What might be the new best value points hotel in the Maldives has just opened…
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Radisson Blu Maldives now open
The Radisson Blu Maldives opened at the beginning of August, making it Radisson’s first property in the Maldives. Radisson Blu is Radisson’s most luxurious hotel brand. The hotel is located on Huruelhi Island, in the Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, which is about 105 kilometers from Male Velana International Airport.
Radisson Blu Maldives overhead
The Radisson Blu Maldives has 128 villas, each of which is either beachfront or overwater. The villas range in size from 215 to 790 square meters (~2,300 to ~8,500 square feet), though I would assume that includes outdoor space. Each villa features a private pool and ocean views.
Radisson Blu Maldives lobby
The Radisson Blu Maldives has an astonishing number of food & beverage outlets, including:
- Raha, an all-day dining restaurant
- Alifaan, a Mediterranean and seafood grill
- Eats & Beats, a poolside bar
- Crusoe’s, a restaurant exclusively for adults
- Kabuki, a restaurant with Nikkei cuisine
- Mahurah, an overwater wine and cigar bar
- The Lab, a restaurant with twice weekly wine-and-cocktail paired dinners
Radisson Blu Maldives beach
Getting to the Radisson Blu Maldives
The logistics of getting to hotels in the Maldives can be complicated. After landing at Male Airport, there are two ways to get to the hotel:
- You can take a 30-minute seaplane flight directly to the hotel
- You can take a 20-minute domestic flight to Maamigili Airport, followed by a 15-minute speedboat ride
Seaplanes are generally going to be easier, and they can be arranged to the resort before 3:30PM, and from the resort after 9AM. This transfer costs $450 per adult or $225 per child (up to 11 years old).
Redeeming points at the Radisson Blu Maldives
The Radisson Blu Maldives is an incredible value when redeeming points, and I’d argue it’s actually the best points value in all of the Maldives. Radisson in general lacks aspirational properties, though there’s lots to love about redeeming points here.
The Radisson Blu Maldives charges 70,000 points per night:
- Breakfast is included on points stays
- The base rooms here are overwater villas with pools
As a point of comparison, paid stays can cost nearly $1,000 including taxes and fees.
What makes this such an incredible value is that on a per point basis I value Radisson Rewards points pretty low. Personally I think they’re worth ~0.3 cents each, so to me 70,000 points are worth ~$210. That’s a phenomenal deal for an overwater villa in the Maldives.
Radisson Blu Maldives overwater villa
Radisson Blu Maldives overwater villa
While this is an incredible use of points, don’t expect this will be a budget holiday. In addition to the cost of the seaplane transfer, you can also expect food and drinks on the island to be quite expensive. Then again, with breakfast included, you don’t have to spend that much on food, necessarily.
Bottom line
While the Maldives has plenty of great hotels, it’s nice to see yet another major international hotel chain with a robust loyalty program open a property. I have hundreds of thousands of Radisson Rewards points and haven’t found many great uses for them, though this is an option that temps me.
70,000 Radisson Rewards points for an overwater villa including breakfast is a phenomenal deal, especially given that Radisson Rewards points are one of the weaker hotel currencies.
Technically Americans are allowed to travel to the Maldives right now, though as is the case with all travel regulations, that remains subject to change.
Anyone plan on checking out the Radisson Blu Maldives?
(Tip of the hat to Ariana Arghandewal)
We are staying at the Radisson blu Maldives now. Arriving yesterday to finding that our all inclusive plans is far from that. With pay required for mini bar, room service and alcohol, with this not even premium at all. Payment is required on 3 of the 7 restaurants.
These are all things we confirmed prior to arrival. We staying all inclusive resort every year. This one is lacking in quality from others in more...
We are staying at the Radisson blu Maldives now. Arriving yesterday to finding that our all inclusive plans is far from that. With pay required for mini bar, room service and alcohol, with this not even premium at all. Payment is required on 3 of the 7 restaurants.
These are all things we confirmed prior to arrival. We staying all inclusive resort every year. This one is lacking in quality from others in more than one area.
We are extremely disappointed, especially since it was a 24hr flight for us to be here. We have spoken with the management and they seem to just want to make excuses.
This place is basically a ghost town, so I see that negative reviews are the last thing you need here, and would be more willing to work something out with us.
oh wow, i was just about to book at radisson. can you please advise on the other resort you mention where price is half but quality is better.thank you
I don’t see any award date for the next 365 days. Anyone else have this problem?
