Review: Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa

Maldives..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

But at least it's not a Hyatt review....?

I can't really tell from the pictures of the first room, but outdoor bathroom...

So, when it rains, you're sitting on the can with water pouring over you?

I'm all for beach vacations, but I think I prefer my bathrooms with AC and a roof.

I stayed here during the last week of November and was very underwhelmed. As a lowly Gold member, I was given no room upgrade. I did use my (typically successful) soft touch in asking for one (and communicating with the hotel ahead of time just to let them know it was a special occasion...yeah, what trip to the Maldives isn't?). They told me that I could try for an upgrade on Day 2 while telling me that they were sure I'd like my room. I got one of the standard rooms on the 2nd floor of the little standard room buildings. As it was the second floor, there wasn't direct beach access -- but more direct than an Ocean Villa I suppose. Still, not exactly the kind of privacy you're hoping for on a romantic trip to the Maldives with a room below you and on either side.

So on Day 2, I inquired about an upgrade. I was told I could upgrade to a beach cottage like the one you started in as a Platinum, but only for 1 night as they would be fully committed the next night. There was a chance I could upgrade to an over the water bungalow, but it would "probably" be an additional charge (that they couldn't quote me) and they wouldn't know until late in the evening. I thought this was odd as a resort in the Maldives can't possibly have a ton of last-minute Platinum drop-ins who happen to unexpectedly find themselves at the airport in the Maldives looking to take a $136 speed boat trip to the Sheraton -- but who am I? I took the upgrade to the island cottage.

I then got online and found that there were at least 60 upgraded rooms (island cottages, beach cottages, over the water bungalows, and the villas like your second room) available for booking for that next night. Starwood's website won't let you try to book more than 15 rooms at a time -- but I could go through with booking 15 rooms of each room type with no problem -- which wasn't hard to imagine as the resort felt absolutely empty.

As the on-property management was unwilling to bend (or even talk directly to me, opting to communicate through the front desk instead), I tweeted SPGAssist. They reached out to management and amazingly enough, the hotel went from "totally committed" on the type of cottage I was in to being able to keep me there for the remainder of my stay (which, again, wasn't surprising -- I was in that low 200's horseshoe and there was no one in more than half the cottages my entire stay there).

I was glad that SPGAssist came in for the save, but disappointed that the on-property management wasn't willing to do it on their own. With the place as empty as it was, I was surprised that they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to "wow" with good customer service. I wasn't demanding a villa, just asking for a room with a tad more privacy with full knowledge that they had plenty sitting empty.

Add to that the fact that the coral is at least 90% dead around the island and it's just not worth going to the Maldives to go to the Sheraton IMO. Yeah, there were some sting rays swimming right along the beach. The paddle boarding and kayaking was free and we saw sharks and trigger fish and some cool stuff doing that. The shark feeding was pretty cool -- but man, I certainly wouldn't waste the money to go all the way to the Maldives to stay at the Sheraton. I was traveling all on points and miles obviously and it was an easy place to get to as biz class on CX was only 30k AA miles from Tokyo. But I wouldn't pay the cost of a cash ticket if I were planning to stay at the Sheraton (nor the cash rate on the rooms there).

One positive was the food in the lounge. Not that it was amazing, but as an Amex Business SPG holder, I did get lounge access and that did save us money on food. That said, I found the room service menu to be much more reasonable than expected. I got some sort of Maldivian Eggplant Curry that was $17 or $18 I think. There were plenty of entree options under $25 I thought. Of course, you could also spend like $28 on a cheeseburger -- but if you ordered sensibly, there were options. I was pleasantly surprised with food costs....and we drank enough wine during happy hour not to need to order a drink elsewhere.

Oh, one of those bats you loved glided into my head one night walking back down from the lounge. I'm not as enamored with them. Obviously, it didn't bite me or anything -- it probably freaked him out as much as it did me....but I didn't love the bats. Of course, you get huge bats like that in other places -- so I'm as accustomed to them as I'll ever be.

