Hilton Amingiri Resort & Spa
Malé 08540, Maldives
Hilton Amingiri Resort is located on a small island in the Indian Ocean, about 20 minutes speed-boat ride from Male International Airport. It is a very new resort having opened only in 2022. One of the biggest selling points of this resort is that the overwater villas book as a Standard Award making for an exceptional redemption option for Hilton Free Night certificates. The other big selling point is that all villas (including the overwater bungalows) come with its own private pool!! The points required for a free night fluctuates by season. At the time of the booking, the overwater villas were going for 110,000 Hilton HHonors points per night. We were lucky to have 6 free night certificates that we used to book 2 villas for 3 nights.
I landed at Male International Airport in the morning from India. My wife’s flight from London was delayed by 3 hours and so I requested the Hilton Representative to take my parents to the resort and ensure they get assigned a villa rather than wait in the lobby. He assured that they will not have to wait for me to check in (both villas were in mine and my wife’s name).
After me and my wife arrived at the resort, the manager met with us and explained some of the benefits and assigned us a concierge for the entirety of our stay. Each room gets assigned a concierge who basically communicates various events going on at the resort along with transporting you to different parts of the resort on a golf cart. Pretty neat!!
Our concierge Hassan drove us on the buggy all over the resort for an introductory tour. We went to the Aura Pool Bar along with one of the main restaurants, the Habitat Restaurant.
The interior of the villa is very spacious, has very nice wooden flooring. The glass bottom on the floor is actually very sturdy glass and no fear of standing on it.
The pool is a big enough for doing some short laps and the temperature was a few degrees warmer than the ocean, which meant we spent quite a bit of time in the pool :).
The patio also had steps providing access to the open ocean. There is also a decent privacy partition between the adjacent villas.
With Hilton Diamond status, all 4 of us were able to get complimentary breakfast at the Habitat Restaurant. There was a wide variety of food such as Chinese, Indian, Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, Western etc. We had a great time sampling different types of food. Here are a few of the things we tried.
As Hilton Diamond member, we also got complimentary alcoholic beverages during Happy Hour at the Sip Lounge between 4 PM and 5 PM.
Thumbs up:
- Even overwater villas with private pools book as standard award so excellent redemption option for those with free Hilton Night certificates. Usually at other resorts with Hilton or other program you need a cash copay to upgrade to the overwater villas.
- All rooms in the resort have their own private pool.
- Wide variety of food at the breakfast buffet in Habitat Restaurant.
- 20 minutes speed-boat transfers ensure you pay much less on transfer charges compared to other resort with sea-plane transfers.
Thumbs down:
- Maldives is very expensive but then we already know that before arriving at the resort. The tab will add up very fast for even a short stay.
- Most of the beaches are rocky with broken sea shells and dead coral, so make sure to bring water shoes.