WARNING: THE PLACE IS NOT WORTH STAYING EVEN FOR FREE!!
The food is most horrible at Radisson Blue .There is virtually not choice of Indian or Chinese cuisine . In breakfast you may find mixed rice or Upma . Sometimes they will make Daal rice . The Sabji is never tasty .
There is almost no corals or fishes near Radisson Reef .
The Hotels claims to be a 5 Star and charges...
WARNING: THE PLACE IS NOT WORTH STAYING EVEN FOR FREE!!
The food is most horrible at Radisson Blue .There is virtually not choice of Indian or Chinese cuisine . In breakfast you may find mixed rice or Upma . Sometimes they will make Daal rice . The Sabji is never tasty .
There is almost no corals or fishes near Radisson Reef .
The Hotels claims to be a 5 Star and charges as a five star but gives only two bottles of water per day . For extra bottle of water they charge you for water and additionally Usd 10 as delivery charge .
All room service has Usd 10 delivery charge. They bill you as "tray charge. Further add 10 % service tax and 12 % GST on it . Bills attached .
We ordered for Baileys and was shocked to see only 10 ml of bailey per servings . photos attached .
The baghi takes along time to come . Sometimes we had to wait for 30- 45 min.
We paid for full board and half board accommodation . That means all our dinner was paid. Still they made us pay Usd 275 per person for Christmas dinner ( without alcohol ) . That means the same dinner was charged two times . We would be better off if we had no taken full board and paid for meals at Hotel .
The Christmas party was boring. It got over at 10 Pm with hardly 5 couples left . photo attached with time
My daughter lost her gold and emerald ring worth Usd 3000 in hotel room. She has written thrice to hotel but no response .
The rides are very expensive at almost Usd 200 per person .
For two rooms for 4 nights , we pad almost 18,000 Usd including rides. My friends stayed in other 5 Star hotels in same time and paid half , with better food, cheaper rides. a cartoon of water in every room, multiple restaurant, better corals
@Boon thank you so much for taking your time to write your comment. I’m really sorry this happened to you it’s inexcusable, unprofessional, and downright suspicious. On the other hand I am grateful for your warning. I was going to get a Radisson credit card and start staying at Radisson properties. Now I’m rethinking my plan.
Warning: I had booked a stay at the Radisson Maldives back in June 2020, when they were running a flash sale. Booked on the official Radisson website, and the terms were to provide a credit card as a guarantee.
I then got contacted by the hotel a few weeks later, and they asked for a deposit for the full amount of the stay (US$1800+). The payment link they sent was not for the Radisson.com website,...
Warning: I had booked a stay at the Radisson Maldives back in June 2020, when they were running a flash sale. Booked on the official Radisson website, and the terms were to provide a credit card as a guarantee.
I then got contacted by the hotel a few weeks later, and they asked for a deposit for the full amount of the stay (US$1800+). The payment link they sent was not for the Radisson.com website, but for a local Maldivian bank payment portal. I objected and said that my reservation was made on their official Radisson website, and already guaranteed with a credit card, and if they wanted to charge against the credit card used to guarantee the reservation that they were welcome to, via Radisson.com.
No further email communications since then, until today. I'm about a month away from my stay, and I had emailed them asking about extending my stay by a few nights.
They then told me by they had already gone ahead and cancelled my reservation! Without confirming to me they have cancelled, nor changed the booking status on Radisson.com.
I checked the Radisson website - my reservation is still shown as active. I also checked my emails - no emails from Radisson or the resort at all with confirmation of a cancellation.
So beware if you're looking to book - looks like they don't really trust the Radisson booking system and want to get their own deposit / guarantee which is very unusual - they feel like they can cancel reservations without telling you - and their customer service looks lacking.
One week later, it looks like they realised their "mistake" and told Radisson website to cancel my reservation, now showing as cancelled. No apologies, no notification of cancellation, and when I rang them up again the reply was brusque and rude. It looks like they either don't care about customer service, or they didn't want to honour the sale rate (I was offered to rebook at current rates over the phone).
Why risk your dream holiday with Radisson? They can cancel your reservation anytime, without telling you.
Hi, did anyone actually had the opportunity to go to the Radisson Maldives. Planning a trip in December and there aren't a lot of reviews available!
