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The JW Marriott Maldives is scheduled to open in August 2019 and is taking reservations from September 15, 2019 onward. The good news for points collectors is that the standard room is an overwater villa. That means you can book those villas for 85K points per night. The Maldives obviously isn’t a destination for everyone, but if it’s your thing then a brand new overwater villa might also fit the bill.
JW MARRIOTT MALDIVES RESORT & SPA basic info
- Location: Vagaru Island, Shaviyani Atoll, Maldives
- Hotel chain: Marriott
- Point price: 85K per night standard. Category 8 hotel (85K standard, 70K off-peak, 100K peak). Book 5 nights for the price of 4.
- Platinum Elite perks: Presumably a welcome gift of 1,000 points or daily breakfast for 2.
- Resort fee: None (but the sea plane transfer is $600 per person)
- Closest airport: Male, Maldives (MLE) airport. The Resort is located 192km’s north of the airport. Access is only by a 55-minute scenic direct seaplane flight (cost = $600 per person) or alternatively a 30-minute domestic flight, plus transfer by luxury speedboat.
- Notable because: The Overwater Pool Villa shown above is bookable as a standard room for 85K points per night.
Quick Thoughts
The JW Marriott Maldives is not the first hotel to make overwater villa/bungalow rooms available as “standard” booking options: the Conrad Maldives has also offered overwater bungalows as standard rooms for quite some time now. With the Waldorf-Astoria opening soon and the range of Marriott properties now available in the Maldives in addition to the Park Hyatt Maldives, there are tons of points options.
Of course, you still need to get from the airport to the hotel, which is a pricey endeavor with any of these properties. The seaplane transfer to the JW Marriott will cost $600 per person, so this isn’t something cost-effective if you’re looking to book for just a night or two. However, if you’re flush with Marriott points and are planning on a trip to the Maldives, this might be a good option.
On the other hand, if you have the Amex Hilton Aspire card, you might consider the Conrad since you could (theoretically) use your annual resort credit towards the sea plane transfer. Read more about that here. Maybe that’s possible with the Bonvoy Brilliant card also?
At any rate, I guess it’s fun to see another luxury option in a bucket-list destination for those planning luxury trips like this.
H/T: One Mile at a Time
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