RIU Palace Maldivas

If you've never been to an actual 5* resort the I can see how people would be blown away, but caution is needed, because at the Riu the experience is not the real deal. First up, the room lottery, the rooms on the one side you have a sand beach and are good, but on the other side you have broken coral and rocks that makes the sea inaccessible. The worse side has minimal coral reef and an algae bloom at the one end that has killed the reef. On the good side, it is very shallow and the bleaching is bad making for large areas of white coral rubble. In front of the entertainment area has some good area's and it's fun to snorkel here, but it's really not extensive. So, fine for a first trip (take care with the currents though) but not a "wow" grade reef. Now, the worse bits, the food and drink. The main buffet is the same every day, and not 5* at all. It's all just a bit oily and stodgy. You'll not starve, there’s plenty ti eat, but again, no 5* "wow" factor. The bookable theme restaurants are staffed by the same teams, even though they're claiming to be country specific they're really struggling to get within a mile of anything authentic. I mean, chip shop batter for Japanese tempura, dark soy sauce for dressing, watery saki, over salted everything, it really is like someone was told what Japanese food was and then tried to make it without having ever tasted it themselves. Same for Italian, a real Italian would cry at the attempt here. The only wow was the Sri Lankan lobster, which I guess makes sense given the location, but we had this in the bookable fusion place, only to find it was in the buffet too... long story short, this is "central kitchen and rehydrated" style food. It's fine, but after a week it gets very dull. Alcohol is very unbranded and cocktails are like pure sugar. They do the job, but not good enough for a 5* resort. Towels are very washed out, no in room snacks, cheap loo roll and tissues (that smelt bad), unbranded shower gel bolted to the wall, all indicative of a local manager focused on margins, not customer experience and return business. Did they meet the expectations of what we paid, sure, just, but only just, and that's the point, it was all "just about acceptable enough not to complain" leaving all the margin intact for head office. I suspect head office will be pleased with this review. I think we're done with Riu. Read less

This is my second stay at Riu. I have stayed at the Atol side which I did not enjoy so this time upgraded to the palace side to see if it is better. Its not. In fact both on reflection are terrible. I was here for work reasons so no choice. I would not select it if I had a choice. The easy way to explain Riu is they run an operation not a service or any form of hospitality. Impersonal, clinical and lacks any form of character. Staff will bother you constantly for good reviews which is awkward. I guess this is some HR reward system. There is a total lack of management presence. Zero. This is unusual for Maldives where management are normally everywhere. Not here. In fact maybe they don’t have any management. Everything is automated even the food. The hotel has no soul. Both trips were for work reasons. I have stayed in over 20 Maldives resorts so have a good grip on things. Lets talk about what matters: Beach – Terrible and full of rocks. There are some stretches where this is not the case but these are rare. This is the Maldives and Riu has one of the worst beaches in this country. Look at my pictures. Ocean – un-swimmable in most places especially on the palace side. The sea is full of rocks and very shallow. You will need to find a sport where you can swim. The Atol side is a little better. Yes the ocean is a pretty colour but this is the Maldives and what’s the point if you can’t actually swim in it. Food – The biggest disappointment. I guess this is how food would be on a cheap cruise liner. The buffet is repeated everyday. Sometimes the lunch offer is the same as dinner. Fried rice, onion rings, pizza, curry, vegetable tempura ect. On repeat. It’s all right for one day but becomes so monotonous. Even the speciality restaurants have a menu that the food is prepared week in and week out, no variation. The Food lacks any personal touch or creativity. Drinks – The very worst quality of drinks. Terrible. The wines are undrinkable and the cocktails all prepared and full of sugar. They use spirits that cost about 5$ a litre bottle. (google the brands from my pictures) Again no creativity because everything is prepared and standardised in advance. Beds and linens – Seriously uncomfortable beds. I got a back ache after 2 nights. The pillows are those cheap polyester filled type. The sort you get in a 2 star hotel. Snorkelling - Very poor so don’t expect to spend hours snorkelling around. You wont as there is not much to see. THIS IS NOT A PLACE TO SNORKEL. The house reef is basically a set of rocks near the beach. Not a reef as such with any form of drop off and a diverse marine life. Buggies – You will need to use buggies to get around but they are rarer than unicorns on the Palace side. Staff – Some try but most don’t. They are robotic like everything else Riu offer. This place is so clinical and lacks personality. On arrival it looks stunning but this is where it stops. It lacks the arrival and hospitality experience of competing resorts such as Outrigger, Kandima, Pullman or Ja Manafaru. Arrival is one of the worst I have had in any Maldives resort. I had discussed with reservations about an upgrade before arrival and agreed to a room on the bottom floor for a surcharge. This was all agreed and processed yet when I arrived no record of that. Its really poor service and starts the stay in a poor way. Very unprofessional. The front desk and reception is the entry point for any hotel and sets the scene, Riu fails here miserably. I don’t know why Riu put there most miserable team on the front desk. They also failed to give any briefing on events, dining or activities in the resort and wifi codes were not shared. When I called reception on arrival in my room, it seemed all too much bother to provide me with this. It felt like I was an inconvenience. Sorry for being a guest. The resort lacks the friendliness of other resorts I have visited and it feels as if guests are an inconvenience. If I was not here for work I would have checked out. So bad it is and I will not go back. This is one of the only resorts I have been to that has 2 storey of rooms. Watch out what you book because you may find yourself in a room that you require to navigate a set of stairs and will not have access to the beach like every other Maldives resort bar a few. For me this is not Maldives. It feels like a resort in Spain which maybe is the point. I can’t recommend Riu. It’s hard to mess up the Maldives but they do a great job of trying. I would actually go further. I wont even consider any Riu hotel globally. If this is the standard at one of their premier resorts I can only imagine what the others must be like. Book somewhere else for your own good and feel free to DM me if you want any tips. Read less

