Danke für das Lob. Als Diamond habe ich ein Zimmer Upgrade auf einen Pearl Club Room erhalten, sonst keine Benefits. Im Pearl Club waren bei meinem Besuch andere Gäste und das Personal nicht wirklich begeistert von der Filmerei - daher nur der kurze Überblick.

@@flonass und wie war dort das angebot im pearlclub, aso dachte dass es nicht möglich sei via upgrade pearl club zu bekommen.

@@ThomasFrey-th7lh und das ist korrekt. man erhält zwar ein Upgrade in einen Pearl Club Room, aber eigentlich nicht den damit verbundenen Zutritt zum Pearl Club. Den kann man sich dann für 1200 AED pro Tag kaufen

it's a good choice for a 2-3 nights city trip if you are a Hilton Honors Diamond member and can make use of the executive lounge. staff is very friendly and provides great service

First, options and selection is lacking a lot, and most importantly: quality. At a hotel of this class / brand name I do not expect to have to build my own eggs benedict from the buffet where the poached eggs have been sitting all morning 13:10, for instance. Oh, and coffee is simply served from a cheap mass market office machine, whereas one could expect some barrista style high quality machine, plus the cup of coffee to be served and decorated with a tad of love. If you ask for something "individual", such as an iced cappuccino, it never came, maybe because there is no button for it on said machine... No freshly made pancakes, french toasts, fried eggs on order etc. No freshly pressed juices either. Generally, no innovation, no unique highlights. The WA just provides the basics and does so in a simple, mediocre way. For a recent comparison, check out my video of the Conrad Abu Dhabi, which overall felt far more upscale than the WA. Or the Conrad Dubai, where they had freshly made sushi and a chocolate fountain for example. The best hotel breakfast that I ever had was at the Conrad Koh Samui (where they farm, harvest and smoke their produce) and Hilton Amingiri.

@@flonass you raise interesting issues. I don’t drink coffee but I do know that in the Pearl Club they bring my wife different coffees not from the machine. The main buffet has DEFINITELY had a chef making up individual eggs to order on our three stays ?? I’ve never stayed anywhere that offers sushi for breakfast, certainly something I would never want. My wife is gluten free so the chefs always make her food separate and that has included pancakes. I will definitely check out your other videos.

it's easy to demonstrate the differences in selection and variety in a video, but it's more difficult to convey the quality of food (or lack thereof). One criteria to me is freshness and at the WA, things like egg dishes, pancakes, french toast are not freshly prepared. Same with juices (compare to the juice bar at the Conrad Abu Dhabi which is great and a Conrad is not meant to be as luxurious as a WA). Regarding eggs: there is a chef making omelettes (and omelettes only) at the egg station of the buffet: 12:21. However, he will hand out a plate with the omelette to you. This is fine and every DoubleTree, Hilton, Embassy Suites, etc. will offer the very same thing (even in the US). From a Waldorf Astoria, especially in Europe, or in Arabic and Asian countries, I would expect my omelette to be brought to my table once it's done or that I could order it from a waiter (service). Plus the plate should be nicely decorated. If it's just about the eggs, yes it's eggs. But that's where a luxury hotel should differ from a basic hotel: freshness, quality and presentation. Btw, the latter is something that can be clearly seen in the videos too, and at the WA the buffet decoration is just loveless. Which again is fine if you only want to satisfy your hunger, but it's not what can be expected from a luxury branded hotel. Instead of fishing poached eggs from a container and building my eggs benedict, I really expect a chef to prepare them freshly. And at such a hotel, it would be nice if they asked, whether I would like them with ham, smoked samon, pulled beef brisket, or if I had any other wishes... I hope you get my point And you are right, executive lounges and similar establishments can (and should) provide a more individual service. Overall, I would not be surprised if the hotel had been called "DoubleTree by Hilton Dubai The Palm", except for maybe the design and materials used in the rooms, and the Pearl Club.

I'm happy you find this video helpful, enjoy your stay!

I'm glad you like the video. Snorkelling is an amazing experience at Ellaidhoo, and I can recommend swimming outside the barrier where the reef is located. You would totally miss out if you didn't! That being said, it's the open sea, so there might be waves and currents and you would have to stay alert of approaching vessels near the port. Regarding accomodation, yes, it's a little dated and certainly not a high end hotel, but meticulously clean and the staff is very friendly. There's food options for every taste and no complaints regarding the quality. I will definitely return, but primarily because of the reef. Have a great stay!