I think you more or less captured the place pretty well here though --- it's not a terrible place, but nothing I'd travel that far to return to. Honestly, I thought the main two advantages were:

1) If you have kids, it's an easy place to relax without worrying. They can't wander too far or get into much trouble. Note: I'm not saying not to watch your kids, people.

2) Nobody hassling you. I thought the beaches were no nicer than many Caribbean beaches, but that some would enjoy the absence of anyone trying to sell you a handmade necklace or pair of sunglasses. Those people don't bother me, but some people probably appreciate a vacation without that.

I'm an East-coaster. If this hotel were in Bermuda or Miami or Aruba, I'd probably go back if there was another Sheraton Free Weekends type promotion. If I were already in Dubai and had racked up some free Sheraton nights from a Free Weekends-type promotion, maybe I'd even consider this place again. But I wouldn't fly from the US to the Maldives to stay at this joint again, that's for sure. And don't expect anything special out of them if you're a lowly Gold member (based on both stays & nights, not just a CC I might add).

Thanks Tiffany! This is the one I was waiting for. We have considered this one in the past due to convenience but Sheraton's hit or miss experiences for me in the past had me hesitant. The property looks wonderful. I like how it appears they use some le creuset cookware to display the hot items and the portions for the food from the menu look massive compared to my experience at Conrad a couple years back. One question I had - I know you said you didn't necessarily snorkel but were you able to tell if the water looked particularly clear or whether there was a nice "house reef" to potentially snorkel on calm days?

SPG Gold, paid $300 to upgrade one night the base room to the overwater bungalow for one night. Would not expect it to ever be a free upgrade

Thanks for another good review. One thing, was it really that bright outside in Male after 10PM, or is that a photo trick of some type?

@ Neil S. -- Hah, the toilet/sink/tub area all had a roof, and the toilet room even had a separate door. Fun mental image though!

@ Nico -- Wow, thanks for sharing your experiences! I would have been frustrated by the room shenanigans as well, so fortunately didn't have to deal with that.

Having nobody hassle you is a great point, and something my husband noticed. We've hated that about the Caribbean when we've been. Agree with your assessments -- we didn't even look at the room service menu, but I'm glad to hear you thought the food costs were "reasonable enough" as well.

@ GoldenMile -- The water was very clear, and the reef seemed better on the bungalow side of the property, but I don't think it's as amazing here as other islands. They did mention having another nearby island that you could go and snorkel on, so that might have been better in terms of variety of fish.

@ Andy -- Nope, I wouldn't either. The cottages are the highest upgrades for Platinums unless they use a Suite Night Award, and neither are default upgrades for Golds.

@ Christian -- Nope, we took those on departure. Nothing to see at all on arrival!

A Maldives resort review by a miles and points blogger that's not the PH Maldives? INCONCEIVABLE!

:p

(Thanks for the review.)

Bats! I love bats. We'll be in Seychelles in March. I so very much hope that we'll have the pleasure of having the company of bats. I'll have to do some research.

I have no interest in staying at any Sheraton anywhere; but, I did enjoy reading this wonderfully detailed review as well as Ben's Finnair trip report.

Tiffany, loved this trip report and other posts you've done in the past. They definitely add another dimension to the blog.

Ben, well done for including posts by other authors!

@Craig U

That is one awesome blue shirt.

Thanks for the review! Your thoughts on the Maldives somewhat captured what I am worried about in planning a trip there...if I'm just going to sit on a beautiful beach for 5 days why not go to Cancun area, Hawaii, or the Caribbean? Admittedly the isolation wouldn't be found at most hotels in those places but when coming from North America and the travel time is 6 hours vs. 24 hours, and the amount of miles, and points...it sounds amazing but I just don't know if I'm willing to go through all of that. Although it does sound really cool to say you're going to the Maldives 🙂

Tiffany,

Great report.

You mentioned how quickly you got through customs, faster then the other people. I was curious how you were able to do it so quickly. I travel a bit, internationally, and in other countries getting through customs comes down to either having a fast track pass, or just toughing it out. I assume you had the fast track, or did you manage to get ahead of everybody off the plane?

