Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Our perspective may be somewhat biased, as we previously visited Bora Bora and set very high expectations. Unfortunately, during our six day, five night stay, it rained on four of the days, which likely impacted our overall experience. That said, the Maldives is undeniably stunning, and the resort itself is beautiful. Our butler, Khaleel, was attentive, helpful, and always willing to assist with any issues that arose. However, we could not help but compare this property to the St. Regis Bora Bora, which truly set the bar for service. While this resort is lovely, the level of service did not quite match that standard. When deciding on Bora Bora or Maldives, we elected to go to Bora Bora instead because of cost. While in Bora Bora, you can take a boat from the airport to the property, in Maldives, you must take a seaplane to get to the resort. Our family paid nearly $2,000 just for seaplane transfers. Keep that in mind when budgeting. To say Maldives is extremely expensive is an understatement. Overall, we found Maldives to be far more expensive with significantly less service. While Bora Bora was also expensive, the service was out of this world and worth the price paid. I could not say the same about the CONRAD MALDIVES. The dining options were excellent. We had lunch at Ithaa, the famous underwater restaurant. Although extremely expensive, it was a one of a kind experience with incredible views and outstanding food. Most mornings, we had breakfast at Atoll Market, which offered a wide variety of options and became our preferred choice over breakfast in the villa due to the buffet. Given the high cost dining for our family of four (we have two young kids), we often skipped lunch and attended the Diamond Member high tea instead to save money (make sure to bring plenty of snacks). For dinner, we dined at Rangali Bar, which was our favorite, as well as Ufaa Chinese, Sunset Grill, and Villa, the Italian restaurant. Every restaurant delivered exceptional food, but pricing across the resort was very steep. One frustration was the cost of water. Bottled water was charged at $16 in dining venues and often refilled without being requested, resulting in unexpected charges. While water is complimentary in the room, at breakfast, by the pool, but not during dinner. We felt this was excessive and left us feeling taken advantage of. They should offer you free water for dinner! I am ok with filtered water and don't need Voss imported water. A soda at $9 is cheaper than water. The beach is beautiful, and on one clear day we were able to snorkel in calm waters and enjoy the vibrant marine life. We also snorkeled the house reef a few times, which was pleasant, though it did not compare to the reef lagoon experience we had in Bora Bora. The overall property is nice, but doesn't compare to the property in Bora Bora. Service overall was decent, but considering the price point, we expected more. For example, the WiFi throughout the resort was very poor. We constantly had to log back in, and even in our villa the connection was unreliable. Khaleel kindly brought a device to boost the signal, which worked briefly, but the connection quickly deteriorated again for the remainder of the stay. The weather was another major drawback. While we had seen images of clear blue skies and turquoise water online, the reality was frequent rain, which significantly limited our ability to enjoy the resort. Although this is not the hotel’s fault, it is an important consideration when planning a Maldives trip, as you are paying a premium to potentially spend much of your time indoors. We also felt that not all amenities were clearly explained. We did not learn until the final day that the resort had two gyms, one of which included an infrared sauna. We met the photographer Ameel the first day of our trip and he said it's supposed to rain every day on our trip. When it became clear on one of the mornings, I asked if we could do a shoot and he said we need to schedule something and he's all booked for the day. Why didn't he schedule something for us the day we arrived. We spoke to him, but he never told us to schedule something. Luckily, we were able to get on the schedule the last day of our trip, but it would have been nice if he was more transparent. Transportation around the property presented challenges as well. There were issues with the bicycles, including limited availability and maintenance problems. The steering on one bike was loose, nearly causing a fall. After it was repaired, the chain was still faulty, and by the time it was fully fixed, the rain had returned, making it unusable. Due to frequent rain, we relied heavily on the buggy service, which was very slow. Often, the wait was so long that we ended up walking instead. This was another noticeable difference compared to Bora Bora, where buggies arrived almost immediately. This resort also has fewer overwater bungalows compared to the St. Regis. In Bora Bora, we were upgraded to an overwater bungalow and were even allowed to stay in our room until 6:00 pm on departure day, despite a late evening flight, at no extra charge. That level of service truly felt above and beyond. In conclusion, this is a stunning property, and it is very possible that our expectations were shaped by an exceptional experience at the St. Regis Bora Bora. While the resort is undeniably beautiful, it did not fully live up to the level of service we were hoping for at this price point.

