The words “Maldives” and “cheap” just don't go together: The country known for its iconic overwater villas is one of the most expensive destinations on the planet. Here's your chance to change that by booking one of the most affordable resorts in the Maldives using Marriott points.
We just found wide-open award availability to book the Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa from just 49,000 to 55,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night! That includes most dates from May into March 2024, including the peak season with higher temperatures and less rain later this fall and into the winter.
The lowest rate rate books you into a beach bungalow room. If you want to book one of the overwater villas that are synonymous with the Maldives, expect to pay roughly 10,000 more points each night … or, if you're willing to kick in a small amount of cash ($50 each night), you can book the overwater villas still using as low as just 49,000 points nightly.
Marriott's dynamic award pricing means nightly rates are all over the map, from under 50,000 points per night to 65,000 points, often changing from one night to the next. But there is more decently-priced award availability than we've seen in many, many months to book one of our favorite and most budget friendly resorts in the Maldives on points.
And compared to most properties in the Maldives that will run you 85,000 points or more, this is an absolute steal. I've personally stayed at this resort and can attest it's easily worth the points to pull off an otherwise pricey trip to the Maldives. The property first opened back in September 2021, with superb rooms, beautiful views and beaches, and an incredible onsite spa.
Plus, Marriott offers a fifth night free on award stays booked using Bonvoy points, meaning you could book a five-night stay for the price of four, bringing the nightly rate as low as 40,000 points. If you've got the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card or another Marriott Bonvoy credit card that offers a free night certificate, you may be able to tack on one more night and pull off nearly a week at the Le Méridien Maldives!
Aside from the expensive food and drink costs in the Maldives, the one thing your points won't cover is the unavoidable (and exorbitantly pricey) seaplane transfer from the main airport in Malé (MLE) to the resort. The Le Méridien Maldives charges $515 per person roundtrip for adults and $258 for children 2-11, while infants are free.
Thrifty Tip: The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card provides automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status, which provides you with free breakfast and a potential room upgrade during your stay. Trust us: Free daily breakfast for two in the Maldives will save you a ton of money.
Don't have all the Marriott points you need to book? In addition to the slew of Marriott cards, Marriott is both a Chase transfer partner and an Amex transfer partner, too. While we wouldn't normally transfer points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the American Express® Gold Card to get the final points you need to pull off this booking could be well worth it.
Current Le Méridien Maldives Availability
Thanks to Marriott's dynamic pricing, exactly how many points you'll need per night varies wildly from month to month and even day by day. But we're seeing plenty of availability later this year into early 2024.
You'll find the best and cheapest availability in May through mid-December. Nightly rates are a bit higher come early 2024, but still a bargain at 55,000 points a night or less.
Scan through the calendar (make sure you select “my dates are flexible” when entering your dates at Marriott.com) and you'll see the bookable dates. Here's a look at what's bookable as of publication.
How to Book the Le Méridien Maldives
- You can book award stays at the Le Méridien Maldives for as low as 49,000 points per night from now through mid-March 2024.
- Head to Marriott.com and search for the Le Méridien Maldives, selecting “Use Points/Certificates” before starting your search.
- Book five nights and pay for just four thanks to Marriott's fifth-night free benefit available to anyone using Bonvoy points.
Bottom Line
While 50,000 to 60,000 points per night may seem steep, this is about as good as it gets for booking a great and affordable resort in the Maldives. And this is some of the best award availability we have seen at the property in quite some time.
It's a great deal if you've got plenty of Marriott points and the Maldives on your bucket list.
Nick, is this deal already gone or how do i book this hotel with points. In the bonvoy app i am not seeing the option to purchase with points. Should i go thru a specific portal beside the app, maybe desktop?
Hey Nicole. What dates are you searching for? You may need to adjust dates to find availability as this has been pretty popular. I just did some searching in October and was able to find award nights available.
Ohhh ok. I am looking at 10 days over Thanksgiving. Nov 22 – Dec 3. Ill check again altho some time has passed now. Oops. Thank you!
When you search for availability always click option “My dates are flexible” and you will get grid of points availability as shown above, pick dates and for every 5 days 5th day is free so if it is 50K/night 5 night will come to 200K. Plane transfer is also pricy so keep that in mind. Service and food absolutely amazing. If you are platinum you will get free breakfast for 2 people. I would not suggest full board or all inclusive as it is too much food (if you have free breakfast). They will actually allow you to do pay as you go and if you want to switch to meal plan at some point you can do it but after that you can’t go back to no meal plan.
Been here 2 times at the 30k per night rate; property is very nice, state of the art way of managing water supply, electricity, sewage system etc. (things that you usually do not see but they can show you if you ask for the tour). Management and staff absolutely fantastic. If they have free upgrade for overwater bungalow I am sure you will get it. If you have land villa access to the water can be little rough as it’s “sand” comes from corals so be aware of that. Both times I experienced some kind of allergy/rash or very itchy bites of something (they told me it could be sand fleas). I can’t confirm positively if that was sand fleas or if I got allergy to something else but this is the only place on this planet that I got this kind of issue. First time it was towards the end and I got my legs very itchy at the airport never realising what it was and 2nd time I got rash maybe 3rd day in. Other than that this is real gem.
I’m trying to use 4 free night certs and points to book a 5 night stay. I know I can’t get the 5th night free because of the FNCs. But my problem is that the first night I want to use points for isn’t available at the standard rate. So I have to book that 1st night separately with points + cash and then use the certs for the remaining 4 nights (I plan to upgrade these 4 nights with cash eventually). This means 2 separate reservations and 2 separate seaplane fees. How do I go about fixing this? If I call, will they able to make a single reservation that has 2 different types of rooms? Thanks!