 | Flytrippers cofounder |
Caroline and I were on a Maldives trip earlier this year, and we still had 3 of our 85,000-point Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates available to redeem for an epic stay. That is how we ended up at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa on Furanafushi, to test it out for you. It was great!
The Maldives are famous for their pretty (and expensive) resorts. With the 4 certificates all Canadian couples should get each year from Marriott Bonvoy cards (don’t miss the record-high offer until September 22), you could stay for 5 days and 4 nights at Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa (with the points top-up).
But with our US-issued cards, we get better certificates to redeem at this very nice hotel. Flytrippers aims to help you travel for less through our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here’s my review of the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa.
What is it like to stay at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
The Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa is a full private island, so it feels nothing like a regular Sheraton hotel, especially those common in North America.
We tested 2 different types of rooms: a private-pool villa and then an overwater bungalow on the reef. The gym on the island was the best I had used in a long time, and we watched the sunset from the water off our deck.
I would definitely stay again with those 85,000-point Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates. It is not the best Maldives resort I have ever stayed at, but it is probably the best value, especially if you have a couple of those night certificates or a ton of points.
What is the price of the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
I booked the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa with 85,000-point Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates. The price was 84,000 points for our dates, so no points top-up required.
You should start by getting the certificates offered by the Canada-issued Marriott Bonvoy cards, but then it’s definitely worth getting into US-issued cards.
Everyone can get some by jumping through a few hoops as a non-American (much easier if you are American or already have a US Social Security Number).
It’s actually a great time to get the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card. By unlocking the increased welcome bonus, you’ll get 162,000 points plus a 250 USD statement credit after 6000 USD in spend in 6 months, live through September 30, 2026.
The other US-issued card that gave us an 85,000-point certificate is the Chase Ritz-Carlton card, but it is closed to new applications (it is still possible to get it, but you need to first get a Chase Marriott card and then do a product change).
The value obtained with our certificates is not as high as what I’ve previously gotten with certificates. But the stay itself was more luxurious than a lot of expensive hotels in the US or Western Europe, and the Maldives is just cheaper overall.
The cash price of this hotel was indeed lower than many Maldives resorts, even if it’s not cheap. It’s about 365 USD per night.
The upgraded rooms we actually slept in were more expensive. The ocean villa with the private pool was about 555 USD, and the overwater villa was about 517 USD.
You still have to pay extras for a stay paid with a certificate at this hotel. The green tax was 24 USD per night for the 2 of us (12 USD per person). The shared 15-minute speedboat was 128 USD roundtrip for both of us (64 USD per person).
That boat is why we picked this hotel. A lot of Maldives Marriott hotels are only accessible by seaplane, and those flights often run 500 USD or more per person round-trip. Because this one has a relatively cheap speedboat, we could get a stay that was as free as possible.
Speedboats aren’t cheap by public ferry standards; you can go to a local island like Maafushi for about 2 USD to 3 USD and it takes 1.5 to 2 hours. But those aren’t available to private resort islands.
Sometimes, there are limited promotions that include free transfers with a minimum number of nights. Some resorts also waive or reduce the seaplane transfer prices for longer stays, too.
We split the stay across separate bookings to redeem the certificates, and we emailed them to combine them so we’d only pay for the transportation on one of them since we’d be staying on the island.
Food is a lot more expensive than on a local island, but it was not that bad for a resort where you’re completely captive. You could get the meal included when you booked, or order à la carte as needed.
For the room we booked, the rates were:
- 365 USD room only
- 440 USD with breakfast
- 480 USD half board
- 510 USD full board
- 570 USD all-inclusive
To optimize this, we booked the room only and used our Platinum elite status that give us free breakfast. We shared one real dinner 2 of the nights, and ate ramen we brought with us the other 2 nights. That came out much better for us than buying a meal plan.
Where is the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa located?
The Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa is on Furanafushi, a private island in North Malé Atoll, about 15 minutes by speedboat from the Malé airport.
It was very convenient to be this close to Malé, because that is what makes the cheaper boat transfer possible. You can see Hulhumalé from one side of the island, but it still had island vibes, and there was no constant stream of extra boats or planes.
The house reef was great, and there are several beaches around the island. Since it is a private island, you cannot leave for a meal.
As mentioned in my Maldives trip overview, to maximize our time on the island, we took the first speedboat in (10 AM) and the last speedboat out (8 PM).
Most people just time the boat to their flights instead, but we wanted to fully take advantage of the resort (thanks to my elite status’ 4PM late check-out and early check-in).
