AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card, Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card and Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
The Maldives is one of those “once in a lifetime” destinations that can be visited using points and miles. However, it's often out of reach due to the high cost of accommodations and airfare. Even more so are the Instagram-worthy Maldives overwater bungalows, which can run in the thousands of dollars per night.
Thankfully, a select few properties are scattered in the different Maldivian atolls that allow you to use free night certificates earned from loyalty and credit cards to stay in these suites on water. Let's dig into each loyalty program's properties that allow for redemptions in an overwater villa.
Page Contents
- Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Hilton Free Night Rewards
- Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Marriott Free Night Certificates
- Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Hyatt Free Night Awards
- Which Other Hotel Programs Let You Use Hotel Free Night Certificates to Book Maldives Overwater Villas?
- Final Thoughts
Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Hilton Free Night Rewards
Hilton Honors is the best program to focus on if you want to stay in an overwater villa via certificates. You can use your earned Free Night Rewards on overwater villas deemed base-level standard rooms. My wife and I were able to do just that on our honeymoon in 2017 when we stayed at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in a Sunset Water Villa.
If you're looking for more premium accommodations at the property, prepare to pay a more demand-based price using points that aren't eligible for use with Hilton Free Night Rewards.
Related: Why I Spend $15,000 Each Year on My Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
The Conrad was one of the first properties to make overwater villas available as standard rooms. When it did so, we jumped on it quickly. The good news is it's still possible to do so using Free Night Rewards.
Today, standard Sunrise Water Villas cost 120,000 Hilton Honors points at the property, which comes with a small plunge pool. That redemption rate is the base-level standard room at the property.
If you're looking for a more private villa, you can redeem for a premium room on the property. These rooms can fluctuate in price, but I saw Deluxe Water Villas with Pools going for 265,000 Hilton points a night during my search.
Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi
Another property from a historic Hilton-owned brand in the Maldives where you can redeem your certificate for an overwater villa is the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. A base-level King Reef Villa will run 150,000 Hilton points or one Free Night Reward. Note that this doesn't include the $800 round-trip yacht cruise per adult to reach the resort.
Huvafen Fushi Maldives
In recent news, SLH partnered with the Hilton program, moving away from its partnership with World of Hyatt. This added five new redemption options for Maldives resorts, with three properties that allow you to redeem a Free Night Award for an overwater villa.
The Huvafen Fushi Maldives offers a Lagoon Bungalow with a Pool as a base-level room, which is eligible for a Free Night Award.
Amilla Maldives
The Amilla Maldives offers two different categories of overwater villas to choose from for base-level redemptions: the Sunset Water Pool Villa and the Lagoon Water Pool Villa.
Milaidhoo Maldives
Finally, the Milaidhoo Maldives offers the Water Pool Villa for base-level redemptions, making it eligible for Free Night Reward redemptions.
Sadly, other Hilton properties, such as the SAii Lagoon Maldives, Curio Collection by Hilton, Hilton Maldive Amingiri Resort & Spa, Velassaru Maldives, and the Baros Maldives, offer overwater villas only as premium room redemptions, making them ineligible for Free Night Rewards.
In 2022, Hilton made a positive change to its Free Night Rewards, permanently allowing their use on non-weekend nights. Originally, this was a courtesy that had been made available during the pandemic. I earn one each year by holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, and always look to use it for maximum value!
- 14X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio
- 7X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, car rentals booked directly through select rental companies, and at U.S. restaurants
- 3X Hilton Honors Bonus Points for all other eligible purchases on your Card
Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Marriott Free Night Certificates
In recent years, Marriott has expanded its footprint in the Maldives, with eight open properties and another opening in 2025. Marriott offers several free night award certificates, which are redeemable for a free night up to a certain value.
Recently, Marriott Bonvoy® unveiled the ability to “top off” these certificates with up to 15,000 more Marriott Bonvoy® points, making them much more versatile. The certificates you can earn come via:
- If you hit 75 qualifying nights in the Marriott Bonvoy program, you earn an Annual Choice Benefit selection, one of which is a certificate worth up to 40,000 points.
- The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, and Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card (no longer open to new applicants) each offer a certificate for nights up to 35,000 points each year.
- The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card offers a certificate worth 50,000 points after you spend $15,000 in a calendar year.
- The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card offers a certificate worth up to 85,000 Bonvoy points each year.
- Finally, the Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card offers a certificate good for nights up to 25,000 points each year. The card is no longer available to new applicants.
The certificate from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card is the certificate we will focus on most here, as Maldives nights are not cheap on points! You'll need to find an award night that's 100,000 points or less to use this certificate, including the option for topping off the certificate with 15,000 extra Marriott Bonvoy points.
- Earn up to 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy® bonus points. Earn 100,000 points after you spend $6,000 and an extra 50,000 points after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- $300 Brilliant Dining Credit: Each calendar year, get up to $300 (up to $25 per month) in statement credits for eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card at restaurants worldwide.
- With Marriott Bonvoy® Platinum Elite Status, you can receive room upgrades, including enhanced views or suites, when the stay is booked with a Qualifying Rate at hotels that participate in Marriott Bonvoy, subject to availability upon check-in.
