The St Regis Maldives Great Room Lounge Review

Posted By Jon Nickel-D'Andrea on Jul 4, 2019 | 2 comments

Without a doubt, the St Regis Maldives is THE place to be for miles and points enthusiasts. At over $3,000 a night, staying in a luxury resort has never been a better deal with points and miles. The luxury experience starts from the moment you land at the airport and doesn’t end until you’re dropped back off.

Our $46,000 vacation to the Maldives for only $1,818

• Part 1 – Introduction and Planning
• Part 2 – Flights to London and Hamilton
• Part 3 – Refined Luxury London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
• Part 4a – The House Lounge, London Heathrow
• Part 4b – Etihad First Class Apartment LHR-AUH
• Part 4c – Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi
• Part 4d – A340 Etihad to Male, Flight Review
• Part 5 – A day in the life of Male, Capital City
• Part 6 – St Regis Airport Lounge
• Part 6b – Trans Maldivian Seaplane Ride
• Part 7 – The St Regis Hotel Arrival Experience
• Part 8 – Overwater Villa, $3000/night for FREE
• Part 9 – Things to do at the St Regis Maldives
• Part 10 – Free Breakfast at the St Regis Maldives
• Part 11 – How to not go broke eating in the Maldives
• Part 12 – Snorkeling at the St Regis Maldives
• Part 13 – Male Airport VIP experience
• Part 14 – Emirates First Class Male to Dubai
• Part 15 – Dubai Transit Hotel – Amazing Value
• Part 16 – Emirates First Class Dubai to Los Angeles
• Part 17 – Conclusion and Giveaway

Mention the Maldives and images of pristine turquoise blue waters come to mind. Overwater bungalows with direct jump-in access to the water and romantic sunsets are commonplace in this island paradise.

While it’s on almost everyone’s wish list, getting there can be a challenge. Flights are often ridiculously expensive and once you DO get to the islands, a barrage of expensive hotels with overpriced meals await. Never mind the flight distance involved, those expensive factors are enough to turn some people off and have them looking for cheaper destinations.

Lonely Palm Tree

Getting to paradise and back doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We booked a ridiculous, normally unattainable luxury vacation valued at almost $46,000 for a grand total of $1,818… for two people!

Considering that’s usually the price of a regular coach class ticket to the Maldives, that’s one heck of a steal.

In the series of posts to follow, we’re going to walk you through all the experiences that we enjoyed on this trip. While most people would consider this once-in-a-lifetime, with just a little legwork and dedication you can have a luxury getaway to make Instagram followers drool with envy.

As mentioned in our last post, we spent the night in the Hotel Jen Maldives. They were in constant communication with the St Regis to help us arrange the transfer so we literally didn’t have to lift a single finger. Both hotels made the connections seamless and effortless, which is exactly what I want with a vacation!

Ferry Transfer Hotel Jen Male

Check In for the Flight

Upon being dropped off in the speedboat back at the airport, the St Regis butlers were there to make sure that we were well taken care of.

They insisted on taking our luggage and immediately brought us over to the the Trans Maldivian Airlines counter. Now, it should be noted that there is a limit on weight to your luggage. Please be advised that all your luggage will be weighed and tagged with its weight so if you’re over, you’re in trouble.

You’re allowed a max of 25 KG for checked AND hand luggage per person. My tactics? I put heavy stuff (like my power bank) in my pockets of my shorts until they got weighed, then they went right back in my bag. Free kilos for everyone!

As soon as the bags were weighed and dropped off we were escorted with one other couple over to the St Regis limousine. Yes, you can’t possibly be bothered with walking to the terminal. They’ll bring you in a giant van, complete with air conditioning, fancy bottled water, and WIFI in the van!

We got in the van/limo and we were offered a cold towel. It was SO refreshing, in stark contrast to the heat and humidity of the islands.

Ben needed a rest!

And yes, we had this entire thing to ourselves. The other couple? They got their own car 🙂

Please sir, come right this way!

The St Regis has their own lounge at the airport with direct access to the sea planes. Everything was taken care of from the moment we showed up. The only thing that we needed to do was RELAX!

The decorations inside the lounge were gorgeous. Seating areas were everywhere, with tables for couples and couches for families. Satellite TV was streaming news from the US or sports from around the world.

St Regis Maldives Great Room

There was a small area with mini fridges to be able to snag a drink (or grab 5 to take with you to the resort, just saying…) and some books to read and pass the time. Does anyone actually read these?

We sat on the inside (remember, air conditioning?) and the lounge butler came over to give us an iPad with a message from our resort butler, Ubad. It was personalized for us, and he let us know that he was preparing everything for our arrival!

St Regis Maldives Butler

Might I suggest that you take advantage of all the free food that you can while on this trip? Everything in the Great Room was free of charge, from coffee to juices, water, food, sandwiches, breakfast options, etc. Fill up now, cause it’s gonna cost you on the island!

We ordered a cappuchno, spicy tuna cake, and some homemade cake.

St Regis Maldives Great Room Food

The staff had something else in mind, however. They knew it was my birthday, so all of a sudden HAPPY BIRTHDAY blasted over the speaker.

More cake and some passion fruit awaited!

Freshen Up

The bathrooms are just past the entrance, and if you’ve just come in from a long flight, you can even book the shower suite. They have a shower facility available for you before you get to the island, because how DARE you arrive smelling like an airplane cabin to the fabulous hotel!

There really is no better way to relax before your hotel trip and after a long flight than in this lounge. It’s really a fantastic way to chill after you just flew in on an international flight and start to get a little bit of hospitality. Before you know it, the sea plane is ready to take you to paradise.