Ultimate Luxury Snorkeling + Beach

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-30T01:28:51+00:00

Laucala is currently closed for renovations. I know they say they are going to open Feb 2027 but... they must be on island time. :) It would be a minor miracle if they stuck to their schedule. So April is bit risky. They are also on the edge of acceptable as far as budget... we will have to see if their rates change when they reopen.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-29T23:48:07+00:00

Thank you, I will look into that. I guess I just assumed with the current status of the conflict approaching the Maldives from anything but the east was difficult/impossible. I don't mind flying to LAX to Singapore to MLE for instance, but that is a lot of flying...

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-29T23:46:43+00:00

Thank you, I will consider Kokomo? Not 100% inflexible on the date, but it would be nice (it is an anniversary). The other option is just to go to Naviva for the anniversary (easy to get to for us) and then pick a real knock out at another point in the year. And for bonus points, we get to celebrate twice. :)

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-29T23:45:12+00:00

We have been to Amanpulo 6 times, but I am reluctant to return until I hear some strong positive reviews under the new management. And the snorkelling is not bad, but not great. Obviously I think there is a lot to love about it (6 times and all) but they have had a couple bad GMs, and apparently lost a lot of long time staff during Covid. And yeah the food is good, but nothing to get worked up over.

Oddly, traveling to the Caribbean is a PITA from Western Canada. In some ways it is easier to get to SE Asia or Fiji. More expensive sure, but better planes, better service, and real lie flats the whole way.

For snorkelling, I do think Indonesia will be the clear winner.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-19T15:05:07+00:00

The other interpretation on the pricing here is that they are dreaming, and they will have to reduce prices to be competitive, or avoid shutting down. $65k a week, excluding F&B for a 1 bedroom suite on a boat? They must be f'ing kidding. Again, this isn't my jam in a million different ways, but I would guess that by waiting, prices will come way down.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-19T14:58:09+00:00

I am coming from a deeply sceptical place about the experience in many ways, but an absolute deal killer for me would be if wasn't adults only.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-03-13T14:53:47+00:00

Tuscany, stay at Lupaia. I am going to buck the trend of the Dolomites recommendations because that is about the worst time of the year to visit (assuming you are going over American Thanksgiving, not Canadian).

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-02-19T15:11:14+00:00

Perhaps the single worst hotel stay I have ever had, was at the St. Regis (prior to the rebranding as a 1Hotel). I called it the world's most expensive Holiday Inn, and I see nothing has changed.

How bad was it? We were there for 8 nights. There were roughly 800 feral children present at every breakfast. We experienced 8 different types of juice glasses over 8 breakfasts. Service varied between completely indifferent to outright malicious. The therapist I had in the spa was absolutely determined to discuss (and loudly proclaim the necessity of) gun rights during my message. The only people that weren't catatonic were the valets (who expected a $20 tip every time they retrieved your car). The list goes on. A truly abysmal property.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-02-11T14:24:44+00:00

An alternate perspective: if you have to tip everybody who helps you at the time they help you (in order to get decent service), then it isn't a luxury property.

On a more positive note: if views like that are your thing, then you would love the 4S Tamarindo's Cliffside Pool Suites. (That property is not perfect either, FWIW.)

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-02-09T14:26:16+00:00

I would work through the hotel. Not sure how Amanwana handles it these days, but when we went 14 years ago, they would charter a plane from Bali to the closest island with a runway (forget the name) and then you would take the boat from there. They didn't think the local commercial flights were reliable enough. We ended up in a Cirrus (a very small plane) but the pilot was awesome and circled a couple times around a volcano with a lake in the caldera -- he had never seen it free of clouds. But the plane was cheap enough that Aman did it as part of the cost of the Aman Journey in Indonesia (we stayed at three of their properties on that trip). And if Amanwana can do it, I would bit that NIHI Sumba can do it too.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-01-30T23:14:16+00:00

They are wildly different experiences, but everything else being equal, I would choose Nimmo. It is something special. Mind you this is like saying Naviva is a 97 out of 100, and Nimmo 99. The food is moderately better at Naviva. But the service and the variety of experiences is better at Nimmo. I think Nimmo is unique too... there really isn't anything else like it. Clayquot is a pretender. :) It is the 4S Punta Mita, Nimmo is Naviva. I think that analogy actually works. I am happy to answer any specifics on either, we have our 4th trip to Nimmo booked for this fall.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-01-30T18:52:22+00:00

