The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort — Hotel in South Nilandhe Atoll

We visited for 6 nights in February, two couples with no kids. Booked two Overwater Villas as a Platinum 100 member.

Overall it's an incredibly idyllic locale, situated in a manner that has you feeling you are at the end of the world. You won't find better ocean water anywhere in the world. It's like glass...Everything on the island is brand new -- to a fault. Villas, technology and bedding are all top notch, service, while good intentioned, is a work in progress. Nevertheless, if you're seeking out a one-of-a-kind escape, this is the place.

Airport/Seaplane: Seamless pick-up at MLE, they gather you into a waiting ST Regis van with AC and wifi, while they check you into your seaplane flight. St Regis has a very nice waiting lounge. Seaplane is incredibly expensive, hot and old with barefoot pilots and amazing views. But it certainly is an experience. Nothing captures the beauty of this hotel better than approaching by plane -- you will never have a better arrival at a hotel.

Check in: The best thing is you never see a lobby or check-in. You are greeted by smiling and waving butlers and whisked away to your villa.

Butlers: Perhaps the marquee St Regis offering. At first we were assigned one butler while the other couple we were with were assigned a different butler (very curious decision). After one day it became evident that their butler was amazingly proactive, and ours was incredibly inept. Some examples:

Our Butler:

-Never showed up to pick us up for activities

-Told us restaurants were booked and didn't try to get us in

-Never checked on us- was like a ghost.

-Messed up a snorkeling booking. When times were switched she did not tell us visibility is usually better in the morning and she promised we'd get a bigger, upgraded boat (wrong).

Their Butler:

-Very proactive

-He was always there to pick them up for activities (even if they didn't call him)

-Looked for solutions, not excuses

Needless to say we summoned the head of service, Irman, and he was an amazing help. We explained everything and he was very apologetic and we were both switched to Sadam, who is an amazing butler we recommend to all.

Villas: We booked 2 regular Over Water bungalows on points and were upgraded as Platinum to Sunset Over Water bungalows. The bungalows are insanely modern and gorgeous with everything controlled by an ipad. After reading about the layout I requested 542/543, which gets nearly all day sun, great for lounging on the deck but even better for the plunge pool -- keeping it nice and warm. These bungalow also provide nice privacy without being way far out on the pier. For those concerned about privacy, there are walls separating the bungalows and you can tan/swim as you see fit, with the understanding that snorkelers may pop up in front of your deck.

Snorkeling: This has some of the best house reef snorkeling I've seen along the Sunset Over Water bungalows. Some great fish and coral. In front of the traditional OW bungalows the coral is basically dead and there is a difficult current for snorkeling. Everyone is given a complimentary snorkeling kit from their butler, which is quite nice.

Water Sports: Kayaks and SUP boards are free-- a great touch. See if you can beat our 16-minute kayak time of circumventing the island. Jet skis are obscenely expensive. One of the best deals is renting a private motor boat for $250 an hour -- especially with groups of people. They take you out snorkeling to reefs, but one of the coolest things is they bring you to a sandbar so you can basically stand in the middle of the ocean on a tiny island -- a great photo opportunity. Visibility was poor when we went out because of the weather and despite a fun trip, wish the staff would have warned us to postpone for better visibility, seems it's incumbent upon them to do that.

Beach Service: Very hit or miss. The staff was great about setting up chairs and bringing fresh cold towels and ice water. But our fist day they came around handing out frozen grapes and offering to wash your sunglasses ( a true luxury experience). The problem is, for the next five days that never happened again -- until we asked our final day and they said: "sure, why didn't you ask?" But proactively would have been better.

Breakfast: As others have said, it's insanely good. Everything from eggs to sushi to Indian Food to ice cream. Never seen anything like it. Basically plan a solid 2 hours, sit and relax. Service again, while friendly, is lacking. They occasionally forget things and sometimes disappear. But you can always help yourself at the buffet. Staff are very friendly and welcoming. In a bizarre twist, alcoholic drinks are included but sparkling water is not.

Lunch: Perhaps the best two values on the island. The beachside Pizza "Hut" and the Ice Cream Shack. The fresh made Pizza is amazingly good -- and at $40 it seems expensive except when you consider it feeds two people. The homemade ice cream and fresh made waffle cones are also incredible and at $3 a scoop, you could live all week on ice cream if you wanted to save money.

Dinner:

Oreintale: Japanese, Chinese, Indian out on the ocean. Very cool.