- Earn 6X Marriott Bonvoy® points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Earn 3X Marriott Bonvoy® points at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines and 2X Marriott Bonvoy® points on all other eligible purchases made on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.
- Free Night Award: Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Award can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
- Each calendar year after spending $60,000 on eligible purchases on your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, you will be eligible to select a Brilliant Earned Choice Award benefit. You can only earn one Brilliant Earned Choice Award per calendar year. See https://www.choice-benefit.marriott.com/brilliant for Award options.
- $100 Marriott Bonvoy® Property Credit: Enjoy your stay. Receive up to a $100 property credit for qualifying charges at The Ritz-Carlton® or St. Regis® when you book direct using a special rate for a two-night minimum stay using your Card.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®: Receive either a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($120) or a statement credit every 4.5 years after you apply for a five-year membership for TSA PreCheck® (up to $85 through a TSA PreCheck official enrollment provider) and pay the application fee with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Each calendar year with your Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card you can receive 25 Elite Night Credits toward the next level of Marriott Bonvoy® Elite status. Limitations apply per Marriott Bonvoy member account. Benefit is not exclusive to Cards offered by American Express.
- Enroll in Priority Pass Select, which offers unlimited airport lounge visits to over 1,200 lounges in over 130 countries, regardless of which carrier or class you are flying. This allows you to relax before or between flights. You can enjoy snacks, drinks, and internet access in a quiet, comfortable location.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on international purchases.
- With Cell Phone Protection*, you can be reimbursed, the lesser of, your repair or replacement costs following damage, such as a cracked screen, or theft for a maximum of $800 per claim when your cell phone line is listed on a wireless bill and the prior month's wireless bill was paid by an Eligible Card Account. A $50 deductible will apply to each approved claim with a limit of 2 approved claims per 12-month period. Additional terms and conditions apply. *Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
- $650 Annual Fee.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 6X points on purchases at Marriott Properties
- 3X points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines
- 2X points on all other eligible purchases
My general advice would be to search in the Maldives low season (June-August) to find the lowest redemption rates, as Marriott ditched its award charts and works under a demand-based redemption system.
St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
My favorite choice of resort in the Maldives is the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. There, it offers fantastic overwater villas in an ultra-luxurious environment. In searching for dates far in the future, I found a few nights that you could redeem for its overwater villa using an 85,000-point free night award plus 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort also offers some redemption nights under 100,000 points, making it possible to use an 85,000 point Free Night Award with some Marriott points added, a great value when room nights approach $2,000 per night!
Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa
The Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa offers overwater villas for as low as 43,000 points per night, which allows you to use the 35,000 point, 40,000 point, 50,000 point, and 85,000 point free night awards for this room!
W Maldives
The W Maldives offers its overwater villas for 85,000 points a night, making the highest-tiered free night award eligible to be redeemed at this resort.
JW Marriott Maldives
The JW Marriott Maldives offers its Overwater Pool Villa with a sunrise view for 76,000 points during low season, which an 85,000 point Free Night Award could also be used for.
Seaside Finolhu Baa Atoll Maldives
The Seaside Finolhu Baa Atoll Maldives, a Design Hotel offers off-peak Lagoon Villas for 70,000 points a night.
Maldives Overwater Villas You Can Book With Hyatt Free Night Awards
For the longest time, World of Hyatt only had one property in the Maldives — the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. My wife and I made our way to the property for our first trip to the country and had a fantastic time, albeit in a Beach Villa. There, we redeemed points, but we could have used a Category 1-7 certificate earned from reaching 60 nights in a calendar year.
The Ultimate Free Night Award, earned through Milestone Rewards after 150 nights stayed in a year, is also valid at the Park Hyatt Maldives and the Alila Kothaifaru Maldives, the two properties currently in the Hyatt program in the Maldives.
Unfortunately, no overwater villas are available in the Maldives using Hyatt Category 1-7 certificates, without some sort of cash upgrade. The good news is using a Category 1-7 certificate in this way would take care of a large portion of the out-of-pocket cost of staying in an overwater villa.
Since you earned the Ultimate Free Night Award by reaching Globalist status, you'll have free breakfast as one of your perks when you reach the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa or Alila Maldives!
Which Other Hotel Programs Let You Use Hotel Free Night Certificates to Book Maldives Overwater Villas?
Other hotel programs, like IHG One Rewards, offer free night awards as a credit card perk. Although these awards are worth up to 40,000 IHG Rewards points, IHG free night certificates can be topped with an unlimited number of IHG One Rewards points.
However, that doesn't mean you'll be able to book every IHG hotel with a certificate plus points. Take the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives. Award nights are available for as few as 40,000 IHG Rewards points, but overwater villas aren't bookable with any combination of points and certificates. That means you'll just have to enjoy paradise with terra firma beneath you as you sleep!
Final Thoughts
The Maldives is the trip of a lifetime, and it can be affordable for your budget by using free night certificates. Just note that many resorts in the Maldives have expensive yacht or seaplane transfers. Also, if you're traveling this far, you'll likely need an arsenal of points to redeem for free nights beyond your free night certificates, as one or two nights won't suffice at these fantastic destinations. I hope this guide helped you in planning your trip to the Maldives!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.