Highly recommend the whole hotel and especially the grand water villa. Exceptional experience with Jess for the manta tour and Mandoo was an amazing dive master!

Amazing once in a life time experience. Pricy, but worth it. Staff is amazing and the nature is unbelievable. Initially went in for relaxation (which you can still totally do), but there’s so much to explore you won’t be able to hold back.

We spent a truly wonderful time in the Maldives, enjoying perfect weather every single day. We were able to go diving, stand-up paddling, practice yoga, work out in the fitness center, and take long, relaxing walks. The variety and quality of the restaurants were outstanding, offering an exceptional culinary experience throughout our stay. A very special thank you goes to Johny Manesh, the amazing yoga teacher whose sessions were inspiring and rejuvenating, and to Ruslan, our warm-hearted and incredibly skilled personal guide. Their dedication made our vacation even more unforgettable.

Our family just returned from a week at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort, and it was the perfect stay. Although my wife and I are now empty-nesters, we cherish the opportunity to travel with our sons when we can, and are always looking for truly amazing adventures. Not only did the Conrad not disappoint, it actually far exceeded my expectations. Our first contact with the Conrad was as we cleared customs in Malé, and like everything else they did, the process was seamless and easy. First we were taken to the seaplane check-in, where the Conrad rep made sure our bags were all properly tagged and checked. Then we were whisked to the Conrad lounge at the seaplane terminal. We had a little over an hour to kill, so they provided a decent selection of food and beverage options while we waited. They also had showers, should we have wanted to freshen up. When the seaplane was ready, the Conrad staff accompanied us to the departure, and again assisted with our bags. After a visually stunning 40-minute flight, low across the waters of the Maldives, we landed at the Conrad and were greeted by the staff at the seaplane terminal, located on the bridge between the two guest islands. We were given cool towels and cold coconuts with a straw to drink the coconut milk while we waited for the staff to collect our bags and take them to our rooms. Our host for the stay, Hussain, introduced himself, created a WhatsApp thread so we could contact him if we ever needed any assistance, and began to tell us about the many wonderful options available to us for food, drink and activity during our stay. He then shuttled us to our overwater bungalows for the start of our magical stay. The bungalows were perfect for our stay. Clean, modern, and spacious, with wonderful king-sized beds. There was a nice big screen tv, but it was never used. The closet/storage room was huge, so our bags, clothes, shoes and other stuff was always out of sight. And the deck was what you dream of when you dream about a vacation n the Maldives. Lots of room, with both lounge chairs and regular table seating. A fresh water plunge pool, and stairs directly to the protected lagoon below, so we could snorkel right off our room. I watched a ton of videos about this resort before we came, but that did not prepare me for just how nice the rooms were in real life. Our stay just kept getting better. Hussain always seemed to be available for any questions, need or concern. He made sure that our dinner reservations went smoothly, and our dietary needs were always accounted for by the different restaurants. (If you can, you MUST do the Lobster & Champagne dinner on the beach! Most fun I have had at a meal in my life!) Hussain also arranged for our entire group to have bikes to travel the islands, got us connected with the dive facilities for SCUBA diving and Manta and Whale Shark excursions, and arranged our late departure, since we have a very late flight home from Malé. He made the trip effortless for us. The other person who needs a shout out is Moosa. Moosa was our room attendant, and I don’t think he ever slept. He seemed to anticipate our needs, and the room was always spotless, and stocked with anything we might want. Plus, he is an absolute artist with the leaf designs on the bed. I actually felt guilty messing up his work when we needed to go to sleep. The other point I would make about our stay is that the entire staff at the Conrad seemed to make it their mission that we have a perfect stay. Not a good stay, or even a great stay, but a perfect stay. Every person we interacted with seemed to genuinely care about our experience, and this was the same from our interaction with Nick, the general manager of the resort, to the groundskeepers working on the paths and trails. Everyone stopped what they were doing to check and see if we needed anything. I have never felt so pampered and looked after before, in any of my travels. Overall, I cannot recommend the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island highly enough. Whatever I say will fall short of the experience.