Romance under the Torii Gates

Good evening from Tokyo! I am wrapping up my newest trip traveling around Japan & Hong Kong. Full trip reports will be posted shortly, but I wanted to share with you guys an amazing story.

A couple days ago,  I posted a picture on my Instagram of a beautiful couple dressed in traditional Japanese clothes taking a selfie under the stunning torii gates in Kyoto. 

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A few hours after posting the photo, the couple messaged me, and it turns out they’re a newlywed couple and were on their honeymoon from Malaysia. They tried taking a few selfies together but couldn’t manage to get a good picture and eventually gave up. By pure coincidence, they were browsing through Instagram, stumbled upon my post, and sent me a message asking for a copy. Not only that, they’ve read my previous articles about traveling with frequent flyer miles!

Encounters like these make me realize how small the world is. What I thought to be just an innocuous snap of a local couple, actually captured a significant moment for the newlyweds. Congratulations!

Photos: Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2016 – South Stand

I had a blast at the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong, with the highlight meeting people from around the world dressed in crazy outfits and soaking the atmosphere in the South Stands. Here are some of the photos I took:

To request a full sized photo please send a message via my Facebook Page.

How to travel on a budget to the Maldives

With its pristine sandy beaches, coral reefs, and world famous over water bungalows, it’s easy to see why many newlywed couples choose the Maldives to spend their honeymoon.

If you are on a true budget, you could stay at a local guesthouse. However, you still will need to get there via speedboat. In addition, you would have to follow local Islamic laws, which includes no alcohol and remaining covered on the beach.

On the other end you have the “super luxury” resorts that feature its world famous over water villas that can easily cost four figures USD a night.

Fortunately, if you are not part of the 1% there is still a way to get the “true Maldivian experience” without breaking the bank. The key is leveraging credit card sign up bonuses to minimize out of pocket costs. Why pay $1000 a night when you can get that same room for almost nothing!

Among many points enthusiasts, the Park Hyatt Maldives is considered one of the crown jewels for using their hotel points. It’s not hard to see why.

In fact, I recently finished staying at the Park Hyatt Maldives in January using credit card sign up bonuses. All in all, my out of pocket expenses was around $540 for the four day stay, including domestic air tickets.

The guide below teaches you step by step on how to book an award for the Park Hyatt Maldives

 How to book the Park Hyatt Maldives

First you must apply for the Chase Hyatt Card, which gives two free nights at any Hyatt hotel in the world after spending $1000. This card also gives complimentary Hyatt Platinum status.

If you are traveling with a significant other, he/she can also apply for the Hyatt card, meaning you can receive up to four free nights at the Maldives.

After completing your minimum spend, you should receive your free night certificates within 1-2 weeks.

To check to see if your free nights have been posted, simply log in to your Hyatt account, and click the account detail.

Click the My Awards page, your free night awards should appear in your account.

Once you have your free night certificates, you simply need to search for award space.

Go to Hyatt.com and enter where you want to go and the dates you want to travel

Note: You must search each free night award separately. So if you are trying to book a award stay with multiple nights, you will need to search and book each night separately, and then email the hotel to combine your award.

Then check Show Hyatt Gold Passport Points & Awards

If there is a free night available, you should see something like the following.

Book the award.

To top off your award, you may use 25,000 additional Hyatt points for each additional night.

After you book your award, simply email Park Hyatt Maldives to combine your separate reservations.

Save up for your transfer flight

Unfortunately, the domestic plane transport is not included and typically costs around $520 per person for a round trip ticket. This is very typical among almost all luxury resorts in the Maldives. You’ll pay for your flights upon check out.

Leaving the Park Hyatt Maldives & Touring Male

Time flew by quite quickly, and before long it was time to check out from this lovely resort. Since I was planning on staying overnight in Male for one day, I asked the hotel to put me on the last flight out, which meant I could check out at 5 PM!

While waiting, I decided to chill at the pool with some new friends from New York, who discovered that the cushions outside could actually float. 

At around 5:00 pm, the hotel staff picked up my luggage was drove me to the hotel lobby to check out and settle my bill. My total bill was $540, a mandatory $520 domestic flight fee and $22 small pizza I ordered on my first night.

