Skip to main content

Four Seasons Before Lunch Gauteng (Pretoria)

-
 I have lived in Pretoria for half my life, but even at almost 50, l still am not ready for mornings like this . I step out of  home in the morning at 7 a.m., greeted by a warm, gentle breeze and sunshine so golden it felt like summer had arrived overnight. The sky was clear; the jacaranda trees glowed purple; the air smelled of warmth and possibility. “Perfect day,” l muttered, locking his door. By the time l drive out—five minutes later—the sky starts to be darkened. A cold wind came crawling in from nowhere, sweeping dust across the pavement. The temperature dropped so suddenly that  l have  to switch the heater for warmth. Laughing. “Ah, Pretoria… you never disappoint.” Halfway to the office, the heavens opened. Not soft rain— a storm . Sheets of water hammered the road, street gutters overflowed instantly, and distant thunder rolled like a grumpy giant waking up too early. People scattered, hiding under bus shelters already too full.  “Ten minutes ago...
Post a Comment

Alila Villas Maldives Hopefully Opening Soon(ish)!

-

 

Alila Villas Maldives Hopefully Opening Soon(ish)!

 BY BEN 17
HOTELS, HYATT

While we still don’t have a projected opening date, it looks like the new Alila Maldives may be closer to opening than we thought.

Alila Maldives looks like it’s nearing completion

At the beginning of 2020 we learned that Alila was planning on opening a property in the Maldives. Specifically, the Hyatt developments website began listing the Alila Villas Maldives, and at the time there was an expected opening date of October 2020.

While there had been no official updates on the timeline, unofficially we had been hearing that the hotel would open in 2022-2023, which sure represents a significant delay. I’m guessing that has something to do with coronavirus.

However, to me it’s sure looking like this hotel is closer to opening than we may have previously thought:

So while it’s anyone’s guess when the hotel will actually open, personally I’d be surprised if it doesn’t happen sooner rather than later. Below are some pictures of the property.

Alila Villas Maldives


Alila Villas Maldives


Alila Villas Maldives


Alila Villas Maldives

For context, the Alila Villas Maldives will have 80 villas, 36 of which will be overwater. The hotel will be located to the north of Male, and will be accessible with a 45 minute seaplane flight.

The Alila brand is coming full circle in the Maldives

What’s interesting about the upcoming Alila Villas Maldives is that it will represent a return of the Alila brand to the Maldives:

  • In 2009 the Alila Maldives Hadahaa opened (at the time the Alila brand had nothing to do with Hyatt)
  • In 2011 management for the property was turned over to Hyatt, and the former Alila became known as the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
  • Then in 2018 Hyatt acquired Two Roads Hospitality, which manages Alila properties
  • Now there will once again be an Alila property in the Maldives, except this time it will be managed by Hyatt

For those of you not familiar with Alila, it’s essentially Hyatt’s luxury nature-focused brand. I’d say it’s roughly on par with Park Hyatt, though like all hotel brands, there’s some variance in terms of quality.

Funny enough, the pictures we see so far of the new Alila in the Maldives look fairly similar to the Park Hyatt.

Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa (former Alila Maldives Hadahaa)

This is exciting for World of Hyatt members

While no details of pricing (in cash or points) has been announced yet, this is a property that many World of Hyatt members will likely be excited about. I would imagine that this will be a Category 7 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a free night redemption will cost 30,000 points.

There’s a lot to love about redeeming points with World of Hyatt vs. other hotel groups, especially if you’re a Globalist member. Hyatt is great about offering elite perks at Alila properties, so here’s to hoping that this is no exception.

It would also be nice if this property had standard suites that were eligible for suite upgrade awards, unlike the Park Hyatt Maldives, which is excluded from the program.

Bottom line

While there’s no announced opening date yet, it looks like the Alila Villas Maldives is nearing completion, and hopefully it opens in the not-too-distant future. I can’t wait to learn more details about this property, from the room types, to the amenities, to the pricing.

Would anyone consider staying at the Alila Villas Maldives?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MultiChoice’s BEE scheme trying to find 22 000 shareholders who are missing out on millions

-
Image
  USINESS REPORT COMPANIES MultiChoice’s black economic empowerment scheme is looking for about 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends of R207 million between 2006 and 2020. Picture: Karen Sandison/African News Agency(ANA) MultiChoice’s BEE scheme trying to find 22 000 shareholders who are missing out on millions By Edward West   Feb 16, 2021 CAPE TOWN - PHUTUMA Nathi, the MultiChoice black economic empowerment scheme of more than 80 000 shareholders, is looking for about 22 000 shareholders who owned shares and did not receive dividends of R207 million between 2006 and 2020. “This money belongs to our shareholders. We’re calling on them to contact us to get their money. In these tough economic times we want to do everything in our power to give them what is rightfully theirs,” Phuthuma Nathi chairperson Mandla Langa said in a statement yesterday. Phuthuma Nathi has been paying dividends every year since the start of the scheme in 2006. Am...
Read more

Fighting Drug addiction

-
 Here's the story: We sat down with a man who had a harrowing journey with addiction. He began by telling us about his early days in tertiary education, where he would occasionally smoke dagga with friends. However, his focus remained on his studies, and he worked hard to graduate and secure a qualification. After landing a job, he started building a life for himself. He got married, bought a property, and even splurged on a car. Life was good, and he felt like he was on top of the world. But one fateful night, while out with friends, he was introduced to heavier narcotics. At first, the experience was exhilarating. He described it as an elevation from the mild high of dagga to a level 5 high, where he felt invincible and euphoric. The effects would last for days, allowing him to party from Friday to Sunday without sleep. The problem, however, began to manifest on Mondays and Tuesdays every week, when the withdrawal symptoms would kick in, and he'd struggle to function at work....
Read more

Ultra-Widebody Volkswagen Bus "Volkswide" Looks Like a Porsche Racing Van

-
Image
  Home   >   News   >   Renderings It's easy to understand why a muscle car or a Ferrari is cool - the big engine and cool body. But car culture is also influenced by television, rarity, or simply a generation growing up with a particular vehicle. The Volkswagen Bus is a perfect example of this because it's slow, not sporty-looking, yet it can cost a lot of money.  16 photos The Bus is perhaps one of the least understood collectibles, right up there with bubble cars. You see them grabbing huge money at auctions, making it difficult to visualize why somebody wouldn't rather have a Ferrari or some 1960s Mustang. Comedian Gabriel Iglesias is known as the VW Bus King, as his collection of Vdubs is reportedly worth in excess of $3 million. The Hoonigan crew recently did a feature video, but we still had trouble picturing the value of these vehicles. Fortunately, there's a set of renderings that takes the visuals of the Microbus to the level where everybody...
Read more