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Starwood St. Regis Vommuli, Maldives, To Open Next Year
Miles & Points collectors may have a new aspirational resort to aim for from 2016 – The St. Regis Vommuli Resort. I used the word “may” in that sentence for good reason, but that will come later.
I’ll tell you a bit more about the resort in a moment but, first, just take a look at the bar!
It looks fantastic!
Dispensing with practicalities (like where’s all the shade going to be for those who want to sit there in the middle of the day? – umbrellas will just look ugly) this looks like a beautiful place to relax. Out of all the bars in the world, this is now, officially, the bar I most want to visit.
The resort itself is situated on the private island of Vommuli in the Dahaalu Atol – a 40 minute seaplane ride from Malé.
In brief, the resort will include:
- 77 luxurious private villas (all of which appear to be over-water)
- A spa
- An infinity swimming pool
- A fitness & yoga studio
- 4 restaurants & a bar
- Dive & activity center
It will be interesting to see if this resort will be bookable using Starwood’s Starpoints or if it will be another example of a Starwood property where award availability is less common than a unicorn, ridden by a leprechaun, walking up a rainbow.
Taking another Starwood Maldives property as an example:
There is currently zero award availability at the W Retreat & Spa, Maldives, between today and the end of 2016 (the booking calendar doesn’t go any further!). The same is true of the ultra-luxurious St. Regis Bora Bora, the St. Regis Bali and the W Retreat Koh Samui (I’m sure I could probably find more examples if I had the time or inclination).
Ravi Appasamy, managing director of Residency Resorts Malé (Residency Resorts own the property, Starwood will manage it) is quoted as saying:
“The brand’s allure, coupled with Starwood’s powerful loyalty programme, is sure to entice affluent travellers to visit this enchanting destination.” (bolding is mine)
Let’s hope the resort remembers that an award program only remains “powerful” if participants can redeem their points for places they truly want to visit.
The St. Regis Vommuli will, without doubt, be a SPG Category 7 resort (unless they create a new, higher category before it opens) and so will cost 30,000 – 35,000 Starpooints per night. If it turns out that award nights are made available, this will become one of the most sought after redemptions out there. It will join the Park Hyatt Maldives and the Intercontinental Bora Bora as a “must visit” resort. I confess that I’ll be trying my best to get there as soon as I can!
The Resort is scheduled to open 1 April 2016 (according to the Starwood website) but be prepared for that date to be moved around.
Images courtesy of BusinessWire.com
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