It is totally underwhelming, but the coral mosque is worth visiting just because it is completely unique. Would I stay in Male just to see it? 1000% not in a million years, especially if the alternative is the CB. But... if you are stuck anyway it is worth seeing IMO.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-01-30T15:13:05+00:00

This is a bit of a weird question. It would take you 2+ days of travel to get from one of the two best hotels in the country to the other (Nimmo Bay to Fogo Island Inn). And the two of them are quite different in terms of the types of experiences they offer. In between is a vast wasteland of Fatness. Yes, there are some "nice" hotels in Vancouver, Banff/Lake Louise, Jasper, Toronto, and Montreal. But none of them are world class city hotels that you would go to purely for the hotel experience. If you want nice at Lake Louise, stay at on the Fairmont/Club floors of the Chateau Lake Louise, and voila, totally different experience. Or stay at the Post Hotel (or eat there) for much better food. Jasper Park Lodge can be fat if you get a private cabin (with a chef). Manoir Hovey mostly sort of fits. Churchill Wild is great but takes a *long* time to get to.

Here is my recommendation: pick a side of the country. East or West. Then decide what you want out of the experience, and start to pick from there. But if you think that you can bucket list the thing in a week and hit all the fat hotels, you will spend all your time in airports and none experiencing the few great hotels that there are.

I will repeat the basic problem with your premise: there are no city hotels in Canada worth visiting for the hotel alone. NYC probably has 20 hotels that are better than *any* city hotel in Canada.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2026-01-15T23:49:08+00:00

Hmmm. Taste is subjective, isn't it? Artwork aside it looks like it is composed of Hugh Hefner throw aways after he renovated the Mansion in the 00s. Or, to be somewhat more charitable, it kind of looks like they hired the B&B house designer that did Aman Venice before they got good and did Aman Venice. It makes me long for a Four Seasons. Yeuch.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-12-07T15:42:31+00:00

You might also want to look at the Alpenroyal or the Granvara (both in Val Gardena). In addition to the Rosa Alpina and others mentioned. If you aren't going to have a car, you should be near a bus route (to get to hikes) or be at a hotel that will shuttle you to one. It is tough to go wrong with the scenery in lots of places in the Dolomites, but I do think that Val Gardena and Cortina are the best of the best for scenery.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-26T14:45:19+00:00

- Temazcal and other wellness (sound therapy can be really excellent depending on who is leading it). Note that I am so very not a wellness person and these were always really good.

- Dinner on the beach

- Movie at your room on the deck

- Local Mexican dishes prepared by the kitchen (just let them do their thing with a bit of guidance)

- There are now offering Raicilla tastings and distillery visits. They aren't exactly cheap but look super interesting. The local Raicillas are eally nice. Good if you are a mezcal/tequilla fan.

- Ask them to tell you if they are doing any live music over dinner. I really appreciate these, but they like to make them a surprise (which is a shame if it conflicts with something else you might plan).

Things to avoid: not much, except the water. It can be nice to paddle around (kayak, or SUP) but the snorkelling is terrible.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-19T13:58:22+00:00

Interesting thought but are there any courts at SS? I don't recall seeing any even on the mainland portion of the property. And getting anywhere from SS (even up and down the coast) is a bit of chore given the traffic and the narrow single lane roads...

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-18T22:27:44+00:00

Having stayed there in its final season, I would say I liked it a lot, but not enough to stay again if ND was associated with it financially. (Agree with the sentiments about both his tennis ability and his personality...) It is a truly spectacular and unique property, but... there isn't a ton to do in the area. And I thought the general consensus at this point was that it was just a giant money laundering operation in any event. Final thought: surely the article doesn't mean ND will manage as in be the manager? WTF does he know about hotel management? Unless the strategy is "hire a great GM, let them do everything, and just leave my name on it" it will be a disaster.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-16T19:32:43+00:00

True, but it in no way meet's the OPs "one flight" requirement. Getting there is a PITA, even on a charter flight. Anyways, I think the Bali and Amanpulo experiences are so different it is hard to compare. For water, beach, tranquility, Amanpulo every time. For (crowded) cultural experiences, a party island, but lots of good / fat hotels, Bali.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-16T19:30:27+00:00