Keep the reports coming!

Sam

I've been to the Maldives before, and I must say that I would never take a hotel with a speed boat transfer from Male again. Waterplanes or other domestic flights are maybe expensive and time consuming, but then you certainly don't have views on waste island and/or Male. I stayed at Velassaru and I didn't feel as a tropical getaway to me as I've expected/wanted. I like the Seychelles way more !

What kind of work is it that you do that on the one hand gives you the flexibility to do it absolutely anywhere (a good thing) but that also seemingly has you working all the time anywhere and everywhere you go (as that's all you mention that you do)? I'm both intrigued / jealous and disturbed.

Great, thorough review. Loved ALL the pictures and your opinion on each. Good to read your honest thoughts on this hotel. For the price, it seems like a steal, considering the food was included, plus the Prestige card covering the 4th night. Very cool. More reviews like this please, from your future trips

This was a really well done trip report. Thanks!

@Jason

Tiffany is with pointspros, Lucky's award booking service.

Click on the link on top that say award help

Thank you for the review Tiffany.

Looks like a nice airport Sheraton :-)))

Not sure if I like the transfer cost, especially since it was a sheared ride.

@ SKF -- Hah, getting off the plane first, having fast track, no checked bags or items to declare, being able to read signs and change directions quickly, etc. Mainly practice!

@ No Name -- They all seem to have outrageous transfer costs. It's silly.

Tiffany,
FYI, the link from the rest of the trip report to this review is giving a 404 error. And thanks for confirming that I am unlikely to ever want to go to the Maldives (despite the fruit! bats!).

@ Lisa -- Thanks! Fixed now.

@Tiffany wonderful report, thanks.

Are the minibar prices true or are they fake (i.e. exclude a bevvy of taxes, fees, surcharges etc.?)

BTW there are plenty of destinations in Southeast Asia with same beach and sea quality that cost half as much (especially if you include transport "costs")! This must be one of the world's most overrated places.

I stayed here in 2013 on a cash and points rate (under the old pre-devaluation rate).

The best part of this property is using it for 1-2 nights to adjust to jet lag prior to moving on to your more expensive Maldives property. It is also quite close to Male, which as an independent traveller is worth exploring as it's one of the only areas in the country where you can be on an even keel with other Maldivians.

The beach at the resort is just okay for the area, and the snorkling from shore is non existent. The food is very reasonably priced for the maldives so if you wanted to turn a 4-5 day stay in the Maldives into a 6-8 day stay, it's worth working this property in on your way into the country.

Another great report (despite your mention of Taylor Swift)! Please consider your own blog!!

Did you go snorkeling? How was it? We love the snorkeling at the Park Hyatt. So many huge fish, in a bunch of varieties, reef sharks, Dolphins, and turtles. So amazing!

I have always been curious about the Maldives and read this review and the comments to the end! Wish the photos had show sparkling blue seas, but I've found that kind of dull overcast all over Asia...

Thank you for an in depth and very well written trip report. I've rarely seen a better one!

Hey thanks Tiffany! I am looking into a romantic getaway to the Maldives at some point in the future and I will certainly consider the Sheraton next time.

Also i love that you post more food porn pics than Ben! I love it!

Nice to see a review of a new and more obtainable property in the Maldives.

Tiffany,

A few quick questions, thanks for the detailed review it is very helpful. I already have a room booked Island cottage (w/breakfast) but was wondering if you think its better to pay as I go or get the half-board Full board or all inclusive package?

We want to eat well, a lot of the tripadvisor feedback mentions crazy high prices on food (dinner for two with cheap wine at 350USD etc). On the other hand 97 for half board (basically dinner as breakfast was already free) also seems a bit high. Were non alcoholic drinks (water etc) included in your full board?

I wrote the hotel and they sent me a nice synopsis of the options which I will share below.

