Discounts on hotels in the Maldives: how and when to book a vacation

In the off -season, even the cost of five-star resorts can be reduced by 50%, and on post-holiday days - by 20%. Catch instructions on how to inexpensively relax in luxury hotels in the Maldives.

Hotel prices in different seasons

Now it is more budgetary to book your holiday in the Maldives on your own online, catching yourself a great offer. The season of discounts comes in the summer: you can find a good hotel with a discount of up to 50%. And most resorts provide discounts of 10-20% even in winter, when the weather is fine in the Maldives . You can count on good discounts in January at the end of the New Year and Christmas holidays, as many tourists tend to relax just for the holidays. And in the post-holiday period, many hotels offer discounts of 20-30%... You can also get a significant discount of 20% if you book a hotel early if you plan your trip a year in advance.

Depositphotos

Up to 45%: examples of discounts

Let's see how discounts work in practice. On the wiotto.com service, in the “special offers and discounts” section for December 2022, we see promotional offers from 8% to 29% on the eve of the New Year holidays. If you book in September-October.

• So, one of the most youthful and fashionable hotels in the Maldives YOU & ME by Cocoon Maldives is offering a 20% discount for 2 adults for 7 nights for $3655 ( Half Board ) in November. With full board, the cost increases by $791. In this case, the discount applies to the overwater villa.
• Sometimes the discount can reach 30% or more. For example, the luxurious five-star hotel Naladhu Maldives is offering a holiday week from December 29th to January 2nd for two adults with a 29% discount. Pool villa with private butler, full board. The total cost is $23,700. This exclusive discount gives you the opportunity to save $9404.
• You can count on good discounts from May. For example, in the five-star Komandoo Island Resort cost for a stay for two for 7 nights in a beach villa will be $ 2437 - Full board. Discount - $767.

Naladhu Maldives

Types of hotels in the Maldives: what to look for

Maldives hotels are divided into 2 main categories. Luxurious hotels from brochures and hotels on local islands.

• Resort hotels occupy the whole island. After all, the Maldives adhere to the concept of one island - one resort. It is these hotels that are known from advertising brochures about the Maldives.
• Guesthouses and hotels on local islands are small hotels and private guest houses that are more budgetary, but will not give a luxury holiday. Naturally, the cost of a resort hotel is several times more expensive than a modest guesthouse.

Komandoo Island Resort

What determines the cost of the hotel

Prices for hotels in the Maldives depend on many parameters. Here are some of them:

• Villa type. Almost all the islands of the Maldives have two types of accommodation: water villas located on stilts over the Indian Ocean and coastal bungalows built right on the beach line or surrounded by tropical gardens. As a rule, the cost of water villas is always more expensive than coastal ones. Sometimes even twice. For example, at the Bandos resort Maldives day All inclusive at a beach villa cost about $600, and a water villa will cost $1300.
• The location of the villa. A villa with garden access is cheaper than a villa overlooking the turquoise Indian Ocean.
• The star rating of the hotel. Naturally, a five-star hotel is more expensive than a 4- and 3-star hotel. But even fives are different: some hotels offer luxury holidays on the "ultra all inclusive" or premium system all inclusive.
• Private pool and villa size. In most hotels you will find villas with a private pool, jacuzzi, bathtub with panoramic views. It also matters the number of rooms and little things that give extra comfort. For example, an outdoor shower on the terrace, spaciousness, round the clock service.
• Nutrition. That is what sets the budget for the entire holiday. After all, the difference between a breakfast room and all inclusive can differ by several hundred or even thousands of dollars. The Maldives offers several dining options. However, it may not be profitable to pay separately for lunches and dinners: after all, in hotel restaurants a bottle of mineral water costs about $5.

When self-booking, you can meet the following meal options:

• Breakfast - only breakfast is included.
• Half board - two meals. For example, lunch and dinner or breakfast and dinner, without serving drinks.
• Half board Plus - light snacks or drinks are served throughout the day.
• Full board - three meals a day as a boarding house, without drinks.
• Full board Plus - three meals a day, as well as additional drinks and snacks throughout the day.
• All inclusive - the price includes full meals and drinks throughout the day, as well as, as a rule, alcohol.
• Premium all inclusive - round-the-clock serving of food and drinks in restaurants, plus additional bonuses in the form of alcohol from world brands.
• Infrastructure Features. Having an underwater spa will add value to a hotel stay, as will an underwater restaurant or Michelin -starred restaurants.
• House reef. In some hotels, it can be quite far away and you need to get to it by boat. But in others, after 10-20 m you can see the edge of the reef. This also affects the cost.

Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa

What to consider when booking: taxes and transfer

An inexperienced traveler who is booking a hotel in the Maldives for the first time may not even suspect that the price of the hotel on the booking site is not final. At the initial stage of booking on many services, not all fees and payments are visible. After all, the Maldives has high taxes, which online platforms often do not immediately display. The cost of tax per day in a five-star hotel can even reach thousands of dollars for two. In budget hotels, the amount of tax is much less.

