Alila Kothaifaru Maldives Opening April 2022 (Now Bookable)

Alila Kothaifaru Maldives Opening April 2022 (Now Bookable)

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As a Hyatt loyalist, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the new Alila Maldives, as I’m hoping to check it out in the near future. The hotel was initially supposed to open in 2020, but as is the case with so many hotels, the opening has been delayed.

There’s some good news on that front — the hotel has started accepting reservations, and will have a soft opening in just a few weeks. Rates as part of the opening offer are pretty attractive as well, though there’s a major catch.

The basics of the Alila Maldives

The new Alila Kothaifaru Maldives is now accepting reservations for stays as of April 14, 2022, which is in just under three weeks. The Alila has 80 villas, 36 of which are overwater. The hotel is located to the north of Male, in the Raa Atoll, and is accessible with a 45-minute seaplane flight.

It’s nice to see another resort opening that’s truly remote, since many recent Maldives openings have been accessible by a quick speedboat ride from Male, and therefore aren’t as picturesque.

As far as the room categories here go:

  • Beach villas are marketed as being 202 square meters (~2,174 square feet), presumably including outdoor space; these accommodations feature a separate bedroom and living room, an open-air bathroom in a garden setting, and a private pool and sun deck with an ocean view
  • Water villas are marketed as being 125 square meters (~1,345 square feet), presumably including outdoor space; these accommodations feature a king bed, a living area, an indoor bathroom, and a private pool and sun deck

Below are some pictures of the property.

Alila Maldives island
Alila Maldives beach
Alila Maldives beach
Alila Maldives pool
Alila Maldives beach villas
Alila Maldives beach villas
Alila Maldives beach villas
Alila Maldives beach villas
Alila Maldives beach villas
Alila Maldives water villas
Alila Maldives water villas
Alila Maldives water villas

I’ve gotta say, the pictures make the hotel look… fine? I mean, of course it’s beautiful and we’d all be lucky to stay here. But for a newly opened luxury property, I feel like the design as such isn’t terribly inspiring. The island looks gorgeous, though.

Alila Maldives points & cash rates

With the hotel now on sale, we know everything we need to know about pricing, in both cash and points.

The first thing worth noting is that while the hotel is opening on April 14, 2022, it’s a very soft opening. Initially only beach villas and “limited dining facilities” will be open. It’s also stated that construction will be going on “in limited areas of the resort and intermittent noise will be expected between 8AM and 5PM.” Ouch. It looks to me like overwater villas are only available for stays as of August 1, 2022.

When it comes to redeeming points, the Alila Maldives is a Category 7 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night redemption costs either 25,000, 30,000, or 35,000 points per night, depending on whether you’re staying off-peak, standard, or peak.

As far as cash rates go, in the long run it looks like the hotel will start at $800+ per night, as you’d expect.

For those looking to stay early on, there’s a soft opening rate that’s much more attractive, starting at just $350 per night. It’s nice that the hotel is at least pricing based on the limited experience that will be available at first.

In addition to the room rate, seaplane transfers cost $600 roundtrip per person.

This is exciting for World of Hyatt members

This is a property that many World of Hyatt members will likely be excited about. There’s a lot to love about redeeming points with World of Hyatt vs. other hotel groups, especially if you’re a Globalist member. Hyatt is great about offering elite perks at Alila properties.

One negative is that the hotel won’t accept suite upgrade awards, as is the case at the Park Hyatt Maldives. So my guess is that if you want an overwater villa, you’ll have to pay the rate difference between a beach villa and an overwater one. That’s disappointing, but also not surprising.

Alila brand coming full circle in the Maldives

What’s interesting about the upcoming Alila Maldives is that it will represent a return of the Alila brand to the Maldives:

  • In 2009 the Alila Maldives Hadahaa opened (at the time the Alila brand had nothing to do with Hyatt)
  • In 2011 management for the property was turned over to Hyatt, and the former Alila became known as the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
  • Then in 2018 Hyatt acquired Two Roads Hospitality, which manages Alila properties
  • Now there will once again be an Alila property in the Maldives, except this time it will be managed by Hyatt

For those of you not familiar with Alila, it’s essentially Hyatt’s luxury nature-focused brand. I’d say it’s roughly on par with Park Hyatt, though like all hotel brands, there’s some variance in terms of quality.