Cargo: a random assortment of 10 tables in the woods serving Middle Eastern Food. Not a fan. Tons of mist/smoke pumped in as if it's a Disney ride like Pirates of the Carrebean-- and smells a ton like incense, so all the food tastes like it.

Alba: By the pool. Was always empty. Very expensive and intricate menu.

There is an absurdity here that I've witnessed at other high-end resorts. Several times we tried to book one of the primary restaurants and were told they were "fully booked," which is not a very acceptable answer when you are on an island with three restraints (especially when the island is at about half capacity). Both times we insisted we were flexible on timing and they somehow "found" us a table. And guess what? Neither restaurant was even half full. They simply don't want to be full/busy. So don't back down. Get the booking you want. By far, our favorite restaurant was Orientale. All around prices are what you'd expect- expensive - $40-$60 entrees, but what's disappointing is that they are very small portions for a restaurant built around "sharing."

Whale Bar: Make sure you get a sunset drink here. A fantastically designed bar floating out over the sea. But they serve tiny tapas that are very expensive. One night we got $59 lobster bites and when the waiter served the plate there wasn't even enough for all four of us. We were shocked and the waiter said: "yeah, that doesnt look like enough." To their credit they cooked us another dish, but beware the proportions are not just respectably small, which is fine, they are absurdly tiny and vary by time of day and location.

Spa: Perhaps one of the most gorgeous Spas in the world, situated out over the ocean. Prices are what you'd expect, but somewhat annoying that you have to pay simply to use the facilities -- including the Blue Hole plunge pool, which costs $60 to jump in.

Gratuity: 10% service charge added to everything. And i mean everything-- even a hat at the gift shop. Additional tips on the bill seem to go to a staff pool -- not your waiter. So we found that with some strategically placed US $ tips during the week we got paid special attention, rather than tipping on the bills.

Other things:

-The weather was amazing. Five perfect days of sun with a little rain on the final day.

-Suntan lotion is $70 in the gift shop, but they do the right thing and offer free lotion at the pool.

-Free ice water at the beach and bottled water in the room is plentiful.

-Beware of the evening bug spraying, almost rode right into a cloud of it -- though, i must say, ive never been to an island before that has zero bugs. Literally, there are none.

-Bikes: It's great having bikes all around the island to ride one when you need. Just wish they'd pay a little more attention to them and inflate the tires, fix squeaks etc. Also, beware, riding on the sand paths is slippery.

-Special shoutouts to our favorite staff: Sinan (by the pool), Anas (waiter), Mailo (waiter),...

After staying 100+ nights in SPG hotels this year, I was ready for some time to relax and I really wanted to love the St. Regis Maldives. Unfortunately my expectations were far off from reality.

Our Stay

Prior to arrival the staff email you and ask for your preferences and any dietary restrictions. We found that these restrictions were completely ignored throughout our stay.

When we landed in Male we were promptly greeted by a hotel staff member and escorted to a van to take us to the departure lounge. When checking in at the lounge we were told that we've been upgraded to a St. Regis Suite for the last 3 days of our stay. My SPG status or loyalty was not mentioned at all during the check in process. After signing off on the check-in paperwork we waited about 30 minutes for a seaplane ride to the hotel.

When we landed at the resort we were picked up in a golf cart by our first butler who gave us a tour of the property and brought us to our room. During this time he asked what we wanted to do at the property and we requested a spa appointment as well as snorkel equipment. Additionally, our room didn't have any bikes outside the room so we requested that as well.

The first night is where things started to go wrong. When we went to dinner at Alba they served me shellfish (although I told them verbally and via email that I'm allergic multiple times prior to arrival). Fortunately it was clear that it contained shellfish, so I just didn't eat it.

The next morning our butler was nowhere to be found at breakfast so we asked the staff to locate him. After he came we asked about the spa reservations which he said that he was still working on. How difficult could it be to schedule an hour message a few days out? He also said that he'd bring over the bikes and snorkeling equipment later.

Around 3pm that afternoon we called our butler since we still hadn't heard back about the spa appointment, snorkel equipment or bikes. He came to the villa and said that he told another butler to bring the snorkel equipment and wasn't sure why they didn't. What a way to apologize!

The second night at dinner at Oriental the staff served me a shellfish amuse after telling our butler and staff the night before again about my allergy. When our butler came to pick us up from dinner I told him again about the allergy and his response was that he sent an email to the restaurant staff but they must not have seen it. At a 5 star hotel with ~50 guests, how busy could you be to tell the staff in person?