• In the Maldives, when booking a hotel, there is a state tax, which is 12%. In addition, hotels sometimes include a service fee, about 10%: it all depends on the hotel. Tourist tax is obligatory: $6 per day. As a result, the traveler should be prepared to shell out more than 20% of the cost of living. Many online services do not include these taxes in the price of the room or villa. Or indicate them in small print, adding that such an amount must be paid upon arrival. Important: on WIOTTO.COM all taxes and fees are already included in the price. No fees upon arrival.
• Transfer is another costly item for a holiday in the Maldives. The vast majority of international flights arrive in the capital of the Republic of Maldives, Male. Further, tourists are transported to the hotels and islands on which they have chosen. The cost of the transfer depends on the distance of the island from Male. Tourists are offered a speedboat, seaplane and local airlines. The cheapest are state ferries, but they carry only to local islands where locals live. To resort islands, depending on the distance, the transfer can cost from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand in two directions. After all, you will have to fly to remote islands by plane or seaplane, and the flight takes about an hour. On online platforms, transfers are usually not included in the price of the hotel: you will need to pay extra for it separately upon arrival. However, there are sites such as WIOTTO where taxes and transfers are already included in the price, which is convenient for self-booking villas in the Maldives. The final price is visible, and there is no need for additional payments upon arrival at the place.
• For example, a five-star hotel provides a group transfer by speedboat. The journey takes 25 minutes, and the transfer costs about $130 round trip per person. A 4-star hotel that needs to be reached by seaplane will cost $360 USD per way per person. Interestingly, a transfer to resort islands can be cheaper than an independent one. Transfer by boat to an inexpensive guesthouse. After all, hotels organize group transfers, picking up several tourists from the airport at once.

Hurawalhi Island Resort

How to make your holiday in the Maldives cheaper

Depending on many factors, discounts on hotels can reach 50% off-season. Often it depends on the demand for a particular hotel.

Hotels arrange promotions, make special offers. For example, the settlement of children for free or one night as a gift. There are great deals on early booking: a room will cost less if you book it before a specific date. It is convenient to search for discounts on hotels in the Maldives on wiotto.com. There is a separate section with promotional offers that are relevant at the time of the search, which will help reduce the cost of your vacation.

• It is worth remembering that in some resorts in the Maldives you cannot book only one night. It happens that the minimum booking duration is 3-5 nights.
• Use flexible search. Sometimes it is worth checking into a hotel a week earlier than the chosen date and you can save several hundred dollars, or even thousands.
• Choose different rest periods. The cost of 4 nights can cost as much as a week's stay. Everything is individual.

Hard Rock Hotel Maldives

How to book a hotel on your own

Booking a hotel on the site is easy. It is enough to use the search form to find the hotel of your dreams.

• Transfer, accommodation options and the price difference between them is immediately displayed. The price includes all taxes. You can choose the proposed transfer options and their cost. The traveler immediately sees all payments related to booking a villa in the Maldives.
• It is convenient to filter hotels based on your own preferences. Favorite resorts can be sent to favorites, so that you can track price changes and compare results.
• It is advantageous to sort hotels by the size of the discount. Now the maximum discount offered by hotels is 30%. On average, hotel discounts in the Maldives are 10-20%.
• You can sort hotels based on the atoll where they are located, the number of stars, choose the type of room: water villa, water villa with pool, beach villa, beach villa with pool.
• If you are going on vacation with a large family or company, indicate the number of bedrooms.
• Choose the right type of food.
• Transfer type. If you are traveling with small children, it is much more convenient to choose an island hotel near Male to quickly get there by speedboat. And for a vacation away from everyone at the end of the world, choose a seaplane that will take you to distant atolls.
• Entertainment in the hotel. For example, for families with children, a kids club is important, and for young people, nightclubs and a vibrant nightlife are important. For an elite holiday, you should choose hotels with a 24-hour butler service. You can also choose the sports activities that you would like to see in the hotel.
• Can't imagine your life without a smartphone and posting videos and photos? Check the free wifi box to always be in touch.
• Fans of vivid photos can choose hotels with overwater hammocks, underwater restaurants, glass floors through which you can view the fish.
• Hotels can be sorted based on the cost, indicating the lowest or highest. And also build them based on the best discounts that are relevant at the moment.
• Reviews of tourists are displayed for each hotel. We advise you to familiarize yourself with them.
• Next, we move on to a detailed study of the hotels we like and information about them. We carefully read the description: the type of accommodation, rooms, restaurants, infrastructure, and entertainment are described in detail. Each hotel offers several types of villas and each has its own price.
• Power type. As we have already mentioned, the final cost of the room largely depends on it. For example, in the five-star hotel Baglioni Resort Maldives vacation in a water villa will cost $ 611 on breakfast for two for three days. The cost of a similar holiday with half board meals is $1072, full board is $1479. The Preferred Package costs more than $2,000, which is three times the price of a breakfast break. To save money, it is worth weighing which type of food is right for you.

Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa

Pros and cons of self-booking

The main advantage of self-booking is that the tourist monitors prices and can choose the most profitable option. It is always safer to book accommodation in the Maldives on trusted services such as wiotto.com. The service has direct contacts with hoteliers and partners in the Maldives, showing all kinds of discounts and special offers in the catalog.