Hotel Riu Palace Maldivas - All inclusive

We’re coming to the end of what has been an amazing 10 nights at this beautiful resort. HOTEL & ROOMS As this was our honeymoon, we did spend some money a chose to stay in an overwater bungalow with private pool, and it was worth every penny! Not only do you have the beauty of a private pool, but a ladder into the sea which is brilliant for snorkelling. We have seen some incredible fish, including reef sharks, rays, trigger fish and a barracuda. If you’re thinking about booking a bungalow then request one of the sunset side, as the sunsets are truly magical! The room was cleaned daily. Mini fridge and bar topped up every day too, with soft drinks and bottles of water, as well as Gin, Rum, Whiskey & Vodka. Fresh towels every day too. Plug sockets are either USB or UK. Hairdryer is ok but not particularly powerful. Iron and ironing board are also available. The staff have been amazing! Everyone is super friendly and welcoming. There are golf carts regularly travelling along the causeway you can hope on if you don’t want to walk between the two islands, but the walk itself is 10/15mins max. We’d like to say a special thank you to the hotel staff and security team for helping my husband find his mobile phone when he lost it one evening. FOOD & DRINK We tried every restaurant on both the Atoll & Palace sides. Both buffet restaurants were great and had lots of variety to choose from. We’re not really lunch people, so only ate lunch at the buffets one of the days, and just grabbed snacks from the sports bar the rest of our stay. The variety at the buffet on the Palace side had slightly more to choose from, but both were to a great standard and felt really fresh. I particularly enjoyed the Eggs Royale and Fresh Toast for breakfast. We tried all the restaurants on site, other than the Italian. Our favourites were the Krystal & Japanese restaurants. These are really easy to book using the Riu app. We also ordered room service on a few of the days for a late lunch, which again was tasty but options were limited. Lots of drinks to choose from across the resort. Cocktails like Espresso Martinis and Whiskey Sours are not listed on the menu, but if you ask the staff they will make them for you. As it was our honeymoon we treated ourselves to a floating breakfast one day. 10/10! But is an extra 50 dollars to do. ACTIVITIES You will not get bored! Water sports such as kayaking, paddle boarding, peddle boats and snorkelling a free to do. You can also pay for additional experiences such as jet skiing and various tours. We highly recommend the jet ski tour and dolphin watching tour. There is always some form on entertainment on in the evenings. We opted for more chilled, live music, but the Atoll side hosts a white party once a week which is a bit more lively if that’s the sort of music you enjoy. WEATHER We visited in November, and yes we have had some rain/cloudy days. But as a typical Brit I still managed to catch the sun even on the days that were over cast. It’s been 28 degrees every day, and even when it has rained it’s only been for a few hours and then back to beautiful sunshine again.