"A relatively safe choice if you are looking for a good value, quality resort"
Situated around 50 minutes by sea plane from Male International Airport (MLE), the resort contains 2 hotel complexes on either side of the island. We stayed at the Riu Atoll resort, whereas the Riu Palace was a smaller comparable resort accessed via the communal pier and walkway.
We opted to arrive by domestic flight and boat on the inward trip, and out on the sea plane on the return journey to ensure a smooth connection with our international flight. However, due to congestion at the international airport on our arrival, all of our connections were delayed. This wasn't an issue if you had arranged transport via the hotel - as they adjust things, but could be an issue for the independent traveler.
I will review things in useful blocks so that nothing is left uncovered.
Arrival
Even if you arrive by sea plane, you are likely to arrive on the resort by boat from either their local floating pontoon, or from the adjacent island. It isn't really an issue, but as we arrived to a rather unattractive pier at the back of what looked like an industrial complex, then transported by buggy to reception, first impressions could have been better. However, it got better.
Check in was quite smooth, although you aren't allowed to leave until you have paid for your transfers in full at the desk. I mistakenly thought we had paid for this already, so make sure you have your credit cards to hand. As mentioned, we had only opted for sea plane one way, but for 4 of us it came to $2660 return - not an insignificant amount.
We had asked for 2 adjacent rooms in blocks 10-12, but for some reason they said they cannot guarantee rooms - which if you are travelling as a group or family like we were, could be an issue. However, we insisted that we didn't want to be far apart, so they compromised and put us in block 24 which was at the furthermost part of the island ( a 12 minute walk from reception or 10 mins from the main facilities). . I will comment on the pros and cons of room locations below, but this ended up being a more suitable option for us in the end.
Our bags were brought separately by buggy to our rooms, which was about 10 minutes later, so no real issue.
The Rooms
We stayed in beach view villas (2403 and 2404) which were well appointed and had direct access to the beach and reef just outside of our patio doors. The rooms were modern, clean and had all the usual facilities such as tea/coffee making facilities, hair dryer, ironing board and iron, ample wardrobe space, drawers, room safe, fridge with soft drinks, water and beer (replenished daily), and excellent aircon. The beds were firm and clean, (we had a double and a fold down sofa bed), and the bathroom toiletries and towels were of high quality. Towels were changed daily.
Amenities
The resort has a main buffet restaurant called 'Dhoni' which holds around 230 people, one 'Steak restaurant' which serves a limited but good quality fixed menu option, and one Italian restaurant - oddly called 'Sofia'. This also has a limited but good menu along Italian lines. We never had to wait or book for a table throughout our entire stay. The waiting staff are very attentive and we need to have a special mention for Diana in the Sports bar, who remembered everyone of our orders night after night without prompting. There is also a steak restaurant which has quite a small capacity, but if you can get in the food is to a reasonable standard, although the service was a bit slow.
We attended over the New Years Eve celebrations, which were fun, but don't wear any expensive clothes - as the staff over enthusiastically started spraying all of the guests with champagne on the stroke of midnight without a care in the world. One of my sons expensive jackets with suede insert was ruined and I was soaked - and no-one seemed to care. So beware.
Diving Facilities and Water Sports
They have an onsite diving franchise where you can learn to dive through the PADI programme. The advertised prices do seem to be 'flexible' as we did notice that some Russian visitors received the same diving package as us for a discount despite only negotiating on the day - which was quite annoying given that we had booked well ahead to get the 'best rate'. The staff though were competent and friendly.
We also booked some jet skis, which although quite expensive was something we felt we needed to do. However, it literally involved traversing vast expanses of the ocean to reach some smaller islands - which although pretty, left us with sore butts due to the time spent bouncing over waves en route. Take shorter trips around the island.
Overall
We had a fun time, although there were a few disappointing elements like the transfer mix up and being sprayed with champagne whether we wanted it or not, the family consensus was that it was an enjoyable trip overall. We have already booked for next Christmas and New year but decided to go to the 'Palace' side of the island to do a comparison.