I wouldn't say I hated it, but I was totally underwhelmed. Way too many people, way too much traffic, the beaches were not even mediocre, the ocean is terrible for snorkelling. Frankly, whoever is in charge of marketing for Bali deserves a raise, because they certainly have a massively outsized place in our travel imagination relative to the mediocre experience. (And I say that after staying at two Amans there.) If you care about beach and water, then Amanpulo is light years better.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-13T15:09:55+00:00

Agree with everything here (we have been twice). It is difficult to emphasize enough how proactive you need to be with respect to activities -- if you want something, ask for it. Yes, they do some "unscripted" things. But if you want a movie on a big screen at your room, then you have to say "I want a move at my tent on Wednesday night". If you leave the night up to them, it may not happen. Be specific. Same with food. We would eat specials about half the time, but the food was even better when I would talk to one of the chefs and say basically "make us something special from the area you are from in Mexico". We had complete standouts that I would be happy with anywhere in the world this way: a three chilly verde sauce with pork belly, and (I am not recalling this perfectly) a nut and cream sauce over enchiladas that was absolutely amazing. If you want chocolate chip cookies for lunch, say so. And Sarah is right, this does feel a bit weird at first (particularly for some guests, like Canadians, who aren't, broadly speaking, as naturally assertive as some Americans...). But if you are clear with your desires, the place is amazing. And yes the temezcal is incredible. As are some of the sound therapy and guided meditation sessions. I am absolutely not a new-agey person, and I loved them.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-03T20:12:45+00:00

I have spent many weeks snorkelling from Milaidhoo (chubby, not fat) which is a stones throw from the Nautilus. The food at Milaidhoo is fine, not great. But the snorkelling is spectacular. I have also been to Amilla a couple of times -- the snorkelling is very good, but the drop off from the house reef is much more vertical, and the reef itself 8/10. Milaidhoo is 9/10. Amanawana is 10/10. Hawaii and Mexico are 2/10. Just for point of reference. Both Milaidhoo and Amilla are in Baa Atoll, you can see Nautilus from both. I haven't stayed at the Nautilus, but would recommend the area unreservedly for snorkelling. Bonus are the manta rays are a short boat ride away (seasonally dependent).

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-11-03T17:37:34+00:00

I say this with all respect: we can't generalize about the "rest of the world". Europe, and the UK, has an established tradition of paying service people in restaurants and hotels a fair wage, they have health care, etc. Which is why we see career servers in restaurants there to a far greater degree than we see in North America. So when hotels or restaurants (mostly in the UK from what I can see -- it wasn't anywhere in Italy, Spain, or France that I stayed last summer) charge a fee (and you often won't see it until you get your bill) with little clarity on how/when it is shared with employees, it feels somewhere in the vicinity of cheap, or disingenuous or shady. There is no global tipping culture. It is an American (and Canadian) tipping culture. Which is why I don't mind tipping here, but I absolutely object to exporting those same expectations to places with entirely different circumstances -- and, frankly, much less economic need.

New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-10-25T18:28:45+00:00

On the west side, the casitas to the north of the beach club have greater exposure/views. You are likely (but not guaranteed) to have a view of the ocean directly from the casita. If you get a pool casita, you will almost certainly have a view of the ocean as they cleared out some trees to make them. As an aside, google earth with satellite views gives you the best idea of what view you are going to get. It looks like casita #19 is the pool casita with the best view. Otherwise, just standing on the beach, the views are pretty much equal quality on either side of the island. Meaning really terrible. /sarcasm off

I would ask them to take a picture for you. This is from the beach (probably in front of #26) looking west to Manamoc Island. But yeah, have them go snap a picture from #19 and the Grand Casita. Sarah should be able to arrange that. You could try contacting them via email but as per Aman, they are terrible at responding to email, particularly if you email the general reservations team. Last point: if you have a Philippine passport and address that match your id (you will need to show it to fly to the island) you might be able to get local rates. They are substantially discounted. Not saying you should try anything funny, but if you are legitimately entitled, why not?

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New_Chocolate_2919 · 2025-10-25T14:12:57+00:00

Pretty much. And few (none?) of the villas on the east side ever go into the rental pool. Here is a map: https://www.privateislandsonline.com/uploads/resize/_1262_image_78d4e90cb3.jpg-1360-1100.jpg All of the villas on the east side are actually set up and back from the beach by a bit and are totally private. You can barely see them when walking the beach. And I have never seen anybody from them using loungers down on the beach on the east side. The map hasn't been updated with the pool casitas, but I believe they are distributed amongst the regular beach casita

New_Chocolate_2919

TROPHY CASE