I graciously thanked my host, Charles, and knowing that I probably was the thriftiest guest he’s ever had, gave a bit extra. Plus, he helped me take some wonderful photos of this resort.

As the sun set into the Indian Ocean, we sailed off on our speedboat as the staff waved us goodbye.

My night domestic flight was mostly uneventful and I landed in Male on time. I stored my luggage at the baggage hold in the airport and I took a speedboat going to the city.

One of the perks of being a travel writer is that you meet the most amazing people online. A reader put me in touch with a local friend who gave me a tour of the city the next morning on the back of his bike..

Male is actually one of the densest cities in the world, and driving along the crowded capital makes it quite clear that this is not the sleepy island country capital that some people may imagine.

The highlight was the fish market where you can see various kinds of seafood being sold and prepared, including some pretty big tuna.

I’d suggest wearing some plain shoes, as they could get stained with fish blood on the floor.

We also got to see the artificial beach in Male and grabbed the local non-alcoholic version of the mojito – a drink mixed with red bull and artificial sweetener.

My new friend soon had to go to work, so I ended up grabbing buffet lunch at the Sea House restaurant with my Airbnb hosts. The food was delicious, filling, and significantly cheaper than the places at the airport.

I then went back to my apartment to relax for a bit before heading to the airport.

Park Hyatt Maldives Breakfast

Since the Park Hyatt Maldives is located on a remote island, food and drinks are going to cost you an immense amount of money. Dinners can easily run into the hundreds of dollars, which is a bit beyond my budget.  

Instead of spending a small fortune on food, I would have a huge breakfast, and the rest of the day I would snack on protein and granola bars.

A nice side benefit of having a late breakfast is the restaurant is less crowded, which means you can usually score a table right next to gorgeous infinity pool.

The breakfast at the Park Hyatt Maldives is definitely not your typical hotel continental breakfast. You get to choose two entrees from a vast selection of items on an a la carte menu, and on top of that is a relatively large buffet spread of cold cuts, pastries, and fresh fruit.

Since we were in the Maldives, I decided to go with the local entrees each day, the Maldivian tuna curry and the spicy tuna mashuni. Both were remarkable, especially the mashuni which was made from freshly caught tuna.

If you’re still feeling hungry, there is a rotating buffet of hot entrées ranging from waffles to bagels.

Beverages are complimentary, and I especially loved the chocolate mocha and great tea selection.

Breakfast is free for Hyatt diamond members and cost around $30 per person for non-members. I would say it is well worth spending for, as you could easily skip lunch and just have a small dinner.  

Things to do at the Park Hyatt Maldives

Since the Maldives is known for being a huge destination for couples, I was worried about the lack of things to do, as I was travelling by myself. Fortunately, the Park Hyatt Maldives offers numerous free activities for guests who don’t want to spend all day lounging on the beach or their villa.

Snorkeling

One of the major draws of the Park Hyatt Maldives is its house coral reef which surrounds the entire private island. Since the sun can get a bit intense during mid-day, I would usually time my snorkeling sessions right after sunrise and in the late afternoon.

The hotel provides complimentary snorkeling gear including fins. However, they do charge extra for rentals of wet suits and life jackets. The snorkeling gear provided was decent enough, so there’s no need to bring your own set from back home.

My snorkeling experience was incredible and I found the house reef as good as advertised. I saw plenty of fish, and even the occasional shark lurking around.

My favorite place to snorkel though was the water underneath the sunset jetty, as there’s usually a huge school of sardines swimming in the vicinity.

I’d also recommend swimming to the area outside of the middle part of the water villas, as the reef there is particularly picturesque.

Sundowner Cocktails

Every day between 5-7 PM, Hyatt diamond members receive one standard cocktail on the menu and a few light canapés (appetizers).

However, if you want something a bit more filling, the bar has generous complimentary servings of salted peanuts.

You also get to meet and mingle with quite a few fellow mileage enthusiasts, most of whom are on their honeymoon or celebrating their anniversary.

