Finally Maldives

Maldives Flight Details:

Onward:
Chennai (8:00) -> Kochi (9:00)
Kochi (12:50) -> Male (14:10)

Return:
Male (14:45) -> Kochi (17:05)
Kochi (21:10) -> Chennai (22:35)

I was excited to see the new terminal of Chennai Airport. The airport looked nice and swanky from outside. The check-in process was so slow. The person trying to check-in was confused whether we have to take the luggage at Cochin or at Maldives. He did ask us to collect it from Maldives. The baggage belt at Check-in counter was not working. So you could see everyone getting frustrated. We had our breakfast at "Balaji Stall" before the security check. It was super yummy. The aroma of Sambar was lingering around that we ordered Idly and satisfied our craving :)

The airport looked nice inside and you could see a lot of work was still pending. There was a baby care room, but it was locked. When you have so many passengers using the airport, how can it not be functional. There are many passengers with babies, who are going to use the facility!!! Anyways my flight was delayed by more than an hour. When we reached the Cochin airport, we enquired with the ground staff. They advised us to take the luggage and then shift to International Terminal. 

During our check in at Chennai airport, the person issued our ticket for Cochin to Male as well. This made our check-in process at Cochin easy. We had to wait for about an hour at Cochin Airport. The airport was quite deserted and i didn't find staff at few of the stall. My MIL got a cute baby umbrella at one of the stall. Thank god there was a baby room at this airport!! There was limited option to eat at the airport. After an hour wait at the airport, we boarded the flight. The flight duration was again short. The flight was not full, so each of us occupied a row. It was a blessing in disguise when you have a baby :)

Finally we reached Maldives and Four Seasons has a lounge at the airport. One can refresh with water, tea/coffee, fruits, snacks like nuts, energy bars, etc. Since we were the only one to arrive, we left the airport immediately. We were offered cold towel (Badly needed one) and water on the boat. And yes, they had wi-fi. The ride lasted for about 30 minutes. Upon reaching the hotel, there was a band playing to welcome us. There was a refreshing drink offered to us. What was extra special, was the drink offered to my son in a cute cup and straw.

They informed us about the upgrade to Sunset Water Bungalow from Sunrise Water Bungalow. The room was nice and spacious. They had placed a crib with diaper, a fish toy  and few other accessories for my son. We had the 1st room, so we could see the adult pool from our room as well. They informed my MIL about yoga and meditation. So she was off for her evening yoga, while hubby and me enjoyed the adult pool.

We tried the Indian restaurant "Baarabaru". It was fantastic. The food served was brilliant. One thing that I love about Four Seasons, is the service. It's outstanding. The best I've seen in hospitality service so far. When we returned to our room, we found the cooling of air-conditioner to be bad. But the night had to be passed and we were hoping the next day would be better

New destination - Maldives

The quest for a holiday started after I delivered my son. We couldn't go on our birthday holiday, since my son was too young. Post new year we decided we could go on a family holiday with my MIL as well. Our initial plan was to go to Singapore & Bali and made plans around my MIL's birthday. We decided to surprise her and changed the destination to Maldives (She had been wanting to visit Maldives for a long time). For hubby and I, it would be a similar experience as Bora Bora and there is bound to be comparison in our head.

While I was making the plan for Singapore & Bali, I had contacted makemytrip.com. I later informed them about changing the destination to Maldives. There was so much confusion in our head between Four Seasons, Kuda Huraa and Mirihi Island. Since we were taking my MIL to an exotic location, we thought we'll take her to Four Seasons. The makemytrip agent was giving me very good deal. Upon confirmation, she would say it is not available. I would have hardly taken couple of hours to confirm. I was fuming mad as to how it could not be available. She answered saying this was the quotation and upon confirmation from my side, she would check for availability. That seemed absolutely absurd. I did post a complaint at their website. The makemytrip team did apologise but I guess it didn't really matter then.

I had three flight options. A direct flight from Chennai to Male provided by Maldivian airline. The flight timing was inconvenient, so we had to let go of this option. The other one was Sri lankan airline and Spice Jet. I remember Sri lankan airline to be much more expensive than Spice Jet. So we went ahead with Spice Jet (Later when I did check, Sri Lankan airline was cheaper). Anyways I had booked and I didn't want to worry about the difference.

I contacted Four Seasons, Kuda Huraa for reservation. I informed that we would be 3 adults and an infant travelling and I would require the Sunrise Water Bungalow. The price quoted by the team was pretty expensive and I made the reservation for 3 night. It was just a Bed & Breakfast deal and I didn't get any deal that I got at Bora Bora. I was going to be charged close to $5300 for just 3 nights!!! The tax is a killer here, where in you are paying 18.8%+GST. I personally feel, Maldives is much more expensive than Bora Bora. But when you are in a holiday mood, I don't mind splurging once in a while.

All booking made and we were waiting for April 15th to come. During the course of time, my MIL got to know about we travelling to Maldives and the whole surprise got spoilt. A week before we were leaving, I pinged my friend, who is a travel consultant and owns a company called Fernweh. I had completely forgotten about her while making the booking. I casually asked her what is the best rate that can be offered to me and she gave me a quotation of 300$ lesser than that was offered by Four Seasons and an extra night. Now that was a bonanza and I immediately accepted the deal.

Now the painful process was shifting my confirmation from Four Seasons to them, but Four Seasons did do the needful and my plan was changed accordingly. In the last minute I had to change my flight detail and we were geared up for the much awaited holiday :)