The following morning (day 3), I called asking to speak with the manager since we still didn't know about our bikes or spa appointment and to explain about the allergy concerns. After talking to the operator, they said that Alex wasn't available but he'd send a message to Anil (the lead butler). Anil came by the villa, apologized and told us we'd have a new butler Ahmed. Fortunately Ahmed was much better than the first butler.

I had planned in advance to propose to my girlfriend on the evening of our fourth night at the property at a beachside dinner. After attempting to plan it prior to our arrival it wasn't until Ahmed took over that he actually asked me about what we wanted to eat, albeit the morning of the dinner. Ahmed did a nice job arranging for a congratulations cake and some flowers in the room.

The following morning, after proposing, the staff didn't congratulate us or mention anything. For breakfast at Alba we ordered passion fruit juice like we had the following days. After trying it we knew something was off and asked the waiter if it had orange juice in it (since I am severely allergic to orange and told them this many times). The bartender swore it didn't have orange but after the waiter and other staff tried it, they confirmed it had orange. It turns out that the bartender switched the daily drink special (passion fruit and orange) with our order. Fortunately I had an epi-pen with me and medication, but the fact that they're so careless about allergies when you are on an island in the middle of nowhere is concerning.

Due to my allergic reaction I had to stay in the room all day and the complete day was ruined which is a shame when you spend thousands of dollars to enjoy "paradise." My partner called our butler to complain and in exchange for the inconvenience they offered us a free couples spa treatment. Although I didn't feel like this was adequate, I asked to speak with Alex the GM. Anil, the lead butler, also said that the head chef Ayoub would come talk to us to make sure this didn't happen again.

The following breakfast came and went and Ayoub and Alex were nowhere to be seen. No phone call, visit or anything. That afternoon we asked our butler how they were going to arrange for our transfer to the St. Regis Suite for our last 3 days. Ahmed told us that for our convenience we were going to stay in our current room. What a ridiculous way to put it back on us that we weren't going to move.

That night we went to Oriental for dinner where we saw Alex enjoying a lavish dinner with the food and beverage manager sitting in one of the best tables of the house (overlooking the ocean and beach). We waited over an hour for our food while Alex and the F&B manager were waited on. A guest at a nearby table freaked out at her waiter for how poor the service was and to our amazement, Alex nor the F&B manager even turned around to acknowledge or talk to the guest. On the way back from dinner we commented to the buggy driver about Alex's behavior and he said that this was common because he needed to have private meetings with staff.

Finally on the last morning at the property Alex stopped by while we were eating breakfast at Alba to apologize. I briefly recapped our stay at the property and he said he'd get back to us before we leave in a few hours. While waiting on the dock for the seaplane he stopped by and offered us 95k starpoints for our inconvenience.

I do want to thank Pop, Anil and Ahmed who tried very hard to recover from these service failures and make our trip an enjoyable one.

Recap

Stunning property: The property is amazing and the rooms are beautiful.

Absolutely no SPG recognition: This is fine for a high end property, but you'd think they'd at least thank you for your loyalty (especially when your SPG ambassador makes the reservation)

No care for special requests: Everything that we emailed to the property ahead of time wasn't followed (especially food allergies)

Perfection comes at a price: For the price that you pay for this property and the amenities onsite, you deserve perfect service. Unfortunately this is far from reality and I left with a feeling that it wasn't nearly worth the price that we paid for the trip.

Absent management: Ultimately the attitude and training of the staff comes from the top (Alex). Alex was nowhere to be found when we needed him and even the staff echoed similar complaints. You'd think that at a property where only ~50 guests are onsite that he'd at least welcome you to the island or show up to see you when he tells you he will.

Overall, the property is gorgeous but unfortunately they have some serious service failures that is caused by an absentee manager and lack of...

Being seasoned travelers with Lifetime Platinum SPG status, my husband and I have been all over the world and have stayed in many great places; however, very few come even close to living up to the wonderful experience we had while staying at the St. Regis Vommuli Resort. Not only is the island beautiful and the architecture stunning, the service is beyond amazing. Everyone we met, made us feel special. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect place to spend 10 days for our anniversary!

When we arrived at the airport in Male, we were taken to a very comfortable St. Regis airport lounge where we were able to freshen up and enjoy ice cold beverages while we awaited our sea plane to Vommuli island. The sea plane flight itself was only about 45 minutes, and passed quickly as we were able to enjoy the stunning scenery along the way.

