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Best place to book Maldives holidays? Direct with hotel or through agent?

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2958

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 13:44

We book direct with the hotel as we usually book our flights with air miles. Often calling the hotel gives you the best rates but if you need a package to include flights and transfers a travel company/agency will usually come in best.

704

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 25 January 2011 - 13:29

We booked our holiday through Dnata Holidays on Shk Zayed Road. They had some good deals on..

88

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 19:50

Www.agoda.com has grat deals on the Maldives at the moment, half the price of the hotel websites...believe me I have spent considerable time checking it out... Good luck

27

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 18:03

We've been to Maldives four times (Bandos twice) & have always booked through mal-dives dot com (Impex) very professional & good rates. Bandos is very popular so try & book really early. Their superior rooms are good value for money.

jvsresident28434

19

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 15:19

We booked Bandos through EK Holidays because they were the most professional! This was for Jan last year for our honeymoon. EK holidays called us a week before the trip and said Bandos was over booked and we cant get our over water villa. They offered to put us up at Sheraton in a beach bungalow but we said no. They asked us thrice and we said no no no and hubby got quite annoyed - imagine him shouting two days after the wedding. Finally they caved in and we got an over water villa at Taj Exotica! Heaven! Speak to Vianney at EK Holidays on Shk Zayed road :D

Saharagypsyrose

484

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 15:04

This is how I would go about shopping for the cheapest rate: Check the hotel's own website and see what the rate is for the dates you want (be sure to read about cancellation policy etc), then google the hotel and check out a few well known 3rd party websites ie expedia, booking.com etc to see what they offer, then call up a few tour operators in Dubai or email some in Colombo to see the best price they can come up with so you can compare.

1617

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 14:57

I can't comment on how best to book from Dubai as I went to Bandos from the UK, and for all the reasons you say, it's a great choice. My DD still asks to go back there!

edna.welthorpe36638

516

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 18 January 2011 - 14:49

Does anyone have any recommendations about the best (i.e. cheapest! :)) way to book holidays in the Maldives? Should we just use the direct online booking with the resort's own website, or can we get better deals through a tour operator? We're thinking about Bandos because it's child-friendly, not too insanely expensive and not too far from Malé.

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