A Maldives Overwater Bungalow Honeymoon Paradise
Booking
For our honeymoon, we really wanted to stay at an overwater bungalow in the Maldives! We looked at Marriott and Hilton hotels until our decision was made after coming across a good credit card deal for the Hilton Amex Surpass Card. The deal was offering 130,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first three months. It also came with Hilton gold status that provided free breakfast and the ability to get the fifth night free when booking with points. We stayed six nights at the Hilton Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.
When looking at the resort, an overwater villa during our honeymoon in November ranged from $900 to $1,300 per night. This was way out of our budget, but we were able to utilize points to stay for close to free.
How? We used points to book six nights for a Standard Room Reward redemption of 120,000 points per night (with one night being for free due to booking with points). Without points, the resort would have cost about $7,000.
Arrival
We flew into the Male Airport where a concierge met and drove us to the Conrad's airport lounge. After relaxing in the lounge, we boarded the seaplane — excited for our first ever flight like this. We found it fascinating to watch the pilot fly and we loved the window views of the ocean and many small islands. Although it was an interesting (and necessary) experience, the round trip seaplane tickets cost about $600. But after a pleasantly smooth landing, we were met by our own personal concierge who was waiting for us with a delicious welcome drink, golf cart for transportation and a room upgrade.
Resort
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort is spread across three private islands and is only reachable by a 30-minute seaplane flight. There are two sides to the island — one that is dedicated to adults-only, while the other is family friendly. We primarily stayed on the adults-only side which felt very secluded.
One thing we regret though was not booking more excursions! With that being said, our favorite excursions were a couples massage and snorkeling. Our couples massage at the Spa Retreat included a 90-minute massage, foot soak and full-body scrub. Pretty cheesy, but it also contained the coolest toilet that overlooked the ocean.
Snorkeling was second to none and we were incredibly amazed with how many sharks, stingrays and fish we could see, even just watching from our balcony. We also loved how convenient it was to walk down the stairs from our balcony to the ocean.
Room
Our original booking was the “Sunrise Water Villa”, as it was the only water villa that showed standard room reward redemption which could be booked on points. Luckily after meeting our personal concierge on arrival, we were upgraded to the “Sunset Water Villa With Pool” due to our Hilton Gold Status.
Our room was absolutely beautiful. We were welcomed with a bottle of wine and flowers spelling out “Happy Honeymoon” on the bed. Our room included a bar area, couch, spacious walk-in closet, and a large bathroom that included a walk-in shower, large bathtub and double sinks (much preferred when traveling together). Most of our time in the room was spent outside. Our patio contained a table with chairs, lounge chairs and a plunge pool. The deck also had steps leading directly into the water, which made snorkeling really convenient anytime we wanted.
Drinking and eating in the Maldives is extremely expensive, so another major perk was the complimentary water and coffee. We loved our room and would stay in an overwater bungalow if we ever come back again.
Food & Beverage
Dining at the island was a major surprise — both good and bad. It was by far the most expensive collection of meals but the experiences were unforgettable. One of our favorite experiences was eating our complimentary breakfast at Vilu every morning! It was so nice having breakfast while watching the ocean waves crash, sharks swimming way too close to the shore and cranes hanging out on the beach. We also enjoyed pasta and wine for dinner at Vilu.
Our favorite dinner experience was at the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant which is the world’s first underwater restaurant. We opted in for Ithaa’s Tasting Menu Dinner which was a 7 course meal that starts at 6:30 and lasts a few hours.
Upon arrival, we were seated around a small table and offered a glass of champagne to go along with a short history lesson from the staff. After the champagne, we were led down a staircase that brought us underwater where we were surrounded by countless blacktip reef sharks and thousands of fish. The views were out of this world and we were also impressed with the heavily influenced French wine list. We decided on a bottle of French red that paired well with all seven courses. The dinner lasted a little over two hours and it was such a surreal experience. This restaurant is a must visit — either during visiting hours for a cocktail, a four-course lunch, or a seven-course dinner.
Although Ithaa Undersea was our favorite dinner experience, our favorite food was at UFAA By Jereme Leung, which featured traditional Chinese cuisine. To start our meal, we were served several delicious dumplings that were accompanied with beautifully presented cocktails.
After our starter, we ordered rock shrimp as an appetizer and miso cod and stir-fried rice noodles with beef as our entree. The rock shrimp and miso cod were our favorite meals throughout the entire week!
Another great perk of being a Hilton Gold member was the complimentary daily Happy Hour held at Vilu restaurant from 4pm – 5pm. The happy hour included hors d’oeuvres and complimentary drinks like beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails.
Overall Impression
Our stay at the Conrad Maldives Rangali was a once in a lifetime experience! We arrived with high expectations and they were met and even exceeded at times. The only complaint was how high priced the food was, but the many positives of the trip made this a minor issue. We truly unplugged, and returned home relaxed, rejuvenated and refreshed. This was our first trip traveling on points and it jump started our travel journey as a married couple!