Perhaps nothing in the
Maldives can symbolize the luxurious travel world more than the water villas.
These are rooms built completely over the water, providing direct access to the
water via the reef.
Normally, to upgrade to
a water villa, you’ll have to shell out at least $500+ on top of your award
reservation. However, I asked if I could briefly tour a vacant villa, and the
hotel gladly allocated an hour for me to take a tour.
The water villas at the
Park Hyatt all use one “pier” and are all located on the left side of the
boardwalk. This means the water villas are relatively spread out and not
crammed together.
Inside the villa, the
main bedroom is laid out pretty similarly to my pool villa room, with the
furniture merely re-arranged.
Unlike the pool villa, there is no outdoor
bathing area; instead you have a bath tub with an amazing view of the water
outside.
I’ve read in previous
reviews that the water villas were prone to overheating, but the temperature in
my room was quite comfortable.
The best part about the
villa of course is the water front access and the lounging outside.
The water is so crystal
clear that you can actually spot fish swimming in the nearby corals.
To access the water,
you simply just open the wooden gate and walk down the stairs. As simple as
that, you are already in the water.
However, the water is
extremely shallow, so I wouldn’t suggest diving, as you might injure yourself
and disturb the reef as well.
Overall whether the
water villa is worth the price of the upgrade is based on how much you value
the view and direct access to the water. For an avid snorkeler like myself, I
would definitely have paid the upgrade surcharge if I was with a significant
other, as the luxury of being able to go in and out of the water sure beat
walking across the island and snorkeling all the way out (since sadly the Park
Hyatt’s water villa dock doesn’t have a public use ladder).