When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted by our butler with a welcome beverage and a cold towel, and then whisked away to our overwater villa. As SPG Platinum members, we were upgraded to a sunset villa, which gave us the ultimate privacy and spectacular views! I can’t say enough about the villa itself…beautiful island modern decor, the latest technology, large spacious deck with plunge pool, one of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept on…everything was perfect. We could control everything from the tv, lights, air conditioning, and blinds from an iPad. We were even able to sign into our Netflix account (which made it nice during a rainy day!). A welcome bottle of Champagne and fruit/chocolate/baklava was a nice touch as well. Every few days they would replenish the snacks, so we always had a treat waiting for us if we wanted it.

Throughout our stay at the resort, our butler, Ahmed, took care of us. He made reservations for us for dinner every night, he picked us up via a golf cart when we wanted to go somewhere (although we usually preferred to walk or take advantage of the bikes that were provided), he brought us coffee when we wanted a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, and he even set up a nice surprise for our anniversary - a beautiful flower-petal-filled bath and delicious chocolate anniversary cake we were able to snack on for a few days!

The food at St. Regis Vommuli is delicious! Every morning we ate a leisurely breakfast with mimosas and bloody marys at Alba; they make sure your glass is always kept filled! The choices for food are numerous, and we definitely did our best to try as much as we could! I think we ate a sashimi course every morning, the fish was so fresh and delicious! I loved the assortment of fresh baked breads/pastries, and the local curries were always wonderful to try. Deepak, Pop, Sobree, Julius, Mayank, and the rest of the Alba staff were so friendly and we really enjoyed talking to them and getting to know them. For dinner, we enjoyed every place we ate; the food quality is superb! Our favorite, though was Orientale, which has three different kitchens, serving Japanese, Chinese, and Indian food. Reji, Mirfan, and Rojin always greeted us with big smiles and were so friendly. They gave us delicious food recommendations too! I think we ended up at Whale Bar every night of our trip, whether it be for sunset drinks, a lighter dinner, or after dinner cocktails. Sebastian was always there with a friendly smile, and he went out of his way to take care of us. For nights when we didn’t feel like a big meal, Whale Bar was perfect. Even though pizza wasn’t on the menu, they would bring it to us from the pizza place, Crust. The lobster popcorn at Whale Bar is also a must try! On Wednesday nights, don’t miss out on hearing the talented Maldivian musician, Vishal. He’s amazing! One of the definite highlights of our vacation was attending the wine dinner at Decanter. We loved it so much, we ended up going twice! Each time, Nilesh and Ben created a delicious and beautifully paired tasting menu. The selection of wines at the St Regis Vommuli would be amazing anywhere, but is especially amazing considering that the resort is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We ended the wine dinner with cocktails at Whale Bar, where we stayed until well past midnight talking and enjoying the music. I highly recommend this dinner to everyone. It’s pricey, but totally worth it!

My husband and I are pretty active travelers, so during our stay we tried to experience all the activities the resort has to offer. We love snorkeling, and the reefs around the island are definitely worth spending time exploring! On the house reef right off our sunset villa, we were able to see more fish than we’ve ever seen snorkeling before, plus a few octopus, eels, stingrays, eagle rays, and turtles! We ended up snorkeling almost every day of our vacation. We also took a snorkel trip out to the coral gardens nearby, and the reef was pristine! Definitely worth doing. Other than snorkeling, the resort offers many activities daily to keep you as occupied as you choose to be, including scuba diving (great but expensive), yoga classes, boot camps (talk about a butt kicking!), stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, tennis, fishing, etc.

The trip would also not be complete without a visit to Iridium Spa. We opted for a couples 90 minute Iridium Signature Touch massage, which I loved so much that I came back for a repeat several days later. The spa facilities are beautiful, and it was nice just to sit and enjoy tea and relax looking out at the ocean afterwards.

At the end of our trip, we took the last sea plane off the island around 3 pm. Because our flight home didn’t leave Male until almost midnight, we had a lot of spare time. Learning of this, the staff at the St Regis arranged for us to have a free private tour in Male, complete with dinner reservations at a local Thai restaurant. We had a wonderful time seeing the capital city, and are so thankful they went out of their way to ensure our time in the Maldives was special from beginning to end.

After 10 days of being on a small island, you would think we would be ready to leave. Quite the opposite…we were so sad to go! We will miss all the staff we met at the St Regis Vommuli Resort! Not only did they make us feel special, but we also went away feeling like we’d made real friends!

Thank you to Alex, Daniela, Nilesh, Ben, Deepak, Reji, Sebastian, Ahmed, Pop, Sobree, Mirfan, Julius, Mayank, Rojin, and the rest of the St. Regis Vommuli staff. We hope to see you again...