MLC2436
April 23, 2024
I have stayed at quite a number of luxury resorts in Asia that offers dedicated butler service, and I can say that Cheval Blanc ranks the overall best when both hard product and soft product are considered. I would like to give my compliment to the staff at the resort: - Fary (airport ambassador): she helped handle everything for me on arrival at Male international airport and the seaplane terminal. She was polite and handled everything professionally and put me at ease throughout the process. Because of her, this was my most positive airport lounge experience that I have ever had. - Gasim (butler / majordome): He was always ready to assist me whenever possible. He was thoughtful, and proactive. He anticipated my needs throughout the stay to ensure it was perfect - Mode (the F&B manager) who was friendly and helpful A few minor issues during the stay: - After 10:30 am the White restaurant was relatively busy and the staff were busy too, so sometimes the food would take longer to arrive. On 17 Nov, at breakfast I ordered the makimono roll with avocado, but instead a dish of makimono roll with raw fish arrived wrongly. As the food took a while to come and I was in a hurry to leave and check-out, I did not ask the staff to change the dish and just left. Actually I have stated that I do not eat completely raw fish in the guest questionnaire before my arrival, so if the staff really remembered my preferences, they should be able to know that a dish of makimono roll would not be what I ordered. But this was very minor in the grand scheme of things - The snorkelling equipment was complimentary for guests to borrow to use , but the one with a full mask (instead of just a mouthpiece ) was not. Given the price point of the room rate your team is charging, it would be better if the one with a mask is also complimentary - A few months before arrival, I emailed the reservation team and asked for some special arrangements on the butler service. They responded that the request can be arranged as long as I have them advance notice before my arrival. So two weeks before my arrival , I e-mailed them again to tell them to arrange this. But they blamed me for not giving them advance notice and said I should inform them one month before arrival. However during the initial email conversations, they never told me I should email them at least one month before my arrival. So I felt like they blamed me for something that they should not blame me (as they never told me this in the first place!) - Email by the reservations team took a while to respond , usually. Overall, despite some minor hiccups, I agree that the entire guest experience is really well-designed, and it is evident that a lot of thoughts have been put into the service flow. After staying here, I moved to Velaa private island (often regarded as the 2nd best luxury resort in the Maldives), and cannot help but notice the significant drop in quality (both hard and soft products) compared to Ch