For those who follow my blog you know that I live in the upper Midwest of the United States, Minnesota to be exact. And Minnesota is known for its long…cold…painfully frigid winters. It’s during the end of the winter of 2019 that I find myself planning a business trip into Mumbai in late May and early June. I was looking out my frost laden window in Minnesota while I was planning this trip and the seeds planted by my Indian colleagues finally sprouted (see previous post). Likely due to a massive vitamin D deficiency and a general irritation with the “long winter” that came. Yes, that was a sardonic reference to Game of Thrones. By the end of this winter I felt like a white walker myself and had to make plans to go somewhere warm or I might stick a spear in my own heart.
That’s it, the Maldives, right, they are only 2 hours away from Mumbai…let’s do this. Being a Marriot/SPG frequent traveler I always default to their site and check out my options. It didn’t take me long to find the St Regis Vommuli Resort…pull up my points…and book it. And for the record, they do NOT sponsor me…they should, but they don’t! Of course, I googled and YouTubed the heck out of this decision after it was made and I remember thinking, “it can’t possibly be that good”. We’ll see. About a week after my booking I received an email from my personal butler. What? A butler? Yup. There are things to take care of before your arrival that your butler will coordinate for you. Your preferences, travel schedule, transfer arrangements, etc.
The first item to prepare for is the sea plane transfer. Wait? A seaplane? Now I’m getting excited. I’ve never flown on a seaplane. To visit the Maldives, you will fly into the Velana International Airport aka: the Male International Airport on the island of Male and unless you are staying on that specific island (or one nearby) you will typically transfer via a seaplane to your resort island. It needs to be noted that the seaplane flies within a specific time frame daily for a variety of reasons so it’s highly likely that you will need temporary accommodates either to or from your final destination to accommodate the transfer and catch flights in and out. Don’t worry, this will actually be part of the fun of this trip! I usually don’t particularly like multiple transfers and such. Too many logistics to manage, but in this case…the experience end to end will have you gasping with joy. This holds true for me. Both in and out of the airport I needed to stay near the airport. Accommodation “book ends” to my trip if you will.
The St Regis has a “sister” property in the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa a short 10-minute boat ride from the airport and this is where I stayed. So, for those interested in planning a trip here, below is the itinerary sequence of my trip. It needs to be noted that all of this was supported by the St Regis butler team to ensure everything goes off without a hitch.
- Mumbai to Male, 2.5 hours direct.
- Greeted at the airport by both the St Regis and Sheraton hosts
- Speed boat from the Male airport to the Sheraton
- Boat back to the airport and greeted by the St Regis host and on to the Great Room
- Escort from the Great Room to the sea plane airport
- Sea plane to the St Regis on Vomalli Island
- Sea plane back to the island of Male and greeted by St Regis host
- Speed boat back to the Sheraton
- Speed boat back to the Airport and return home
I know this seems like a lot and I admit, as this was being planned out, I thought so too. At least, until I actually started walking it out and it’s not. As this journey unfolded I thought, I would have actually paid to do some of these transfer activities as an excursion. So, think of it that way. The journey itself is actually an excursion…hmmm…might be worth thinking that way about life in general.
Up next, the stuff I know you really want to see…the resorts, food and fun!