Funny enough, the pictures we see so far of the new Alila in the Maldives look fairly similar to the Park Hyatt.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa (former Alila Maldives Hadahaa)

Bottom line

The Alila Kothaifaru Maldives is now accepting reservations for stays as of April 2022. The catch is that initially there will only be beach villas, and the overwater villas are expected to be available as of August 2022.

This is a Category 7 World of Hyatt, so a free night redemption costs 25,000-35,000 points per night. As far as paid rates go, they start as low as $350 per night as part of a soft opening offer, while when the hotel is fully operational, it’ll cost $800+ per night.

Frankly I find this soft opening strategy to be a bit strange, given that the hotel’s construction has already been delayed so much. It sounds like those staying in the coming months should expect the overwater villas, and some other amenities, to still be under construction.

Anyone planning on staying at the Alila Kothaifaru Maldives?

Conversations (16)
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  1. Marc Oliver Guest

    Jenny thank you for your input - we'll give it a good look ;)

  2. Jenny Guest

    To Mark Oliver: Completely agree re man-made island. We have now stayed at >10 resorts and the place we return to time and time again is Amilla. The villas at Joali are stunning but Amilla treetop villas are very special and extraordinary value. The island is one of the largest resorts from space perspective but not many rooms. Plenty of activities, large enough to get exercise (inner trail is around a mile) and very good...

    To Mark Oliver: Completely agree re man-made island. We have now stayed at >10 resorts and the place we return to time and time again is Amilla. The villas at Joali are stunning but Amilla treetop villas are very special and extraordinary value. The island is one of the largest resorts from space perspective but not many rooms. Plenty of activities, large enough to get exercise (inner trail is around a mile) and very good F&B. This is our third stay in a year and we have already booked our next two returns! They have just joined SLH but not clear yet of WoH participation.

    I also thought Alila looked underwhelming. It’s fine but nothing more from photos. However, rates are pretty reasonable at present and definitely not near the top end for the location o probably unreasonable to expect more design-wise. I really hope quality is significantly better than Alila Koh Russey though (the only hotel we have checked out after 1 night).

  3. Adam Guest

    What’s the best route to get to this location from California? Any suggestions, thank you!

  4. DJ Guest

    Booked 3 nights for April.

    1. Malcolm Guest

      What specials did you receive? As Globalist? I am getting stone-walled on getting anything complimentary (i.e. soft opening rates includes breakfast, so Globalist benefits are superfluous). Any help will be great!

  5. Kevin M Guest

    Now seems to be a good time to book award nights for next winter, as rooms for high season are loaded at 30k/night (standard rate) vs. 35k (high-season rate)

  6. iamhere Guest

    What about getting there? It won't be cheap on points or cash and was not easy to get to before, I can only imagine now between air space issues and COVID.

    1. JoePro Guest

      Travel to/from the Maldives is... at this point... virtually unchanged since before the pandemic. We returned twice in the last two years, opting for QR QSuites at 70K AA Miles PP each way. Not a short journey, but definately a comfortable one.

  7. Stuart Guest

    You find the rooms to be lacking?. I'm sorry, what do you want? 18th century Persian rugs? Canvas paintings by local artists? A stripper pole? Looks perfectly fine to me and while it's stark from a practical standpoint the tropical/salt climate will bring havoc to anything more (though you don't identify what that is) so as to be that in two years people are complaining that the interiors are worn and the gorgeous decorative items...

    You find the rooms to be lacking?. I'm sorry, what do you want? 18th century Persian rugs? Canvas paintings by local artists? A stripper pole? Looks perfectly fine to me and while it's stark from a practical standpoint the tropical/salt climate will bring havoc to anything more (though you don't identify what that is) so as to be that in two years people are complaining that the interiors are worn and the gorgeous decorative items (which I assume you crave) are now musty, moldy, and deteriorating.

    I'm very happy to see an addition to The Maldives for Hyatt redemptions. The property looks quite lovely to me.