The kids pass seems a no brainer but the other ones get expensive quickly. Any expert advice is greatly appreciated!!!!
____________________Here is what the hotel said________________________________

As a SPG member you can purchase SPG Kids Pass at US$18.48 per child, per day on arrival.

Please find the below meal packages available for adults with the prices. Restaurant reservations can be made at the resort with our Guest Service Team.

Half Board (HB): USD 97 per person per day; subject to 10% service charge, 12% GST

Dinner Entitlements
-¬‐ Feast Buffet themes nights
-¬‐ Sand Coast
-¬‐ Anchorage Bar

Full Board (FB): USD 146 per person per day; subject to 10% service charge, 12% GST

Lunch Entitlements
-¬‐ Sand Coast
-¬‐ Anchorage Bar
-¬‐ Kakuni Hut

Dinner Entitlements
-¬‐ Feast Buffet themes nights
-¬‐ Sand Coast
-¬‐ Anchorage Bar

Credit Applicable Venues (Half Board & Full Board)

Baan Thai food only USD 81creditpp. (Reservation required)
Sea Salt food only USD 81creditpp.(Reservation required)
Destination dining USD 81creditpp.(Reservation required)

Credit per person includes service charge and government availing taxes. The credit can only be used in one venue per evening and cannot be accumulated, combined or transferred.

Package exclusions

Mini Bar & In room dining

All-inclusive at US$211++, per person per day; subject to 10% service charge, 12% GST

Lunch Entitlements
-¬‐ Sand Coast
-¬‐ Anchorage Bar
-¬‐ Kakuni Hut

Dinner Entitlements
-¬‐ Feast Buffet themes nights
-¬‐ Sand Coast
-¬‐ Anchorage Bar

Credit Applicable Venues

Baan Thai food only USD 81creditpp.(Reservation required)
Sea Salt food only USD 81creditpp.(Reservation required)
Destination dining USD 81creditpp.(Reservation required)

Credit per person includes service charge and government availing taxes. The credit can only be used in one venue per evening and cannot be accumulated, combined or transferred. Beverage entitlements are served in all bars and restaurants from 11:00 to 00:00 hrs. On the arrival date all-inclusive entitlements starts at 14:00 hrs. And departure dates all-inclusive entitlement till 12:00 noon.

• Soft drinks (Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Tonic & Soda Water & Packet Juices)
• Coffee (Espresso, Cappuccino, Latte, Americano, & regular Coffee)
• Tea (Selections available in the resort)
• Mineral water: Schweppes Still water
• Tea (Selections available in the resort)
• Draught beer (Carlsberg, Lion, San Miguel)
• House wines by glass (White, Red, rose and Sparkling)
• Scotch: Ballantine, Dewar’s 12 years
• Gin: Beefeater
• Vodka: Smirnoff, Finlandia and Stolichnaya
• Aperitif: Martini Bianco, Martini Rosso and Campari
• Bourbon: Canadian Club
• Rum: Bacardi White, Captain Morgan Dark, Appleton and Cachaça
• Tequila: Tequila Silver Jose Cuervo

Package Exclusions

Mini Bar & In room dining
Any other meals, fresh juices or beverages and venues not mentioned above.

Tiffany, based on the gcmap shown in your 2nd TR. Can you tell me what airline you flew from MLE to AUH? I'd assume this MLE-AUH segment included in the 180,000 AAdvantage miles you redeemed on first class return to New York

Thanks

@ B. Owen -- Hmm, if breakfast is already included it doesn't seem like that would be worth it. We generally aren't going to eat three courses each at any meal, so $97 per person for dinner would have been more that we spent on food.

The list of beverages is interesting; we paid for all our cocktails, but not for water.

@ Tiara -- We flew Etihad.

So we are here this week. It's an ok resort but to be fair I'm really looking forwards to the ones were headed to next. The food costs here are a bit over expensive but I think Tiffany's point to skip the half bord is correct. The buffet at feast is 86usd per person. That with 15usd a cocktail and 12 usd for a bottle of water quickly adds up.