We stayed here as a couple in August, we knew it was out of season when we booked so expected some showers (which were duly delivered) but these were short and didn't spoil our holiday at all. The weather was always hot and we had plenty of sun as well. The Hotel is spotless throughout and well maintained. We stayed in a beach view room for the first week and an over-water suite for the second week. Both rooms were huge and well looked after by the team, we had a different towel animal on our bed every day lol. You can upgrade to an over-water suite at the hotel as we did and they really are worth the extra money as they are breathtaking. We ate at the buffet restaurant every day as it was so good, the food is excellent, always hot and plentiful. The thing that really makes this hotel though is the staff, every single one of them greats you with a smile, we genuinely thought that we were family fiends as opposed to hotel guests. thank you all Read less

You have got to experience it to believe the outstanding welcome, hospitality and sheer warmth you receive. All the staff, from the cleaning, entertainment and bar teams to name a few make your stay a remarkable experience experience. The saying 'guest is God' completely does apply here. It's simply marvellous. We went here for a honeymoon and we had such a great experience and extremely humbling. The staff can't do enough. They are attentive, friendly and caring. They make your stay a memorable one. Read less

We stayed for 2 weeks in early-mid July, travelling from the UK with British Airways and it was our first time in the Maldives, usually we travel to the Caribbean. DOMESTIC FLIGHTS & TRANSFERS We decided to do the domestic flight and boat rather that the seaplane. It was a really smooth process with RIU staff on hand throughout to guide everyone through. We had minimal waiting - it was about an hour from landing in Male to boarding the domestic flight. WEATHER Nothing the hotel can do about this but in case people are wondering as we travelled during the rainy season - the weather was perfect. 30 degrees at all times, mostly sunny days - just a couple were overcast and we had one night-time shower at about 11pm and about 90 minutes of rain late afternoon on one day. ROOMS We stayed in a Beach Room, sunset side in the block closest to the restaurant (Room 104). This was a perfect location for us with all amenities super close by. It's a great size room with plenty of storage. Housekeeping (Chamara) did an incredible job keeping it spotless, no easy task with it being right on the beach. They also did some fab towel art and designs for our birthdays. I don't think anything will beat opening the sliding doors and being in the ocean in about 20 steps. There are 8 sun loungers outside each block and these are NOT exclusive to the beach access rooms, however, if you speak to staff they will bring extras. RESTAURANTS We had the majority of our meals in the buffet restaurant and personally couldn't fault it. Obviously food is a personal opinion and everyone will have a different view but there were lots of options covering a range of cuisines - Pan-Asian, Italian, British and various fish options. Breakfast has all the usual options. Food was always hot and meats cooked thoroughly. We also visited the Asian and Steak House A La Cartes - food was really nice at both although service was quite rushed at both, we had later sittings but all 3 courses were served in around an hour. This may suit some but personally we prefer a longer experience. There is also no background music in any of the restaurants so felt they were lacking in atmosphere somewhat. It's also a challenge to book - bookings go live at midnight 3 days prior and slots go quickly, especially the Steak House and Italian as these are shared with the Atoll. BAR Great range of drinks here, including lots of different spirits. The Aperol Spritz's went down very well! Extensive cocktail menu but they will also make anything as long as they have the ingredients. Barista coffee (hot & iced) are also available here along with a snack menu in the late afternoon. (burgers, chicken tenders, fries). A mention must go in here to the cleaners who work all day keeping the bar area and pool/bar toilets clean. They do an incredible job and the toilets were pristine every time I entered. ENTERTAINMENT Entertainment is more on the low key side here, which is exactly what we wanted. During the day there is music around the pool but it's definitely chill-out vibes and the only activity was daily bingo. There is a Sundowner DJ set late afternoon every day, which was our holiday highlight, just the perfect way to end a day around the pool/beach. Evenings had a singer/band on every night. There is a full entertainment programme on over at the Atoll but we only went for the White Night (which was great) so can't really comment, however, we did notice when we went to the Atoll that the alcohol was a much lower standard compared to the Palace. BEACH It's postcard perfect with the white sand and turquoise sea. Although as mentioned in other reviews, it is quite rocky getting in/out. The sunrise side is worse for this. Snorkelling was amazing - just off our room we saw small shark, a turtle, rays and a huge variety of fish. Something to be aware of though is that the current is quite strong, particularly afternoon onwards. I'd highly recommend bringing your own snorkel as the hotel ones can only be used in a restricted area on the Atoll side. POOL Pool isn't huge but it never felt overcrowded, as many guests used the beach outside their rooms or water villas. We never had a problem getting sun loungers at any time of the day, we turned up at random times throughout the day depending on what we had been doing and there were always some free. So nice not having to have sun lounger wars at a ridiculous time in the morning! SERVICE This is where the hotel truly stands out. I have stayed at luxury 5* hotels previously but nowhere have we received service like we did here. Staff learnt our names and drinks orders... we never had an empty drink! Supervisors (I assume, staff in brown shirts) regularly checked in with us as to whether we were enjoying our stay and if there was anything we needed. I'm not normally one to name staff, however, on this occasion I want to mention the following as they truly helped make our holiday special with their hard work and they are a credit to the hotel and the RIU brand. In the restaurant - Indi (master mimosa maker!), Kamal, Eran, Annabel (I think, may have got this last name wrong) In the bar - Sanju, Desy, Rumesh, Chamara, Puja and Poonam; although the whole team were fantastic. We'd definitely return to the resort and are already looking at our next trip! Read less