    1. Marc Oliver Guest

      if you compare it with the rooms at patina I think you'll get the point lucky is (rightfully) making.
      side note: the beach at patina looks really bad though (especially for the maldives). I guess it's a trade-off.

    2. DJ Guest

      Patina location seems crowded. Stayed at the Ritz in September (great property), but can see the ongoing construction of the new islands in the area along with lots of boat traffic. The third resort, Capella, is rising from the sea. Never noticed the beach to be nice at either property, the spas are excellent at both with some really unique treatments. And it's fun to be able to hop between properties for a change in dining, landscape.

    3. Marc Oliver Guest

      Hi DJ

      Thanks for your insights! We won't end up at Patina. Ultimately even a perfect bungalow cannot compensate imho an artificial island and lacklustre nature. Similar issues with RC, but I'm sure it's a great hotel (Kerry Hill's last project..).
      It just blows my mind that there are inexpensive hotels on some of the most gorgeous, picturesque islands - and vice versa. But never really a combination of both. We'll probably book either...

      Hi DJ

      Thanks for your insights! We won't end up at Patina. Ultimately even a perfect bungalow cannot compensate imho an artificial island and lacklustre nature. Similar issues with RC, but I'm sure it's a great hotel (Kerry Hill's last project..).
      It just blows my mind that there are inexpensive hotels on some of the most gorgeous, picturesque islands - and vice versa. But never really a combination of both. We'll probably book either Alila, Joali or PH but none really, really excites us tbh (maybe we're too spoiled and/or critical and maybe we'll think differently when we're there).

  8. Brodie Gold

    I booked a stay in June when reservations temporarily opened a couple weeks back. Overwater villas are a cool novelty, but after having experienced a couple I prefer beach villas and am fine that is the only thing offered during my stay. Having a pool with every room is a nice upgrade from the Park Hyatt, and will clearly cannibalize their business. Stoked that I was able to book saver F on SQ LAX-SIN to start the journey.

    1. Malcolm Guest

      If you (or any commentator) had a choice of Park Hyatt Maldives or Alila Maldives on points as a Globalist, which one will you choose? Why?

      I am primarily concerned about excursions and activities (snorkeling, seeing dolphins / turtles, richness of sea life, and learning about ecology).

      Should Hanifaru UNESCO and Baa Atoll being nearby tipped the scales to Alila?

      I am dreading the longer trip from Velana International to Park Hyatt as compared...

      If you (or any commentator) had a choice of Park Hyatt Maldives or Alila Maldives on points as a Globalist, which one will you choose? Why?

      I am primarily concerned about excursions and activities (snorkeling, seeing dolphins / turtles, richness of sea life, and learning about ecology).

      Should Hanifaru UNESCO and Baa Atoll being nearby tipped the scales to Alila?

      I am dreading the longer trip from Velana International to Park Hyatt as compared to Alila. Should that be a worry?

      I am a newbie to the Maldives! I have already book flights to Male. Just need to firm up hotel reservations for early May 2022. Thank you for your help!

    2. Vincent Hartawan Guest

      I have the same question. Would you book this resort or the park Hyatt Maldives. Thank you!

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Vincent Hartawan Guest

I have the same question. Would you book this resort or the park Hyatt Maldives. Thank you!

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Malcolm Guest

If you (or any commentator) had a choice of Park Hyatt Maldives or Alila Maldives on points as a Globalist, which one will you choose? Why? I am primarily concerned about excursions and activities (snorkeling, seeing dolphins / turtles, richness of sea life, and learning about ecology). Should Hanifaru UNESCO and Baa Atoll being nearby tipped the scales to Alila? I am dreading the longer trip from Velana International to Park Hyatt as compared to Alila. Should that be a worry? I am a newbie to the Maldives! I have already book flights to Male. Just need to firm up hotel reservations for early May 2022. Thank you for your help!

0
Malcolm Guest

What specials did you receive? As Globalist? I am getting stone-walled on getting anything complimentary (i.e. soft opening rates includes breakfast, so Globalist benefits are superfluous). Any help will be great!

0
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