- Well, hello there! Come on in. It's hot out here, come on. Welcome to Waldorf Astoria Maldives. Stella Maris villa, it's one of two villas that
are only reachable by boat. I don't know where to begin. It's probably the nicest hotel
villa I've ever stayed at. (upbeat music) (gentle music) Made up of over 1,200
islands in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives is unlike
any other place on earth, with countless white sand beaches and world-class scuba diving. This was my fifth trip to the Maldives. And while I was still eager
to book a points hotel, this time I was after something
a little extra special. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. I could've book a base villa, but since I was traveling
halfway across the world for a very special occasion, I decided to splurge on
the enormous two-storey Stella Maris Ocean Villa. (airplane whizzing) So we just touched down in
Velana Airport in the Maldives. The main island is kind
of a hustle-bustle city. We're going to take a 30
to 45 minute yacht ride. This boat ride costs $800 and
change per person, round trip. And no, you cannot rent
your own cheaper boat to go to the island. With the the Maldives, nothing is cheap. So even if you get a room on points, the sea plane or boat transfer can cost you an arm and a leg. But you'll see why it's
worth it when we get there. (upbeat music) Unfortunately, even if you book on points, there's only one way to get to
the Waldorf Astoria Maldives from the airport. Oh, it's kind of like a residence. (chuckling) You may have to pay $800 for
this 50-minute boat ride, but at least you get to lie on a bed. (boat whirs) Just factored into the cost of going and don't lose sleep over it. There's no way to get this cost down. I guess you could try
parachuting onto the island. I've heard some interesting threads. I mean it is crazy to think that a 50-minute ride is like $900. But, like, you just got to plan for it. Got a little bit of rain, but that's something you need to get used to in the Maldives. We've been traveling for over 24 hours. The end is so close. I cannot wait to unwind. We're here, I can taste it! (gentle music) Many resort islands
choose to set their clocks an hour ahead of Male
(gongs) to capitalize on the evening light. So even though our boat
ride from the airport was just under an hour, we arrived at the resort
nearly two hours later. For 2.2 million points a night,
the Stella Maris Ocean Villa is not a valuable points redemption. But if you want to splurge,
this is how you do it. Are you kidding me? I don't even need to see it. That's amazing from afar. Whoo-hoo! - You never know.
- Ha ha ha. - Sorry for--
(Brian laughing) You got to pull me out of here. - [Brian] Wow. This is (bleeping) insane. (chuckling) What do you think? - [George] Uh...
(Brian chuckling) - [George] You know,
you can go, go upstairs. - We're not leaving. (claps)
- Yeah. - [Woman] They say that's (mumbles). - [Brian] Oh, my gosh. I'm speechless so if you could talk, that would be great.
(woman mumbling) (gentle music) What I like about Waldorf
Astoria is the technology, so everything at the resort,
excursions from diving, a dolphin cruise, sunset
fishing, which I am going to do. Our concierge Camille is
reachable with one touch at all times, and she is here
to make our stay amazing. And we've got this and that. And you can't even
(grunts) jump to get it. But that's not it. We also have the outdoor, which, it's tight. Come on. Out here, we've got our own grill which they were like,
you really can't use, you got to get a chef, which
I'm sure is not inexpensive. (sighs) They've got some juice
machines, frozen cocktails, once again, you have to
kind of hire a bartender to use them. While it was tempting to spend all day at the Stella Maris villa, I knew I had to get some
underwater experiences. We are here in the Maldives. George's second dive
after being certified. How beautiful is it? (people chattering and laughing) Oh, let's go diving. (upbeat music) For $165 a person, you
can book scuba trips that will let you explore
incredible marine life, just minutes away from the resort. (upbeat music) While they offer certification classes, make sure to get scuba
certified before your trip. You'll save a ton of money, and you won't waste valuable
Maldives time in a classroom. (chuckling) The Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi offers world-class luxury experiences for guests of all skill sets, and does an incredible job
customizing experiences to their guests' wishes. We splurged our last day, and chartered a boat to go out with Emma, the resort's amazing marine biologist to check out one of my
favorite animals, sharks. Let's go deep with sharks. Ready, George? - [George] Uh-oh. (water gurgling) - [Brian] What do you think, George? - [George] Holy shit. - [Brian] (chuckling)
Why are you so funny? (gentle music) That was cool, pilot whale, I've seen it. After experiencing the sweetness of the Maldivian nurse sharks, we stumbled across a heartbreaking scene, an olive ridley sea turtle that
was stuck in a fishing net. Turtle is caught, and we
are going to save him. Save the turtle. Emma acted fast, and we
hoped to save its life with a detour to the
Male Sea Turtle Hospital. (gentle music) It felt great to give back to
the sea that gave us so much. We're going to save you, little fellow. Our underwater workouts
also made it easier to justify going all out with our meals. Most resorts in the Maldives only offer a couple of restaurants. But not the case here. The Waldorf has 11 dining
options from the wine rack to the treetops to Peking duck. No matter what you want, you'll
never get tired of the food. Oh, it's so nice and cold. After diving all day, we were starving for our
exclusive booking at The Rock. This is a cool way to end a trip. (lips smack) Dinner was served around a
200-year-old jarrah wood table, in a cave-like dining room
built from Jordanian limestone. It's amazing to be in the
middle of the Indian Ocean but feeling transported
to the Middle East. (gentle music) There's no getting around the fact that the Maldives is an
expensive place to visit. But it doesn't have to cost
as much as you might think. For a points-friendly trip to
the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, you can book a beautiful
reef villa with private pool for 120,000 points per night, compared with the more
than 2,000 you'll pay if you're booking with
cash, including tax. And if you're a Hilton
Honors Elite member, you'll get the fifth award night for free, which increases the value
per point on the redemption. And if you have Hilton Diamond status, which comes as a perk of
the Hilton Aspire Card, you could even score a
space available room upgrade to the Grand Reef Villa. And if you want a guarantee
that over-water villa, you can pay in advance
by contacting the hotel. The Waldorf also includes a bunch of other surprise and
delight benefits as well, including complimentary welcome champagne, and an additional 30 minutes when you book a 60-minute massage. Gold and Diamond members also get complimentary
breakfast each morning, which normally cost $60 a person. A five-night stay for two
people, that really adds up. (gentle music) I don't want to leave. After you. Two. You'll definitely want to get
Hilton Honors Elite status before your Waldorf Astoria Maldives stay. It's not goodbye, it's see you later. But fortunately, it's pretty easy to earn if you
know how to play your cards. You'll automatically receive
Hilton Diamond status with the Hilton Honors
American Express Aspire Card. For Gold status, with the
American Express Platinum Card. If you decide to splurge and book with cash instead of points, I'd definitely recommend
paying with the Aspire Card. The sea life was amazing. And today we met a turtle, we
saved a turtle on vacation. You'll earn a combined 20% return based on my evaluation of Hilton points with the 20 points per dollar
from your Diamond status. And 14 points per dollar
spent on Hilton stays with the Aspire Card. (gongs) Whether you go on points or cash, you need to visit the Maldives. It's by far the ultimate in luxury. And by the way, that special experience that I came to the Maldives for, turned out to be a huge success. He said "Yes." (gentle music)
