A new hotel in that Maldives let you book overwater villas using Marriott points, and it starts at just 24,000 points per night and is eligible for credit card free night certificates.

Le Meridien Maldives is bookable starting with September dates and is categorized as just a Marriott category 5. That means it runs 30,000 to 40,000 points per night, or just 24,000 points with 5th night free during low dates (of which there are now many). It also means you can redeem credit card free night certificates there. And this can get you a ‘sunrise overwater villa’ as a room option at this points price.

What’s more, even though Marriott lets hotels charge award customers resort fees on redemption stays, this hotel does not have any resort fees.

Sunrise Overwater Villa, Credit: Le Meridien Maldives

Bear in mind that a roundtrip seaplane will cost about $400 roundtrip from the Male airport, and no doubt food costs are not inexpensive as is the case at all resorts in the Maldives.

Basically this is a bargain property on points and a new hotel, so will be attractive to many. And looking at 5th night free pricing makes sense because few go to the Maldives for really short stays or hop around different resorts (which generally requires going back to Male and picking up a separate transfer).

However some will prefer to go ‘all out’ on their Maldives stay, preferring less of a bargain and more of a ‘best of the best’ approach considering the distance that they’re traveling and that it may be a special occasion or once in a lifetime type of trip.

(HT: Milevalue)