Managers Cocktail Reception

If you happen to stay over on a Saturday night, then you are in luck as the general manager throws a cocktail reception for all hotel guests, with complimentary drinks and canapés.

As the sun sets over the Horizon, a Maldivian cultural show is put on complete with drummers and dancers.

If you’re a Hyatt Diamond member, you can double dip and have your sundowner cocktails / canapés beforehand.

Back of the House Tour

If you’re curious to see the inner workings of the Park Hyatt Maldives, the hotel offers a free back of the house tour a couple of times a week. You’ll be able to see how a remotely located hotel is able to run day to day operations.

As an added bonus, you’ll get to meet other hotel guests who are looking to mingle. During my stay, I actually met a lovely couple from New York and we hung out a few times. On top of that, I picked up a few pointers on night photography from the gentleman.

Kayaking

If you are into kayaking, you can rent a kayak for free up to an hour each day. I personally don’t kayak much, so I didn’t use this benefit.

Gym

If snorkeling doesn’t cut it for you and instead you feel like working out, Hyatt has a decent sized gym.

Stargazing

At night when all the lights are dimmed, the skyline is lit up by thousands upon thousands of stars. Coming from a big city where stars are usually drowned out by light pollution, it was breathtaking to see so many stars in the sky.

These activities were more than enough to keep me busy during my stay, but the highlight among my free Hyatt Diamond benefits was the sumptuous Park Hyatt Maldives breakfast. 

Major Alaska Airlines Devaluation

Alaska MileagePlan miles have historically been among the most valuable and versatile miles programs. One of their best redemption for Alaska airlines has been for first class seats on board the Emirates A380.

Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines overnight increased the amount of miles needed for an Emirates First Class seat quite drastically to say the least.

The following is a chart of the new amount of miles needed:

As you can see these are significant increases across the board, with first class seats being hit the hardest. For first class tickets to Africa, the amount of miles needed has doubled from 100,000 to 200,000 one way!

Usually when airlines announce a major increase in the miles needed for an award, they add a grace period of a couple months, so members can redeem their miles.

American airlines gave its members a few months to redeem their miles at the old rate, before their recent devaluation.

Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines has increased the amount of miles effective immediately.

This is obviously not good news, and tremendously devalues the value of Alaska miles. For those who are holding Alaskan miles, you can still redeem your miles for Cathay Pacific or Qantas first class awards, which are still quite the bargain compared to the new American Airlines award chart.

There is an alternative way to use your points for Emirates First Class and that is through Japan Airlines, which is a transfer partner of Starwood points.

Japan airlines uses a distance based formula, which means the more you fly, the more miles you will have to use.

However there are some sweet spots. For example a round trip flight between New York and Dubai would cost you only 135,000 JAL miles round trip, which is LESS than a one way ticket on Alaska Airlines’ new award chart.

Stay tuned for a more detailed guide.

Review: Park Hyatt Maldives – Water Villa

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).

Review: Park Hyatt Maldives – Pool Villa

Upon arriving at my pool villa, I was completely blown away by how big my “room” was.

In the Park Hyatt Maldives, there are no rooms, just private villas surrounded by various greenery, which means you never see your neighbors and vice versa.

Inside the villa was the bedroom, with a huge king sized bed and a small lounging area in front.

Lining one side of the room is a long work desk equipped with an iPad that is preloaded with an interactive guide & map to the resort.

As a Hyatt diamond member, I was treated to a bottle of sparkling wine, a platter of fruit, and some small nibbles and chocolates.

One of my favorite parts of the land villa was the private outdoor shower & bath area, which had an elegant design and featured a rain shower and a terrazzo bathtub.

Far from being a gimmick, I found myself never using the indoor showers, as I preferred to soak while surrounded by Mother Nature outside.

For those concerned about peeking toms, you need not worry since the entire shower area is surrounded by high walls.

The indoor bathroom was enormous, with two separate sinks and benches / closets to store your belongings in. The most unique feature of this bathroom was the huge glass windows that offer a view of the outdoor shower area. Clearly, this was designed for couples!

Outside the villa was a small plunge pool, which was pumped with cool freshwater.

