After traveling what seemed like forever, Mr. Jones and I arrived at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. We used Hilton Honors Award Points for this once-in-a-lifetime trip to paradise, during the week of U.S. Thanksgiving in 2012.
The Conrad Maldives resort is spread across two private islands joined by a footbridge across a turquoise blue lagoon with guest accommodations in either beach villas or over-water villas.
We stayed in a spacious beach villa on Rangalifinolhu Island, the larger island with many of the amenities.
Each villa has its own beachfront access.
While the toilet and the sinks are inside the compound, the shower is in an outdoor section of the enclosed compound, along with a huge outdoor whirlpool.
Typical of Conrad resorts, there was a box of artful and delicious chocolates in our villa.
The Conrad Maldives has an underground wine cellar that’s located 6 feet below sea level with 20,000 bottles of wines.
We attended the special wine dinner in the underground cellar with ten other guests. Sitting around a dining table with the chef and sommelier, we enjoyed a five-course meal along with eight different wines.
The sommelier was superb in his knowledge and his presentation skills. He tested the group’s ability to identify wines served in black glasses.
We all failed the test, but enjoyed the wine, the food, and meeting other wine-loving guests from around the world.
After traveling so far, we woke early each morning, which was lucky because the sunrises were spectacular.
Every morning during our stay, we walked the beach during sunrise.
Baby whale sharks swam near the shore. The water is clear and the sea life is unique. Diving excursions are popular at the resort.
We often enjoyed breakfast at Vilu, an open-air restaurant located on the edge of the lagoon. This was on the other island, so we incorporated a walk across the footbridge in our breakfast routine. Flip-flops or sandals are the footwear of choice.
Later, the infinity pool was our destination of choice.
Yes, this resort in the middle of paradise has Wi-Fi – but we were not tempted to use it very often during our stay.
Another highlight of the resort was visiting the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant. At 16 feet below sea level, it is the world’s first all-glass undersea restaurant, where the guests are surrounded by fish and sea life.
We opted for the champagne visit rather than a full meal, which was the perfect amount of time for us to enjoy this marvel.
On the way to the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, you pass by the Mandhoo Restaurant that is built on stilts for peering down into the clear water while dining.
One of our favorite places to hang out was at the outside tables that are part of the Rangali Bar. We enjoyed cocktail hour with live music while watching the sunset.
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort met our definition of paradise.
Check back for Part III of our trip as we leave the Conrad Maldives and fly to Doha, Qatar for a two-night stay.
Have you visited the Maldives? How did you like it? Please share in comments below.
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