Hotel RIU Atoll

Absolutely amazing holiday & hotel that lived up to the pre-holiday hype & helped make my 60th birthday really special. Superb island & beaches that did not disappoint. Very relaxed & chilled out atmosphere which is exactly what you want in holiday. The staff really make a difference here & nothing is too much trouble for them. All restaurants offer a great selection of well presented & delicious dishes….big thank you to Fiaz & Nee. Pool bar staff really entertaining & helpful particularly Niko & Pasi. Would definitely recommend the jet ski tour, Suarez was a brilliant guide & we spotted dolphins, turtles & ray. The only downside was having to leave the Island at 4.15am which was over 9 hours before our 13.25pm flight back to Heathrow. That said would we return……absolutely. Read less

10/10 holiday resort. We just returned from 2 weeks here and we honestly could not fault this hotel. The friendly staff made our stay! Every single staff member greets you and says hello as they pass, they cannot do enough to help you if needed. The pool bar staff were our favourite especially Rosan and the others that we just can’t remember the names of. But we were blown away by how lovely and friendly they were. They really need the recognition as they did a fantastic job. What I really loved about RIU is how seamless they made our travels. We couldn’t fault a single thing. They directed us perfectly and made the transfer so easy. Once we left the airport from our domestic flight, our bags were taken out of our hands and put onto the speedboat and then taken from the boat directly to our room which I loved! We were warmly welcomed with a cold towel and drink after our travels. We booked a beach villa at the start which we were very impressed with. Huge rooms, kept exceptionally clean by staff everyday. Free mini bar which was replenished daily with 2 ltr bottles of water and soft drinks. Fresh bath and pool towels given daily. Even though each villa unit houses approx 8 rooms, it was so peaceful and felt like it was your own space. The beach access was never filled with people on our side so it felt totally private. The water is the most stunning blue you’ll ever see. Baby sharks swimming in the shallows, hundreds of hermit crabs and fish. If you’re an animal lover then this is definitely the best part of the trip! The house reef blew my mind. I didn’t realise that it would be as lively and full of hundreds of colourful fish as it was. I brought 2 full face snorkel masks from SHEIN for €20 each with us, the shop sold them for $90 each so if you want to snorkel (which we ended up doing everyday because it was so good) then bring them with you or you can hire the mask and mouth piece style from the activity centre but this was the best purchase we made in bringing them. The shop is quite expensive but everything in the Maldives is as it’s so hard to get everything shipped onto the island. Bring strong sunscreen as the sun is no joke there!! The activity centre was perfect. We booked a snorkel trip and a dolphins trip. The dolphin trip was incredible. Huge thanks to the boat captain Hassan who made our trip amazing!! He was such a lovely guy, we chatted with him for ages and he showed us so many videos and pictures of what he has seen over the years. We came across a pod of hundreds of dolphins that were spinning and following under the front of the boat. Definitely recommend taking the boat tours. All the staff were so lovely and the captain was a gentleman. The swim up pool bar was perfect ! We spent a lot of time on the loungers between the pool and the sea. The atmosphere was great. They had lots of activities for the people who wanted to join in and the pool was perfect to cool down in and grab a drink whenever you felt like it. The buffet was good. Great choice and we loved when they did themed nights and changed up the selection of foods. The 2 restaurants were great. The steak in the steakhouse was lovely and the Italian was delicious! They have a buffet style starter and dessert section and that was our favourite. The sports bar was good, pool tables, snack section, games and great air conditioning. It was really hot and humid when we were there so we really appreciated the air conditioning in the bar and bathrooms. I must applaud how clean they kept every public bathroom. I’ve never seen a hotel to take such good care of every single bathroom and space they have. Entertainment at night was fabulous. They have themed parties on every second night which were brilliant. If you download the app you can see what entertainment is on each night. The nights in between the parties were cute too, quizzes, live music, movie nights etc. we were luckily told by a couple to go to the pier near reception at night where they have lights in the water which attract the fish and sharks and if you’re lucky you’ll see the sting rays and other sea life out. We really loved that part of it. We booked a water villa on the second week just to mix up our holiday and get a change of scenery. We wished we had booked it for the 2 weeks once we went there. It was stunning! The water villas give you premium spirits on tap (dangerous 🙃) but basically the same layout and design as the beach villas. The outdoor deck was of course our favourite part. We chose the sunset side and we are so glad that we did because wow! The fish and baby sharks swim around the villas and it is the most incredible experience to chill and have drinks while watching the sunset. In the mornings we got straight into the water with the marine life and I don’t think I could holiday anywhere else after experiencing what this island has to offer. On the pool side of the island you can walk out for agesss and the water is only at your knees or hips so there’s so much space to walk around and see the fish. To summarise, this was the best holiday we’ve ever had. The staff made it, the location is supurb, the wildlife is just out of this world and the hotel itself is immaculate. Would very highly recommend. I literally can’t fault it at all and that’s an achievement coming from people who travel a lot. Just stunning from start to finish. A pure paradise island. Read less