Te breakfast at feast buffet is pretty awesome actually. Also get the Kids food pass for 18usd a day every time we had lunch the kids bill was like 59 to 65 usd for two kids and about the same for dinner so the kids pass actually makes it tolerable (a bit). The Thai place baan Thai was great but two adults with 1 app and 1 main and 1 desert and like 4 drinks was about 250usd. To be honest the food was really good so that one wasn't as painful.

The adventure club is just so so, every time we have gone it's only been our kids there maybe once another kid. The ladies are nice but it's really hot to go use the outdoor equipment and most times when we come back the kids are sitting in the ball pit watching cartoons.

Went diving 3 times so far at the dive Club is pretty well equipped and all the materials and compressor seem brand new. Not many people on the dives (3 max) so to be honest was a nice 1-1 feel to it with the five master. Max and Adam were great there by the way!

Otherwise My SPG gold status was useless so far no welcome amenity or anything really. We even probably got the furthest beach cottage from the beach possible. Was invited to a manager reception tonight and will be sure to mention to the manager who we havnt seen at all this trip (and we pass through the lobby once per day at least).

The lobby called us today an offered an upgrade for a fee to either a overwater bungalow (150 usd per night) or a Watervilla (350 usd per night) or the pool villa (250 per night) considering we paid only a little bit less for our beach cottage these prices were the same as we could have booked originally booked. I told them I would consider 150usd a night for the pool one but they didn't go for it. I told him maybe ask your manager as 150 for an otherwise empty room is better then zero. Considering Tiffany said she got upgraded from the beach cottage to beach pool villa for 75 a night I thought it wasn't unreasonable to ask. Maybe her platinum over my lowly gold made the difference.

To me this resort could be in the carribean and you wouldn't really notice the difference.

The pool is Ok, the food is Ok and relative to Maldives prices it's reasonable. I would guess that 60% of the resort is group package Chinese and I base this on the buffet dinner 90% Chinese guests and the breakfast with well more then half. I wonder what they paid as I don't get the feeling those package deals were as expensive. I'm have no problems with the Chinese in general but I've noticed twice now where they left diapers and orange peels on the ground at the pool and just got up and left. Don't get me wrong plenty of rednecks in the USA also so I can't judge the group by a couple of loose ends. Non the less not a big deal but seems like the resort must be doing a lot of advertising in China.

Otherwise the place seems rather empty the buggy drivers all day it's like 70% full but if I look at the beach almost empty pool almost empty, maybe everyone is just enjoying their rooms but to me it doesn't seem like they are going out to dinner or whatever.

Either way will update after we leave on Saturday.

Hi Tiffany. I saved this post as a reference for our trip here. Well, we've arrived. We too used our Citi Prestige. I received the $300 credit back from Citi last Feb with no charge for the initial rate yet. Being a SPG Platinum and getting 3x using my SPG card,,I'm tempted to use that,,but I think I'll use my Prestige and play it safe. I too was upgraded to those rooms in a horseshoe, 213. Once seeing the room I immediately called our check in person and requested Ocean Pool Villa. After a few minutes she came to our room and brought us to our new room,,409,,same as yours ;o). Best part, was they waived the upgrade fee. The lounge is great with free beer all day. We have a light breakfast in the lounge @6:30a then catch the end of breakfast at the buffet by 11a then have HHour snacks/drinks @ the lounge 6-8p.