I'm assuming it's just bad photography, but it seriously looks like those are tiny beds. Like, it looks like the length of the bed PLUS the ottoman at the foot of the bed would be equivalent to the length of a normal bed.
Americans please do your share and stay home, you messed the US, please help to keep the safety of the citizens from other countries.
Hi. I am planning a trip to Maldives in November from the US. I am kind of hesitant to go because of the virus. Can anyone comment if they know someone that has been there recently and how it went? Thank you
@FlyingHippo Ah thanks for pointing that out, that's a bummer. Definitely makes it more difficult to come up with the points.
@ Mario - I believe that is only in the U.K. as Radisson is not a transfer partner of Membership Rewards in the US.
Looks like Amex transfers to Radisson 3:2, are there any other transfer partners?
Not finding any availability for points. Did they disable that feature for Maldives? Sure hope not.
Ethan (and Ben), the terms for booking with points specify "Must book within 270 days of arrival".
They seem to have good availability for next spring. Playing around as if I were making a booking, I found that they charge 70.60 USD cancellation fee but allow you to cancel up to the day of check-in.
@ Lucky, seeing as travel from the US is permitted to the Maldives (currently) what are your thoughts on traveling here? Looks to be an amazing value for an overwater villa with pool - and rates in September with full board for 2 are around $611 per night. Seems like an amazing value and very tempted to jump on it.
They also have discounts on the seaplane transfers and F&B.
I don’t know that island, but the diving that close to Male is supposed to be nowhere as good as the more remote islands (hyatt or Hilton)
Maybe just bad photos, but the interior decor looks almost like a Maldives take on an airport Radisson to me, certainly far from the most luxurious-looking hotels in the Maldives. If you spend enough time outside, I'm sure you can get over that at the right price, though!
Perhaps, a good way to burn those Radisson points I collected on occasional stays in places in Europe with no major chain around. But honestly, $243 rate sounds more attractive than 70K/night. Do you guys know if reef is any good near the hotel? What else to do there except laying on a beach?
For diving and snorkeling I would rather go to private islands / eco resorts off Borneo reachable by private plane...
Perhaps, a good way to burn those Radisson points I collected on occasional stays in places in Europe with no major chain around. But honestly, $243 rate sounds more attractive than 70K/night. Do you guys know if reef is any good near the hotel? What else to do there except laying on a beach?
For diving and snorkeling I would rather go to private islands / eco resorts off Borneo reachable by private plane once Covid restrictions are over.
By the way, you can transfer the points into single account from, for example, your spouse, by calling Radisson. The transfer is instant. In the past, they also matched me to Gold based on my SPG PLT status.
These second tier reward program usually don’t guarantee no block date and all exceptional value are guaranteed to go soon, isn’t it?
@ Ethan -- That's a great question. I could be mistaken, but it appears to me that Radisson Rewards actually doesn't have any blackout dates on standard rooms. That's not to say they couldn't find a new way to restrict awards here (like creating some new room category to limit standard rooms), but as of now this is a promising opportunity.
I have the no annual fee version of USB Radisson card, and I’m interested in the 120K sign up bonus which is still available now. Does anyone know if I’m eligible? From the terms it seems like that I cannot have any Radisson CC, but want to confirm. Thanks!
Hey Lucky! I booked 3 nights using points recently when Radisson had a points sale. The hotel also had an amazing paid rate of $234 per night so we booked for 7 nights in total! We arrive on the 22nd of August - can’t wait to check it out!
@ Luis....They had a sale back in June. 240k points with max bonus for $800+.
Does Radisson sell points?
@ Luis -- Radisson does sometimes sell points, but not as frequently as Hilton, for example. The program recently sold points with a 100% bonus, which was an opportunity to buy points for 0.35 cents each.
I saw it a few days ago. Have the Biz card that earn 5 points per $. So I can get a free night for every 14k spend. Crazy compared to Hilton 30-40k spend and Marriott 40-50k non bonus spend with their cards for a free night.
How do you earn these points though?
@ Ryan -- I signed up for a Radisson Card many years ago. In addition to the welcome bonus, the card offers an annual bonus of 40,000 points when you pay the $75 annual fee. I've had the card for well over five years, so the points have really racked up, even with limited activity.
@ Ben -- WOW. This is now the only Radisson hotel I desire to visit, and it is an amazing value for certain!