True. and soon a new ship, the Emerald Kaia will join the fleet

Thanks for the feedback. I must say it was probably the best breakfast quality- wise that I ever had in a hotel. They cultivate, harvest and smoke themselves and give tours through their farm. You should check out my most recent video about the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm, where the breakfast was a joke.

I'm happy you enjoyed the video. Quick question that is not easy to answer :-) Both hotels met and exceeded my expectation in terms of service quality and staff professionalism. However, I found the check-in experience at the Conrad Abu Dhabi more personal and welcoming. The key difference is the design language of the hotels, the Conrad Abu Dhabi has brighter colours which I personally prefer, but that's individual taste. Another difference is the all-day lounge at the Conrad Dubai, with breakfast, soft drinks, coffee and snacks throughout the day, and an evening happy hour, compared to the Conrad Abu Dhabi with a happy hour in the evening. Maybe the chocolate fountain at breakfast at the Conrad Dubai will convince you? For Abu Dhabi, the Conrad certainly is the best choice (maybe the Mandarin Oriental..), but in Dubai there are many more options across different brands. I have not been to the Waldorf Astoria in Dubai DIFC yet, but given my two latest experiences at the WA Dubai Palm Jumeirah and WA Berlin, I am not too keen on that brand to be honest... to the extent that I decided not to visit the WA Maldives either, but chose another branded hotel for one of my next trips there.

Thank you so much for your kind words! I am glad that you enjoyed the video and find it helpful! There is no lounge per se, but you are invited to the nahaam restaurant in the evening and can enjoy the buffet and free drinks and cocktails for 2 hours. You can see it from timestamp 19:12 onwards. Food quality was excellent, especially the brisket and the caramel cake! The service staff is top notch with attention to detail. For example, you get up, go to the buffet just briefly and return to your table, you will find your napkins replaced and carefully folded. It's the little things that are taken care of, too. Enjoy your stay!

@@flonass Thank you so much for your helpful recommendations! I truly appreciate it. I will be going there in September and can't wait, and especially after your video 😀

@@shahnawazfarid enjoy your stay!

so true

The wind usually picks up quite significant in November, but it was still comfortable to swim during the day - it can be a little chill coming out of the water in the early morning. At the beach, there are wind shelters around the sun loungers

@@flonass thank you, then will chose October 😏

I am glad you like the video. Enjoy your stay!

these staff members should be trained to be reserved, discrete and not pushing. The Conrad is a good example of what I dislike about a hotel: mostly untrained / badly trained staff (there are exceptions) and lots and lots of other guests, so it's really busy. wrong hotel in the right place

very easy. some smaller corals and fish are right at the beach access, most of it is just outside the concrete barrier

@@flonass that's cool!

glad you like it

I keep hearing the same thing about this resort

it's true

@@flonassThank you for highlighting this

there is seaplane traffic to consider and most important: other guests. While I am always cautious, use multiple apps for air traffic and fly far away from people at times when I won't disturb nobody, I have had drones flying right at me while I was sitting on the deck in swim wear (different island tho)

no, from my experience, only older Conrads (established for more than 10+ years, where this was still a thing) will hand out stuffed toys.

@@flonass Thanks for the reply. Sad, that they don't have one. However, only 4 or 5 Conrads worldwide don't provide a stuffed toy - at Rabat I wasn't sure, yet.

@@GaJaDreams That's interesting, I only know of 4 Conrads that do have them! London, Koh Samui, Tokyo and Bangkok (tiny) and apparently Hong Kong, however I have not been there. No toys in the US, Mexico, Maldives, Bali, Bora Bora, Europe, Turkey, Egypt and formerly Colombia...

I'm glad you enjoyed the video

I suppose if you stay at a hostel or Motel 6 you're used to rooms that are beat up and in disrepair. For the caliber of this hotel brand, a Conrad should not have issues like this.

it's a disgrace for the Conrad brand to offer such rooms, especially to loyal Diamond members. Mistakes happen, but if they promise to clean the room, and still don't so I have to do it myself. what's the point in having room service at all? Service quality was lacking in general (of course there were exceptions!), wrong hotel and staff in the right place

I think you forget where you are on the freaking planet. Do you know that its not easy for hotels in maldives to take everything that clean you all would like to have too? Its a tropical island everywhere there. Do you know how local people live? Its nice that u say it. But im sure you will not sit everyday in front of the wall watching.. so who cares? Still will never understand the complain. Im sorry.​@@flonass

@@sriyalathasilva9234 strangely enough, other hotels manage to clean & maintain rooms properly before new guests arrive and keep their beaches in order without plastic bags and big metal pipes in people's faces on sun loungers. All of this applies to the 2nd island of the Conrad hotel as shown in the video. but the state of main island is a disgrace in many parts

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Hochzeit. Mich freut es, dass das Video gut ankommt, und euch bei der Entscheidung für eure Reise hilft.