We did this by simply booking cheap nights in Hulhumalé before and after the resort. Those cheap stays were such a clash, so it made us appreciate it even more.
How was the check-in experience at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
You arrive at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa on the jetty after that shared speedboat. We had to wait at the airport for other morning guests, but not for too long.
The boat itself was nice, and we got very lucky: a ton of dolphins swam alongside it on the way in.
The lobby building was nice, and they gave us a healthy shot as a welcome drink. Check-in was easy.
To wait for our villa to be ready, they took us to the arrival lounge, with coffee, cookies, a shower, and a couch. That lounge is probably for everyone, it’s not a real VIP hotel lounge for Platinum elites and above. We had coffee and worked a bit from there.
What is the room like at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
We booked the lowest room at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, a Cottage, 1 King, Island view, but we never saw it.
We got a free upgrade to an Ocean Villa, 1 King, Ocean view, Private pool for 2 nights. On night 3, staff picked us up with our bags and brought us to an Overwater Villa, 1 King, Ocean view for the last night.
We could have stayed in either room the whole trip, but we wanted to try both. Both were upgrades, and both were nice for very different reasons.
The ocean villa was massive, with a table and a couch by the bed.
The king bed was very comfortable in both rooms.
There was no proper desk in the villa. I used the big area in the bathroom and the table inside when I needed to work.
Both rooms had a minibar fridge and a coffee machine.
The air conditioning worked perfectly, the Wi-Fi was great, the blackout curtains were great, and the rooms were quiet aside from the waves on the villa side.
The villa bathroom had windows all around onto our own external wall, so it almost felt like a private outdoor bathroom with air conditioning. There was a bathtub and a shower with great pressure.
The villa had a whole walk-in room for storage at the entrance.
The deck and private pool were great. There was no ocean access from this room, and some crazy waves crashed against the ocean walls, so it could be slightly noisy, but the setting was worth it.
Nobody could swim in front of it, so it felt like the more private of the two rooms, and we got the sunrise on that side.
The overwater villa was smaller, and it was a different style of stay.
The overwater deck had no private pool, but you could step into the lagoon and swim to the reef.
We snorkeled off the bungalow and watched an amazing sunset from the water. Sunset here beat the villa sunrise.
The view from the villa was incredible.
This room actually had a proper desk area.
The bathroom had a window overlooking the ocean. It had the same toiletries as the villa, a bathtub, and great shower pressure.
Storage at the entrance was good, just not as extensive as the villa.
What amenities are offered at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
The main shared pool at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa looked great, and it was never crowded when we walked past it. We never used it, because we had the private pool at the villa and the ocean at the overwater bungalow.
The beaches around the island were good.
You have to rent snorkel gear if you want it, and it was a little expensive, so we skipped it since we had our own masks.
We snorkeled around our bungalow and saw some fish. There are better spots around the island, but we did not go chase them because we were already diving a lot on this trip.
We did not dive at the resort, since it is much cheaper to dive from the local islands. But we came back not too far from here for 2 dive sites out of Villingili, and the diving was great.
The gym was the best I had used in a long time, a complete gym that I had mostly to myself. I went every day.
We walked over to the spa on its own little island. The setting is amazing, but we did not book a treatment. There were a lot of nice corals and fish by that bridge.
We saw the tennis court, the kids club, the water sports area, and the rest, but we did not use any of it. The dolphin cruise we got on that inbound speedboat transfer was amazing enough.
How was the food and beverage at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa?
Breakfast at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa was included with my Platinum status, and it was the buffet at Feast Restaurant.
It was extensive and great. We had a big late breakfast and only needed one other meal in the day, a budget hack. The best local thing I had was mas huni, the coconut flakes with tuna.
The prices weren’t that bad by North American standards, but they were crazy compared with local Maldives prices.
We shared a 29 USD pizza at Anchorage Restaurant one night.
We ate at Sea Salt Restaurant another night (ravioli and lobster pasta, under 100 USD for the 2 of us).
They gave us welcome fruit at the start, and we skipped room service and the minibar entirely.
You cannot get an outside meal here, which is also why we brought ramen (we ate that twice) and protein shakes for the gym. Another great budget hack for those expensive private islands.
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Summary
At the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, we tried both a private-pool villa and an overwater bungalow, thanks to 85,000-point Marriott Bonvoy free night certificates. It’s an island that is actually nice to walk around, and I would stay again with those certificates. It is not the best Maldives resort I have stayed at, but it is probably the best value.
What would you like to know about my Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa hotel review? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Furanafushi, Maldives (photo credit: Kevin Gagnon/Flytrippers)
