Shangri 'La Villingili

Hi,

Does anyone have information concerning the Shangri%26#39;La Villingili Resort? They have postponed their opening multiple times already and are now announcing it for late Spring 2009.

Is this the final date? When will they start to accept reservations? Any idea on what price range the bungalows are going to be? Is it not too close to Gan airport? Will the air traffic be bothersome?

Thanks.

Shangri 'La Villingili

according to wikimapia , Villingili is 1.3 miles to Gan Airport. Kurumba is 1.4 miles from Hulhule Airport .. so about the same distance.

i haven%26#39;t found a departure/arrival schedule for Gan , so not sure how much traffic there is but the view onto the airport and former RAF fuel farm doesn%26#39;t intuitively spell ';luxury'; to me *shrugs

wikimapia.org/鈥an

Shangri 'La Villingili

It must be said that Gan International Airport is a very large complex as the island used to be a British Air Force base in WW2. There are islands off Gan linked by causeways so you can imagine how large it is. Those islands that are linked to Gan have now been turned into resorts and some of the islands are inhabited by locals. There are currently problems with these locals accessing resorts but being it is all new, it will take time for them all to be ironed out (if at all) despite some of the islands being open for 12 months now.....

.........personally, I wouldn%26#39;t bother ......

......AG

Thank you both for your help.

It%26#39;s just that the new Shangri%26#39;La resort looks beautiful, the ultra spacious bungalows, the tree top houses etc...

We go to the Conrad twice a year and are extremely satisfied. We wanted to combine our Conrad stay with a stay in another resort. However, we are having trouble finding another excellent 5 star Resort (It%26#39;s hard to match up with Rangali).

The main reason we wanted to combine two resort is because we would like to see a different Atoll, different fishes and different reefs. We kind of like the Island Hideaway, but are afraid it will be a step down from the Conrad. We don%26#39;t want a resort in the Male Atoll, we flew over it and it%26#39;s just one Resort after the other (even the Soneva one).

Please feel free to give me any suggestions.

Thanks

pitch .. having been to conrad - its not my favorite island but thats only because of its size . otherwise , i agree that it would be hard to beat or even matched. its pretty much the full package for those who enjoy a large, yet luxurious resort.

this shangri la .. i think it depends on how much you want to ';get away'; and be surrounded by pure luxury without a view of ';the real world';.

if there was the opportunity to go to Gan and the conncted islands on your own (without the ';excursion group';)... i would find that tempting in its own way for the opportunity to interact with maldivians in a setting that approaches ';normal maldivian life';.

you would come home knowing more about the maldives - but it obviously won%26#39;t be the groomed and prettified maldives we have all grown accustomed to seeing.

Thank you Spammie.

Don%26#39;t know if you%26#39;ve been to Rangali or not but even though it is a big Resort (140 rooms or so) it doesn%26#39;t feel like a huge Resort. The beaches are pretty much deserted, restaurants are rarely full and the personal attention is very personal indeed.

What I like is that there is space to go for a walk without it being crowded.

Let me give you a more exact description of what I am looking for; I would love to find a Resort that offers an excellent house reef. My boyfriend and I love to take underwater pictures (just to give you an idea, last 9 day stay I made over 1000 pictures). Food is also important, we like simple things such as grilled fish, curry, risotto.

Privacy is a must (that is probably my only issue with Rangali, Over-water and Beach villas should of been more spread out). We don%26#39;t care about evening entertainment. We like to walk and therefor don%26#39;t want to be on a tiny Island.

From my reserach, I came up with two posibilities, the first one you know, and is Villingili ( not open yet a very big ??? plus no reviews) The second one would be The Island Hideaway Resort. We don%26#39;t like a too rustic feel, and are therefore not considering the Soneva Fushi.

I%26#39;m just scared I%26#39;ll be disapointed after Rangali.

Once again, thank you for your help.

how about Mirihi?

...............AG

how about Mirihi? ...or are you looking for something more upmarket than that?

Huvafen Fushi?

...............AG

*sigh* sorry about that, went through the 1st time when it shouldn%26#39;t ! .....

....AG

Pitch ..yes i have been to rangali .. and i rate it a good bit behind mirihi . but that is only based on my personal preferences and not an objective rating by any stretch of the imagination.

mirihi is unique in my mind for its amazing housereef , dive staff , personalized effortless service in all areas including diving, quiet and serenity that i missed on rangali, food and privacy of the watervillas and decking and well as the beauty of the island and the setting of both restaurants - not to mention the staff.

as for the diving .. we always find that the crowded rangali diveboats look a bit like cuban refugee vessels - but i would take the warm robe after the dive :)

i also like that there is no ';class society'; on mirihi. beach and watervillas don%26#39;t get treated differently in any way - having said that , the beach villas are not for me because they are not as completely private..

however, there are no butlers on mirihi, no giant tvs, no underwater restaurants, no golfcarts, no dedicated winebar , no jaccuzzi , no pool, no sunglass polisher or other auxialliary staff providing specific services along that line, no screens providing stockmarket info and much less space for walks.

basically , every dream island is subjective and it totally depends on personal priorities and in its category , i think rangali is most certainly one of the - if not the best.

how about dhoni migili for your consideration?

Hello again,

During my extensive research I have indeed envisioned staying at Mirihi. As many have pointed out, Mirihi is one of those authentic and special places. I would like to point out that during the six times that we%26#39;ve stayed in Rangali, we%26#39;ve never dined at the Underwater restaurant, we%26#39;ve also have never set foot in the swimming pool and only had a massage once. We could be perfectly happy without all those kind of amenities.

Our biggest problem with Mirihi, is that there is no TV in the bungalows, no easy in villa connection. While some people might think that when going on vacation a complete break is a must, we on the other hand cannot afford to be without the stock market and the Internet. Many people depend on us and not being able to be reached is just simply not a option.

We are lucky to be able to escape our routine twice a year every year, even during this worldwide crisis however with the condition of keeping in touch.

I%26#39;ve probably read every review on Mirihi and the thing I envy the most will have to be the amazing house reef and the choice of excursions.

I%26#39;ve even emailed Mirihi to see if they could pick us up in Rangali so to enjoy some of the excursions, but unfortunately I was turned down.

Anyway, thank you all very much for your help.

Pitch