There was also a mini lounge area with two lounge chairs set up.

What’s unique about this villa is the positioning of the shrubbery, making it look almost like a secluded grove with a small sliver of beach / ocean view.

Every villa is different so while one villa may have a more private setting, another one may have a better beach view. It definitely felt like a private resort, and were it not for the fact that you’d occasionally see a guest or two on the beach, you could almost pretend you were on your own private island.

Overall the Pool Villa is probably the best hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. If you’re thinking about paying a bit extra to secure your upgrade ahead of time, I highly recommend you doing so.

Overview of the Park Hyatt Maldives

Learn how to travel to the Maldives on a budget

To maximize the amount of time I would spend at the resort, I had decided earlier to stay overnight at a transit hotel near the airport and fly in early morning the next day.

I briefly explored Male and went to bed early, saving my energy for the next day.

My flight was scheduled at 7:45 AM, so I woke up early morning and was then dropped off by my transit hotel at the domestic side of Male international airport. A Hyatt employee quickly greeted me and assisted me with my bags.

Maldivian air uses primarily Dash-8 propeller aircraft, wherein all your carryon bags had to be checked in. 

I was then escorted to the Maldivian airport lounge, where they served complimentary soft drinks and food. I highly recommend the fish curry as it was delicious. The fish was fresh and the flavors, complex.  However, it might be better to avoid the cold foods. I had one spoonful of yogurt and it definitely tasted like it was not properly chilled.

After a couple minutes, a Maldivian air representative arrived and escorted us through security and onto our quick flight to Kooddoo Island.  It was a relatively small flight, consisting of mostly locals and a few tourists.

I was assigned to seat 7A, which had a quite limited view. I highly recommend asking the Hyatt representative to have you seated in Row 1-4 or row 21 (the last row). That way, you will be able to enjoy the whole flight with an unobstructed view, but regardless where you are seated, you will still be treated to some gorgeous scenery.

The flight was quite short and we soon landed in Kooddoo Island. I grabbed my luggage and met another Hyatt representative who quickly took care of my belongings. Apart from me, there was only one other passenger on our plane who was heading to the Hyatt, a French sommelier.

We were then escorted onto an electric buggy cart for a quick 5 minute drive from the airport to the pier, where a speedboat was waiting for us.

The weather was gorgeous, and we had a pleasantly smooth boat ride. On the way to the resort, the boat captain noticed dolphins swimming ahead and asked if we wanted to stop and look at them. Who wouldn’t want to stop and look at dolphins?! 

Of course we said yes. The engines were throttled back, and we headed out to the front of the boat to witness the elusive creatures. 

It was so mesmerizing to see them swim gracefully, bobbing their heads up and down the water. It was simply magical and until no, we still couldn’t believe our luck.

After a couple of minutes, the dolphins disappeared into the sea and we resumed out journey.

When we arrived at the Park Hyatt, a whole team was waiting for us, including the general manager. I found out later on that the GM personally meets every arriving and departing guest. 

We walked from the pier to the reception area, which was shaped liked an upside down boat.

While I was chatting with the general manager, the butler introduced himself and brought me a delicious welcome drink.

At the Park Hyatt Maldives every guest is assigned his/her own “butler”, essentially an on call representative that will cater to any request they need. My butler was a gentleman from China who lived near Shanghai. All butlers are multilingual and speak fluent English. When possible, they do assign certain butlers depending on the nationality and language preferences of each guest.

At check in, I was delighted to hear that since I was a diamond member, I was upgraded to the Park Pool Villa (upgrades are assigned at check in based off availability).

Before heading to my room, I decided to take a tour around the small private island. Just outside the entrance area, I immediately came across the centerpiece of the hotel, a huge infinity pool spanning across the length of the main restaurant.

Beyond the pool is a white sandy beach, along with the clear blue water the Maldives is so famous for.

In the middle of island is the resort spa, which features a more private swimming pool.

On the other side of the beach are the world famous Water Villas, but more on that later.

My first impression of the private hotel island was one filled with awe and wonder. The resort looks exactly like it does on the pictures, and that itself is hard to replicate anywhere.