Hotel RIU Atoll

Our first time in the maldives and the Atoll did not disappoint us. A utterly beautiful place. Great food, the steak house was amazing! The room was as expected, spacious and clean, we upgraded to a water villa for the last few days which was also gorgeous. The staff were fabulous, friendly and witty. Phillipe, restaurant Manager, was a utter gentleman, to be honest all the staff were lovely, from barmen, to cleaners,. The young man on the watersports team was very helpful, my husband and boys went out twice on the jet ski, which were worth every penny. Although we have stayed at better hotels (various Caribbean and high end Turkey), the sea and location of The Atoll was just utterly magical. Thank you Read less

Absolutely amazing experience, nothing is too much trouble for any of the staff, they are all about making the experience the best it can be. Would 100% recommend this resort. Great selection of food and drink and lots of activities throughout the day to keep you entertained. Mini bar in room is also a nice touch. Lovely way to spend our honeymoon. Read less

We have just returned from the best holiday we have ever been on, 100% paradise. We travelled with TUI and flew with Qatar via Doha which was fabulous. On arrival in male we were greeted by a riu rep who showed us to a restaurant and we could pick from the menu free of charge. After a couple of hours we then got escorted to the domestic terminal and checked in for our flight to Dhaalu which took 35 mins, got bags and straight on to a minibus to harbour and a 10 min speedboat ride to riu atoll/palace, we didn’t realise both these hotels were connected by the reception. However the palace side used everything on the atoll side but atoll couldn’t use the palace side but to be honest there was nothing on the palace side to use or any better. On arrival we had a quick welcome in reception and checked in. We were then escorted towards our rooms, some rooms were around a 10 minute walk away from the restaurant and bars so if you want to be closer you need to ask for a lower room number, they started at 1000-3000, we were in 1900 and it was around a 7 minute walk but seemed much quicker along the beach. The blocks had 12 rooms 6 on the bottom and 6 on the top and the we were the only guests in the block, with our own private beach with Sunbed’s, as no other guests around. The room was lovely and so spacious, our cleaner Nizam really looked after us with towel decorations and leaving us plenty of towels everyday. We liked that the beach towels were in your room too. We always had plenty of shower gel/soap and the mini bar was always replenished daily. The rooms all had a kettle with brew kit, fridge, iron and ironing board, hairdryer and a big umbrella. the beds were huge and extremely comfortable. Everywhere is spotless and the staff work tirelessly to keep it like this. The toilets are the cleanest we’ve ever been in. We walked around the island which is pristine but unfortunately you can’t walk the whole way due to the workers area but it was around 2 miles and there are so many huge shells all over the beach. We used the gym daily which was air conditioned, had great running machines, x trainers, weights etc water, tv and scales. The main restaurant was great and the staff were outstanding especially mary, Sintya, yogi to name a few, the food was outstanding with 5 different cooking stations - fish, Italian, Maldivian, indian and Mediterranean and then lots of salads, breads, fruit, cake etc We used the watersports centre several times, using the pedalos and kayaks free of charge. The pool bar was lovely and especially at the end of each day where they had a sunset Dj with amazing chilled out music. There was a huge chess set and a boules area to use whenever you liked too. The sports bar was a great place to go and have a free game of pool and a drink and was open 24hrs with snacks too. We went to the Italian Al a carte 3 times and it was absolutely delicious, the steak in there was unbelievable, we also went to the steakhouse twice and it was delicious too with a totally different style steak but just as yummy. We got invited and experienced a wedding too while we were there, it was absolutely beautiful and so romantic, we felt truly honoured to be part of such a special day. The evening entertainment was quite low key with a band, themed dj nights, karaoke and kahoot quiz but very enjoyable and the bar staff were very efficient, thanks aminda. We had an amazing 10 nights here and cannot wait to return, we had to leave our bags outside our room the night/morning we were leaving and the journey back was so much smoother as no waiting for anything it was like clockwork and only took 20hrs compared to 24hrs when we arrived, we would highly recommend booking the seaplane going to save 5/6hours hanging around male. Thanks to everyone at RIU Atoll keep up the outstanding service and we will see you all soon, Helen & Martyn Read less

This is the second time we have come to this wonderful resort and, like last time, we had a wonderful time. RIU staff will meet you upon arrival at Malé International. The overwater junior suite we stayed in had everything we needed: multiple power outlets with international adapters and usb ports, life jackets, umbrellas, ironing board, large safe, mini bar stocked daily with soft drinks, water and beer, alcohol dispenser, tea and coffee maker, extra blankets and pillows. There are plenty of towels in the bathroom but no body lotion so it is best to bring some from home. Also bring plenty of sunscreen as it is a bit expensive here. The staff is wonderful and very helpful. Special thanks to our friend Prasad, Mr. Amila at the reception, Rose and all her colleagues at the Doni Restaurant. There are a lot of choices at the buffet and although the food varies a little during the week, everything is fresh and very good. Get yourself a phone case for taking underwater pictures (also available in the gift shop), reef shoes (as there may be pieces of coral) and a snorkel mask (which you can rent here). Have fun! Read less