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For many travelers, the Maldives is the definition of a once-in-a-lifetime bucket-list trip. At least, that’s how I viewed it before getting into points and miles. But over the past five years, I’ve spent 59 nights across 10 different resorts in the Maldives. The key to spending so long in paradise: a mix of hotel points, free night certificates, and credit card credits.
Each loyalty program has its advantages in the Maldives. Hilton has aspirational resorts like the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. But award nights can cost up to 250,000 points — and finding award nights at that rate isn’t easy. Marriott has excellent options, too, but many properties require a significant points balance or a stash of free night awards to make a longer stay work.
While IHG doesn’t have as many Maldives options as some competitors, it offers something rare: the ability to stretch a single credit card welcome bonus into nearly a week at a Maldives resort.
Here’s how to turn one IHG credit card bonus into a six-night Maldives stay.
- Limited Time Offer! Earn up to 185,000 bonus points. Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 months from account opening.
- Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG® Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG hotel stay.
- Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier cardmember
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Hotel Indigo® & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- Earn up to 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn up to 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn up to 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® One Rewards member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
The Card Offer: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
The IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card is currently offering up to 185,000 bonus points – 150,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening, plus 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 months from account opening. With an earning rate of 3 point per $1 spent, you'll earn at least 203,000 IHG One Rewards points after meeting both minimum spending requirements.
Travelers have no shortage of places where they can redeem IHG One Rewards points for solid value. In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, travelers have averaged around 0.68¢ per IHG point. At that rate, this up to 185,000 bonus points is worth around $1,250 — before you even factor in the points earned through spending.
While the sign-up bonus is the headliner, this card easily pays for itself year after year. For a $99 annual fee, you'll get automatic Platinum Elite status, a fourth night free on award stays of 4+ nights, a award night certificate (worth up to 40k points) each cardholder anniversary, and travel benefits like TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit.
The Resort: Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives
When travelers think of luxury Maldivian resorts, a Holiday Inn Resort probably doesn't come to mind. But, after two visits to this resort — and comparing it with the eight other Maldives resorts I've visited — it's high on the list of Maldivian resorts I'd return to.
If you're even an occasional traveler, you've likely seen photos of this resort. A photo of two stand-up paddleboards in front of the overwater villas featured heavily in IHG ads. Chase even had a similar shot of kayakers in advertising IHG cards:
For an iconic over-the-water experience, the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma certainly delivers. While visiting in 2021, we got a mid-stay upgrade to one of the overwater villas. (The resort may have done some Googling after seeing my wife and me taking a lot of photos.) You can watch the fish from the built-in hammock-like overwater net or jump right in to explore the lagoon.
Booking the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives with points
Unfortunately, you can't use IHG points to book into an overwater villa. Instead, IHG points will book you into a Garden Villa. These are lovely on-the-ground duplexes, each with an individual patio with a hammock plus a private outdoor rain shower on the opposite side of the villa.
IHG uses dynamic award pricing, so the award price can vary significantly depending on when you're traveling and when you're booking. But the cheapest award night available at the time of publishing is just 33,000 IHG One Rewards points:
After applying the fourth-night-free benefit, you can book a six-night stay for just 180,000 points. That's an effective price of just 30,000 points per night!
If you already have a few IHG points — or don't mind topping off your account by buying IHG points — you can book an eight-night stay for as cheap as 224,000 points. That drops the average nightly rate to just 28k points:
Even better, the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives doesn't charge a resort fee — despite actually being a resort. And, as you might have seen in the screenshots above, breakfast is included. More about that below.
Note that you will need to pay a transfer fee to get to and from the airport, as with almost all other Maldivian resorts. However, the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives charges a reasonable — at least by Maldives standards — $160 round-trip per person transfer fee.
Elite upgrades at the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives
Although you probably won't get upgraded to an overwater villa, you'll likely get some sort of room upgrade as an IHG Platinum Elite — which you'll be from holding the IHG One Rewards Premier Card. At the very least, you'll get a bump to a Beach Villa overlooking either the lagoon or surf beach. That's the upgrade we got originally on our first visit in 2021.
However, on our most recent stay, we got upgraded to a 1-bedroom beach house. These standalone over-the-ground beach houses offer a balcony overlooking the beach or water with a ground-level sand-floor patio underneath the room.
Why the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma is One of My Favorite Maldives Resorts
The first time we visited the Maldives, my wife and I stayed at five different resorts. Part of this was to take advantage of free night certificates from different programs; part of this was to get personal experience at several resorts. By far, our favorite Maldives resort was the Six Senses Laamu. However, the only one of those five resorts we rebooked for our second trip was the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives.
Now, as a veteran of ten different Maldives resorts, I can tell you from personal experience: Everything about the Maldives can be expensive. Each Maldives resort is located on its own island. That means guests are a captive audience. Many Maldives resorts can take advantage of this by charging high prices for food and activities.
That's not the case at the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma. The resort includes a huge buffet breakfast for all guests. Guests can join a morning snorkeling trip for free. Or you can borrow a snorkel (for free) to explore the resort's lagoon. Food and drinks are affordable, with dinner entrees in the $20s and draft beers costing a reasonable $7 each. Even on-site laundry is priced cheaper than most hotels.
Excursions are reasonably priced and incredible. For example, you can book a snorkel tour to swim with sea turtles for just $59 per person, plus taxes and gratuities. Snorkeling with sharks: just $99++ per person. Excursions include all of the gear you need, plus niceties like complimentary sodas and water. Plus, group sizes are reasonable. For instance, manta ray tours ($89++ per person) are capped at just four guests.
I also enjoy the fact getting to the hotel is much cheaper than other Maldivian resorts. While some charge $500+ for round-trip seaplane transfers, you'll pay $160 per adult to reach the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives by speedboat. That's round-trip pricing, and it's just $80 each for kids under 12. The ride takes about 40 minutes.
Bottom Line
The Maldives is a wonderful aspirational destination. And it can often be priced accordingly. Some hotel loyalty programs charge up to 250,000 points per night for a standard-priced room. But you can enjoy the wonders of the Maldives for much less at the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives. Best of all, you can get up to six nights at this resort through just one sign-up bonus.
- Limited Time Offer! Earn up to 185,000 bonus points. Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 35,000 bonus points after spending a total of $6,000 in the first 6 months from account opening.
- Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG® Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG hotel stay.
- Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier cardmember
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Hotel Indigo® & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- Earn up to 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn up to 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn up to 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® One Rewards member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
