Arrival in Paradise
Here is our first day in paradise...
Our Arrival
To continue with our long travel day, our flight check in was promptly at 7am. Therefore, we had to be up at 6am! Thankfully, our hotel arranged everything and we just had to literally open the hotel door!
After our arrival at the seaplane airport, we checked into the little stall.
We had a group of around 10, all who were there before us. Some couples even had an entire bag of ramen noodles! I understand that the Conrad is expensive, but a whole suitcase full of them!!! We took our bags to be weighed at the counter. For us, it was less stressful as we were easily under the 25kg weight limit. For our ramen noodle friends, they were less fortunate as they had to sweat the weigh in with their much larger bags!
Luxury Lounge Life
Inside the Conrad lounge, we had our first glimpse of paradise! The lounge was very spacious and well put and had many lounge chairs. Mary Frances definitely wanted to sleep, but I was extremely nervous and excited!!
Since there was free breakfast and drinks, I definitely took advantage of the offerings. We had plenty of yogurt, chocolate chip muffins, and fruit! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience - including eating enough food to last me until the 4pm tea time! We did not pack ramen, but we have our ways of saving money.
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Carb loading at the lounge -
Conrad Lounge buffet
Another great addition to the lounge is the outdoor balcony. While temperatures were already rising at 7am, the heat was worth the avgeek moment and observing the countless seaplanes. From our point of view, the point of landing was the most interesting. The plane essentially nose dived until plateauing at the last possible moment before hitting the sea. We were definitely in for a treat!
Seaplane
Suddenly, we were notified that our seaplane was ready! Similar to VIP or first class customers, we were whisked away from the lounge and herded onto the seaplane. From there, we boarded the tiny little seaplane. While it holds 14-15 people, it felt plenty crammed at 10 people. Since we were one of the first on board, we had front row seats to the “Barefoot Flyers.”
Because of my unique experiences on tiny airplanes, I was curious to see how this plane compared to the small Lukla airport that is the beginning of the Everest Base Camp trail. Surprisingly, I hardly noticed take off! It felt like a normal plane - except our pilot wasn’t wearing any shoes and we began on the water!
During the ride, we had spectacular views!! I sat on the right side of the plane while Mary Frances had the left. I kept bugging her to take as many pictures and videos so we could share and remember the experience! About the 30 minute mark, I started to recognize an island that I had seen many times in pictures… Rangali island!!
As we approached the island, we all started recording for both the excellent views of the island and anticipating the rapid descent. Similar to our take off, the landing was surprisingly smooth and easy! One minute we were in the air, the next we were taxiing on the water!
Into Paradise
Once we stepped off the plane, we stepped into paradise… The island was absolutely amazing and the pictures do not do it justice!! Immediately, we were met by our host, Hussain, who would help us with any questions or issues throughout our stay.
Similar to a college orientation, Hussain proceed to overload us with everything and anything about the Conrad Rangali. From the special Hilton Honor perks to the expensive spa retreats. He repeated every restaurant on the island and told us he was available to help with anything.
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Our plane! -
Landed safe and sound!
OUR OWN VILLA
As we mentioned earlier, we were able to snag a “normal" water villa for $0! For the grand tour, we shall begin on the inside of this speculator hotel “room.”
In the inside, we had a wonderful king bed that overlooked the water. In the bathroom, there was a waterfall ceiling shower, a large bathtub, and our own walk-in closet! We had lovely amenities as part of our Hilton Gold status, but I honestly could not tell you the difference between our soap and the others.
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Our room -
Walk-in closet -
Bathtub -
Our bathroom -
Bed!
On the outside, we had two lounge chairs, sea access, and our own jacuzzi. Safe to say, we were in heaven!! We did not want to leave this villa at all! So, we didn’t! Why go to the beach to lay out when you have your own sea, pool, and lounge chairs!
Happy, Happy Hour
One of the best perks for Hilton Gold or Diamond members is afternoon tea with happy hour immediately following. Thus, everyday from 4-5:30pm, hordes of Hilton honors folks, including myself, raced to get the best tables and enjoyed the wonderful free food at the Vilnu restaurant.
For our first day, we had an excellent inside corner view under a palm tree and overlooking the bay between the two islands. We ordered our gin and tonic and rose wine and just enjoyed the incredible views. We were speechless. Again, the pictures do not do it justice!!
Sunset Service
After the happy hour, we walked back to the villa in time for the famous Maldivan sunset. Since our view was partially blocked by privacy dividers, we ventured into the water. The view was well worth the amazing sunset!
While we were in the water, we had pre-ordered room service. Rather than pay a lot of money for a private sunset dinner, we ordered our own feast! We split a three cheese pizza, seared tuna, and salad with our free Hilton Honors Gold wine! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day in paradise.
Gazing into Paradise..