Enjoy free breakfast and dinner when staying at The St. Regis Maldives in May 2020

The St. Regis Maldives is one of the most aspirational points hotels in the world, but also one of the most expensive. Even if you redeem Marriott Bonvoy points to snag a free room, you'll still have to contend with a $695 round-trip seaplane transfer cost and some incredibly expensive food and drink on the remote island. Holding Platinum or higher elite status with Marriott can take the sting out of it if you select free daily breakfast as your welcome amenity, but the cost of other meals and activities can add up very quickly.

For anyone who's been eyeing a trip to the Maldives but is hesitating because of the cost, Marriott has a new promotion that might be of interest. Now through May 31, 2020, you can book a half-board room — meaning free daily breakfast at Alba and daily dinner at select restaurants (set menu excluding beverages) — using the promo code"ES1."

The rates for this promo appear to be about $300 higher than the best available rate. While this promo doesn't mention anything about award stays, if you search for award nights at the St. Regis Maldives in May 2020 and click in to the rate details you'll see a notification that all award stays during May include this half board.

Related: Where to stay in the Maldives using points and miles

Alba is the only restaurant at the hotel that's open for breakfast, and it offers both a buffet and an a la carte menu. The Maldivian eggs Benedict with crab and curry-infused hollandaise are a huge hit, and I also loved the lobster and caviar omelette. The attentive service is one of the best features of the St. Regis Maldives, and by our second day on site we were greeted at Alba with the same coffee, smoothies and fruit plate we'd ordered the morning before without even having to ask.

May is the beginning of the rainy season in the Maldives, but if you go at the beginning of the month you might luck out with good weather. There's currently award availability at the St. Regis Maldives every day of May, with prices ranging from 70,000 (off-peak) to 85,000 (standard) points per night for this Category 8 hotel. You can also take advantage of Marriott's fifth night free to score an instant 20% discount.

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Related: These are the best times to visit the Maldives

Related: The award traveler's guide to Marriott Bonvoy

Standard awards at this property book into garden villas, but if you're interested in staying in one of the overwater villas that have made the Maldives so popular, you can upgrade your stay using either cash or points.

Bottom line

The St. Regis Maldives is about as bucket-list as they come, and absolutely worth the long trip and expensive cost. This current half-board promotion can save you several hundred dollars over the course of your stay, even more if you don't have Marriott elite status and wouldn't have normally been eligible for free breakfast. Just remember that May is the beginning of the rainy season, so ideally you'll want to plan a longer trip in case some of your time on this island paradise gets rained on.

Featured photo by Ethan Steinberg/The Points Guy.