Well you are most positive in your review. I travel close to 200 days a year. This resort would get a negative star from me. Here is my review:
The most positive thing I can say about this resort; they have matched their service to cater for mass market tour groups and Budget Travelers. Sadly I paid $5500
USD for family luxury holiday.
The Negatives;
- all kinds of surprises and exclusions which you only are told when you arrive. Here are some of them:
- The all inclusive meals have been geared for people to either hate them and order from a la cart menu or have so many exclusions and exceptions to extract more revenue from guests. I.e. Hardly any fresh food in the buffets, no presence of Salads, fresh seafood. If you don't want buffet, you get a small credit to order from menu but credit can be applied to some items, not for soft drinks etc. Kids can only order from Kids menu but if you want your kid not be restricted to fried food or pastas then you now have to pay - because kids won't get the credit.
- Kayaks and and canoes are restricted to 30min free of use, daily, 1 per room!!
- The resort children services starts at 0900 and end at noon. If you want to go for activities like Scuba, they also start at 0900 and end afternoon. So, hotel the. Sells you childcare service
Other issues:
- hotel doesn't have a reef lagoon. So any snorkelling trip will be outside in choppy waters. Charged at $120 USD per person
- Hotel pool is very small. Narrow and closes at 5pm.
- Fitness centre is a dark, moist, no view and nearly windowless room. It is more like a dungeon in middle of the resort
- guest services staff auto response is "No" on almost any topic and appear indifferent if you are angry, happy or surprised
- service staff are very kind and do their best to accommodate but they are under trained
- 3 out of 5 restaurants on the resort are open air setup. They don't have sufficient fans and cooling and no screens to keep out flies and insects. So imagine any buffet that sits there for 3-5hrs and warms in 28-32c temps and gets visited by the flies.... Yum yum.

All and all this is not a Sheraton that one would expect based on brand and service. This is more like lucky star motel geared to soak every dollar from mass market tourist from developing markets.

Do we need to pay for water?

Who gave you the option of upgrading to the over water bungalow with suite upgrades? when I call, they tell me the cottage is the best upgrade you can get.

Hi,
I really enjoyed going over your detailed experience. We too are planning to go to the Maldives and our budget may limit us to go to the Sheraton

I have 2 main concerns about this resort and I am hoping you or anyone who has been there can address it

1. I am really wanting to go to the Maldives and Bora Bora mostly for the beach. It has to be clean, clear, pristine water as if you are in your tub. Must have powder white sand that will not require me to wear footwear when I walk around or swim. I am not looking to snorkel or scuba dive just lay out and swim all day. I would also like shallow water the slowly slopes down. Does the beach by the Sheraton have this? We plan to book a deluxe room.

2. We are very healthy eaters. Im assuming they have fresh grilled seafood options. We might go for the breakfast buffet but not for dinner. If we do breakfast buffet and then dinner, we don't drink alcohol, is a budget of $200 for 2 people per day doable?

Tiffany, I know this is an old thread but wanted to share an email we received Saturday from the Sheraton Full Moon. They advised us that the club lounge was closing yesterday (July 29) and reminded us of what platinums are entitled to. No alternative arrangements are offered like breakfast in the restaurant. We get a 4 p.m. late checkout (if available); possible upgrade to beach cottage (if available); and a local amenity.
It is very disappointing since we have reservations for five nights in September celebrating our 30th anniversary. I’ve tried to send to Ben but haven’t heard anything. Definitely worth a story.
I have asked specifically why the club lounge will be closed and not gotten an answer. Have also asked if this has to do with the Marriott merger or because we are booked with points. There are tons of rooms available including Club Rooms. I asked about that too and was told those rooms would also NOT have access.

@ Linda -- It sounds like maybe they are doing renovations or something? It isn't uncommon for hotels to renovate their club lounges, and while they can sometimes provide an alternative lounge area, this property isn't really set up for something like that.

I doubt it has anything to do with either the merger or your method of payment. You should still be able to select breakfast as your Platinum welcome amenity, but if the hotel isn't being responsive I'd suggest contacting the social media team for SPG ([email protected]).

They are definitely not doing renovations. They came back and said that management has decided that SPG platinums will not receive lounge benefits, nor will the lounge even be open anymore to those that have booked club accommodations. We can still select breakfast as our welcome gift instead of points or the local amenity. They have also confirmed us into a beach front cottage as a gesture of good will. Said management closed the lounge as of last Sunday and it was their decision.

@ Linda -- Well, if they've closed the lounge for all guests, that's probably the end of the discussion, unfortunately, but I'd still reach out to SPG's social media team.