week we are highlighting what we think is the best-value over the water villa resort in the Maldives, at least in the lower price categories. The Hilton Maldives is actually a 5-star resort that tends to exceed the expectations of those prepared for a 4-star chain hotel.
As one of the larger resorts of its kind in the Maldives, the Hilton has a lot going for it for those who like a long list of activities and restaurant choices.
Each week we comb all the best deals on water villas and overwater bungalows around the world to present the most interesting one for our readers. This week we came upon a treasure trove of amazing discounts on Maldives water bungalows for the summer months.
Even though the Maldives weather is nearly the same all year round, with just a few more quick rain storms during the summer than the winter, the months of June through August are the off season for the resorts with the lowest prices of the year.
Set to open in November, 2016, the Sandals Royal Caribbean Resort is already proving itself a big hit with bookings placed into the months of 2017 well before its opening date. At first there were only 5 overwater bungalows to choose from, however, a recent announcement by Sandals details the opening of 12 new overwater bungalows with bookings available for those rooms starting the 1st of February, 2017.
These rooms will represent a different suite category, the Over-the-Water Private Island Butler Honeymoon Bungalows.
the Maldives didn’t already have enough water villa or overwater bungalow resorts, the list continues to grow longer almost monthly. At the moment there are over 90 different overwater resorts in the world, and now the Maldives alone has about 60 of those.
These four resorts have been under construction since 2010, and getting an exact opening date for them tends to be difficult. The resorts tend to open later than originally planned, and most go through what they call a “soft opening” where they begin accepting guests (usually at special rates) while the finishing touches are being applied, or sometimes rooms are being finished.
In the past week two separate water-villa resorts have been tapped for prestigious honors within the hotel industry. Both are in Asia and both already had a great reputation so these recognitions are really no surprise, but still it should give potential guests just that much more confidence in both of them.
Just east of Bora Bora lies the most intimate of all overwater bungalow resorts in the South Pacific. With only 9 total rooms, 6 of which are at the edge of a private 23-acre island and the other 3 of which are magnificent overwater bungalows just out over the lagoon, this is as mellow and low-key as things get at a resort hotel.
This week we are featuring this splendid resort because in addition to everything else it has going for it, it’s quite reasonably priced as well.
we are kicking off a new feature on overwaterbungalows.net – the overwaterbungalow of the week. With around 110 water bungalow and water villa resorts around the world it seems like a good idea to highlight one of them each week because no one can keep track of them all.
Some of us can only daydream about staying in one of these incredible rooms because they do cost a lot, so this is a way to live vicariously and think about when we’ll be staying in these places ourselves.
With each and every Maldives over water villa resort located on its own private island, it’s a rare case when guests can combine that kind of privacy with the conveniences of a second island a very short ride away. The Anantara Veli Resort & Spa is just such a place. It’s small and secluded with only 50 water villas and no island rooms, but it’s a very short boat ride to its sister resort where more restaurants and activities are waiting for all guests.
One of the larger private-island resorts in the Maldives, the Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa only added its 30 Jacuzzi Water Villas in late 2010, so everything is still new and pristine. There are 154 rooms and villas on the island as well, and with that size there are great benefits for guests, not least of which is a very reasonable price compared to similar water bungalows in the Maldives.
Until about 2010, the resort with the most overwater bungalows in the world was the Four Seasons Bora Bora with 100 overwater rooms. Then the AVANI Sepang Gold Coast Resort opened just south of the Kuala Lumpur Airport and it looked unbeatable with its mind-blowing 392 Water Villas (some of which share a structure). Move over, AVANI Sepang, because the Lexis Hibiscus Port Dickson Resort is open and it has an amazing 522 water villas, each complete with a private plunge pool.