bikes or cycles – it’s not a large place to get around at all.
Male’s main street Boduthakurufaanu Magu, home to banks and most government buildings, runs along the north shore and it’s about 6 large city blocks long …
The great thing about Male is that your tour can be as short as 45 mins, since there aren’t that many places to see. Since I was the only person speaking English (the rest of the boat was Chinese and Korean), my tour guide took me on his personal scooter.
Aside from riding around, there are 4 main points of interest on the island
1. Islamic Center & Majid Sultan Mohamad Thakurufaanu Al-au’zam
Male’s best-known architectural landmark, just south of Jumhooree Maidhaan. The complex contains the largest mosque in the Maldives, topped with a golden dome and capable of accommodating 5,000 people.
It is quite beautiful in action
2. Sultan Park and National Museum. Sat-Thu 9 AM-5 PM. The sole surviving building of what was once the Sultan’s palace is now the Maldivian National Museum.
3. Fish Market : Not much needs to be said, but this is definitely a hub of the people. Both the fish market and the vegetable market seem to be always teeming with people.
4. Hukuru Miskiy (Old Friday Mosque). This Mosque is famous for its beautiful rooms with intricately carved panels (one in particular, of the XIII century, evokes conversion to Islam). The Mosque was built on a old West oriented temple and this explains its anomalous orientation. Very interesting are the white and blue minaret and the small cemetery with graves of ancient sultans on the West part.
If you’re ever there … here is a decent tourist link to all “attractions” in Male.
Who doesn’t like a night at an expensive hotel in an idyllic paradise with a beachside bungalow to die for.
No one, right?!
This was the premise behind hotel hopping for weeks on end, moving and repacking bags every night in order to maxi. The goal was to use the “free nights” at extremely high end accommodations, using 6 nights at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa would definitely classify as an optimal use of those nights.
For most people within the Americas, going to the Maldives will be a pipe dream at best, even for honeymoons, as it is prohibitively expensive to get there. Getting there from Toronto will range from about 1700 to 3000 CDN with 21 days advance notice.
Then the hotel in a decent hotel or resort over there will range from 400 and upwards … we heard of suites at the W Retreat and Spa – Maldives starting from 850$ a night.
You get the idea … the Maldives isn’t really for your budget, all inclusive type of traveller and definitely was out of my price range, if it wasn’t for the SPG Free Nights promo.
Getting into Male is pretty easy from Colombo – a simple one hour commute from the island. Once you grab your luggage, you’re always met by a resort representative as you have to book your speedboat ride from the airport (which is on it’s own island and separate from the main island) to the resort. The ride itself on a sunny day, is pretty spectacular.
SPG Platinum Check In Experience
You’re greeted with a welcome drink at the landing dock and then you’re taken to your room. As SPG Plats, we were automatically upgraded to a Water Bungalow – no request needed. I don’t really need to explain more after the pictures
Unlike other hotels, where SPG Plats are given amenity packs, gifts, fruit etc, at the Sheraton Maldives, you won’t find this coming.
Plats get free Internet also (typical – but your mileage sometime varies on this one)
No Free Breakfast or Dinner for Plats.
Personally, I don’t mind the lack of swag , if everything else is excellent and the customer services is excellent. There is also no free breakfast or drinks for SPG Plats.
You do however get unlimited amazing sunsets from the water.
As for the room – I cannot say that this was the W Bali in terms of room, but to be honest – it shouldn’t be. It is clean and spartan in many ways, as island rooms tend to be. One aspect of the bungalow that should be improved, is the bathroom. It gets hot in the daytime, because it’s entirely closed off from any cool air from the rest of the room and really doesn’t get cooler even with the bathroom windows opened. There is nothing that can really be done, unless the bungalow/bathroom is redesigned and/or a larger A/C unit is placed to thoroughly cool the entire bungalow.
We also had an issue with the bungalow temperature. In our original bungalow, the A/C was not working optimally, hence the room was quite hot. We had two visits by maintenance engineers to resolve the issue, and nothing worked. However, the staff switched us to another water bungalow and all was resolved. This is an important point to note : Issues will always arise, how the staff resolves it, makes all the difference.