@@flonass Danke für die nette Antwort. Wir sind etwas verunsichert, da man uns inzwischen von der Gegend/Umgebung abgeraten hat. Soll alles recht marode und baufällig rund um das Hotel sein, bzw. ist Skaleta generell eher nicht so schön... Wie war dahingehend denn Ihr Eindruck, wenn ich noch mal fragen darf?

@@Waldrapp78 die nähere Umgebung sieht man ja auf einigen Luftaufnahmen. Dass vieles außerhalb der Hotelanlagen und auf dem Land baufällig (bzw. nicht zu ende gebaut) ist, ist überall im Mittelmeerraum so. Am besten Google Maps Street View bemühen für einen Eindruck. Rethymnon ist ein netter kleiner Hafenort in der Nähe

just be careful with the timing of the morning trip to Maya Bay and make sure you arrive at high tide. it's horrible without sunlight and low tide

@@flonass Oh didn’t know that. Low/high tides is something that does not immediately pop in someone’s mind.. especially tourists 🤣🤣 Thank you! 👍

The rooms are not sound proof at all. Don't think about sleeping before 3 or 4 am. I would not stay there again for this reason and if I ever went back to Phi Phi, then I'd probably stay at the SAii

you might think so. feels very exclusive

Next time I would probably try the SAii.

@@flonass but the SAii is on other side of the island. It might be too quiet

@@mancunianinlondon can never be too quiet for a good night's sleep :-)

of course, that's what the Internet is for :)

thanks!

can't wait to go back there!

Make sure you take this offer, it's exceptional

Possibly still asleep or at the restaurants, as I always try to not invade other guests' privacy and wouldn't like to be on someone else's holiday video myself.

No, there is no executive lounge at this DoubleTree

Tides vary depending on the moon. You can google for a tide calendar and enter Phuket as location. No issue with carts at all, available 24/7. I needed one myself at 5 in the morning and it took only a few minutes to pick me up

Congratulations, enjoy your trip!

glad you like it!

Super, dass Dir das Video gefällt. Die Zimmer mit eigenem Pool werden wohl gerade gebaut und gab es letztes Jahr noch nicht. Mehr als Renderings konnte ich auch nicht finden. Aber wenn, dann würden sich natürlich die Zimmer im Erdgeschoss anbieten (z.B. unten links bei 3:24), was jedoch ein wenig schade wäre, da man bisher von dort aus über die Terrasse direkt zur Liegewiese und Strand gehen konnte. Bin in jedem Fall gespannt. Berichte gerne, wenn du da warst. Schönen Urlaub!

@@flonass Vielen Dank :-) ich werd hier was reinschreiben, sobald wir dann wieder aus dem Urlaub zurück sind! :-)

hi, i am looking to book the private pool room. Do you have any update on the private pool room?

hi how was the stay in the room with a private pool?

@@fchdome08 Habt ihr ein Update zum Zimmer mit Private Pool? Danke

Enjoy your holiday!

Definitely the Hilton Amingiri. This hotel is a true gem in the Maldives. Hotel looks and feels more like a Conrad than the actual Conrad. Service was amazing, heart-warming and foresightful - without being pushing. If you are looking for top notch service, great rooms and a relaxing, calm & quiet stay with the occasional snorkelling, the Hilton would be your choice. The Conrad Rangali to me is the wrong hotel in the right location. Service was a disappointment (of course, there were exceptions), nowhere near on a par with the staff at the Hilton Amingiri. And as you can see in my video, if you are unlucky you are put in a run-down room at first. Some beaches are nice, some are not. The hotel is bustling. No much private space and it does not feel as exclusive as the Hilton. Lots of families. If you prefer action, want to have nature at its best (manta rays, plankton), then the Conrad may be the better choice.

@@flonassis there any entertainment on the Hilton aminigari property? I booked because of this comment lol🎉

@@mizzmiami3242 I would describe it as relaxed entertainment. DJ / live music by the pool in the early evening. There is a screen (video wall) next to the pool, too.

We were upgraded to a Beach villa with pool last time we stayed. All paid for using Hilton points, free breakfasts on Hilton gold,- all in the bill inc sea plane & F&B 1.3k gbp 👍