From your room, you walk down the steps directly into the ocean and start snorkeling. Chances are that you will have the ocean all to yourself from the room. Seriously!
As for drinking and food – here are a couple notes on those
The buffets won’t please everyone. There is enough variety for everyone, but for a high end visitor, I can understand a couple complaints. Personally, I was happy with the morning and lunch buffets, but I also didn’t spend two weeks at the resort. If I did, I think the buffets would have gotten “old” for me
The restaurants are great at night, in particular – Maldivian night at Sea Salt was fantastic. Do make a special date to go there and enjoy the excellent seafood – including some superb spicy tuna steaks!
The drinking here is expensive relative to anywhere else in the world, except Scandinavia. My advice – get over it! See tips below – if you want super cheap drinks – go to Thailand/Vietnam.
5+1 tips to enhance your Sheraton Maldives stay even further
The resort has you as a captive audience and by definition, can charge whatever they like for food and alcohol. Everything (except fish) must also be imported into the Maldives. Combine these two factors and your pocketbook will be in for a bit of a shock.
Do a 3 hour “day tour” from the resort to main island (Male). This will run about 60$ per person. You can accomplish two things on the “day tour”
You can see the highlights of the main island
You can go to the grocery and stock up on snacks and soda. (Diet Coke/Pepsi is next to impossible to find in the groceries)
Shopping for snacks will save you a lot of money, especially if you get the munchies a lot.
Do not attempt to bring alcohol into the Maldives in a regular bottle. If you buy duty free, they will seize the alcohol, if it is in a regular vodka/liquor bottle. However, if you choose to bring alcohol in soda bottles or smaller bottles, there is a very high probability that you will not lose the alcohol. (Note : I am not condoning alcohol smuggling into an Islamic Republic)
Do not expect to get wasted on the resort, unless you have a lot of money. Drinks are expensive – with good reason. Alcohol is illegal in the Maldives – but of course, through some “quirk”, the private resort islands are not considered under general law. Prices to expect :
you should expect 7-10$ beer
10$+ for a vodka/tonic
75$+ for regular $12 bottle of Californian wine.
If you can afford one of the water bungalows, then spend the money and upgrade – you will remember it forever.
Don’t expect to party hard as there is no significant nightlife to be found on the resort. This is a resort to relax and recharge. Enjoy the snorkelling and scuba diving … water this perfect is difficult to imagine anywhere else in the world.
If you have any issues – do seek out the staff, as they are extremely accessible, even the GM Ursula Schoefl. She runs a tight ship here and is focused on great customer service and ensuring that every guest has the best experience there – SPG Plat or not. She is extremely active on the review forums like TripAdvisor so you know that your feedback will be “actioned”, but do engage the staff if anything isn’t perfect for you. BTW Ursula is Austrian, not German
Overall :
This was a lifetime experience – not just for a jaded traveller for me, but for anyone. The resort is spectacular, the water is breathtaking and the food/service are stellar.
From a service perspective, as Platinum SPG guest, we definitely got royal treatment. Other members on frequent flyer forums complained about the service, but personally I felt that the staff bent over backwards to ensure that as a SPG Platinum guest – I had THE BEST POSSIBLE experience. While I had issues with the air-conditioning at the hotel, what makes the difference between hotels, is the resolution and they performed phenomenally.
This was one hotel where I didn’t expect reliable internet service, and I was extremely surprised that they had VERY reliable and consistent wired internet coverage in my room, and there is free WiFi in the main lobby.
So overall, yet another “home run” for the the “SPG Free Nights” promotion … and the Maldives is really a paradise – if only everyone could get there to see it. When I come back, I’m only staying here – points, promo or not
I’m about three countries and 10 blog posts behind but after an entirely super relaxing day here in the Maldives – here are the quick hit thoughts. The water is truly some of the most spectacular I have ever seen in my life – this is after seeing some great water in the Caribbean, Central [... Click here to keep on reading this article]
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
