Riu Palace Maldivas, 176 suites on a 24-hour all-inclusive plan, on Kedhigandu island in Dhaalu Atoll, joined to Riu Atoll by an 800-metre walkway
Riu Palace suits couples who want a room above the lagoon and dinner choices that reach across to the neighbouring island. For a holiday spent entirely on one small island, I would choose a more compact resort.
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Keep it among your hotels and see it on the budget globe, month by month.
Riu Palace Maldivas is the 5-star resort RIU opened in May 2019 on Kedhigandu, in Dhaalu Atoll, together with the 4-star Riu Atoll on neighbouring Maafushi; an 800-metre walkway over the sea links the 2 islands. There are 176 rooms, every one a suite facing the sea, from the 40 m² Jr. Suite with a balcony to the 60 m² overwater suite with a private pool.
People come for an all-inclusive plan with no timetable: Palm’s buffet, 2 à la carte restaurants and 2 more next door, the swim-up bar, the minibar and room service. In the latest 500 Google reviews with text, 88% of guests who mention the staff praise them, and the same things recur: the quieter Palace side, the shallow water, and blacktip sharks seen from the deck.
The rate leaves out the transfer, a Green Tax of $12 per person per night and spa treatments, and for sport, some à la carte dinners and the evenings guests often cross the bridge to the busier Riu Atoll. Anyone after a small, intimate island will be happier elsewhere: with Riu Atoll, the complex is big and lively.
Lumina Guide 2027
Riu Palace Maldivas brings a 24-hour all-inclusive plan to a quiet island in Dhaalu Atoll: 176 suites over the water or on the beach, and an 800-metre walkway to the livelier Riu Atoll.
How we choose the hotelsAmong Riu Palace’s regulars, 3 describe being recognised on their return, and one says the bar team remembered favourite drinks. A returning guest who wrote in September 2025 remembers help choosing lactose-free food. An author writing in February 2026 recommends trying the speciality restaurants.
All returning candidates were read; short reviews outside the 663-review base and returns to other RIU hotels were left out.
What we found reading the hotel’s own pages, one thing at a time.
An island ringed by reef, with the beach in front of every suite; the Palace shares its atoll with Riu Atoll.
2 islands, a walkway and the neighbour’s entertainment team: an easy holiday village for anyone who likes company in the evening.
40 to 60 m², all facing the sea; private pools only in the largest overwater suites.
Palm’s buffet, Krystal and Yu Hi, plus Sofia and the Beef Steak House across the bridge.
Renova Spa for massages, facials and hairdressing; size and zones unpublished, treatments extra.
$633 a night for 2, all inclusive, in November and December, plus the transfer and Green Tax.
What do Riu Palace’s guests say? They write it in their reviews, even those who only came for a drink or dinner: we read every one and tell the 5 things that matter, from the location to the bill.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests write of the clear, shallow water, the beach outside the room and the sharks and rays they watch from the shore.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The suites are spacious and cleaned every day, with the sea in front; the overwater ones are what guests remember most.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests single out the pool bar team, the chefs who cook dishes to order and the help that starts on arrival in Malé.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Breakfast is the buffet at Palm, until 10.30am, with live cooking stations and sparkling wine; guests praise its range and freshness.
5 in 10 guests who mention the price find it fair. Of the all-inclusive, guests happy with the bill say it is worth every dollar: meals and branded drinks at any hour, the à la carte restaurants, room service and the minibar.
| What | Score out of 10 | Guests who mention it | Happy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 8.6 | 207 | 83% |
| Room | 8.0 | 169 | 85% |
| Staff and service | 8.7 | 390 | 88% |
| Breakfast | 7.7 | 26 | 81% |
| Price | – | 47 | 45% |
The scores come from 500 Google reviews with text, left from 9 September 2022 to 30 September 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in Dhaalu Atoll: for each we read its latest 500 Google reviews with text, or all of them where there are fewer, as of 7 October 2026. The score is the average of what they say, from 0 if they speak of it very badly to 10 if they speak of it very well. Where only a few mention something, the score stays close to the guide’s average: a handful of voices does not make a reputation.
The hotels we weigh it against in Dhaalu Atoll:
Price: for two on the night of 5 November 2026, from $633 (seen on Google Hotels on 7 October 2026).
A buffet facing the sea, a bar you can order from in the pool, the spa and a shallow lagoon off the sand.
Palm, the main restaurant, serves 3 buffets with live cooking stations, vegetarian dishes and 2 themed evenings a week, on a terrace looking out to sea. In the evening, by reservation, dinner is at Krystal, a fusion restaurant, or at Yu Hi, a Japanese one, from 6.30 to 10pm.
The pool bar has a counter in the water, so you can order without climbing out, and many reviews thank its bartenders by name. For sport on television there is Riu Atoll’s Sports Bar, open round the clock.
Massages, facials, hairdressing and beauty treatments, according to the official page. A guest in September 2026 says the spa is at Riu Atoll; another, in July 2025, paid $165 for an 80-minute massage.
The water stays shallow and clear for long stretches, and the reef begins about 50 metres from the shore, a guest wrote in July 2026. Kayaks, pedal boats and snorkelling gear are included, in the stretch of water in front of the water sports centre.
Spa treatments are charged separately, as are diving and the extra activities; access to the spa is included. Source: riu.com
Humidity is felt in the suites, several guests wrote between 2023 and 2026: it pays to leave the air conditioning on. Source: 500 Google reviews read, 9 September 2022 to 30 September 2026
The transfer is extra: the domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo and the speedboat cost $395 per adult and $352 per child aged 2 to 11, return; the seaplane $816 and $450 from 1 November 2026, according to Agoda and Booking.com.
The official site’s rates include tax and service but not the Green Tax: $12 per person per day, paid at the resort. Booking.com, by contrast, shows its prices before the 17% GST.
The Palace is the quiet half of the RIU complex: RIU Land, the sports, Sofia, the Beef Steak House and the Sports Bar are all at Riu Atoll, across the walkway, where several guests find more people and more noise. Between December 2023 and May 2026, 4 Google reviews say the buggies between the 2 islands come by rarely; the walkway is 800 metres long.
Included snorkelling happens in front of the water sports centre, and the gear stays there: to swim elsewhere, guests advise bringing a mask, fins and reef shoes.
Booking.com and Expedia set a minimum check-in age of 18. Children are welcome, pay as adults from 13 and there are no extra beds; RIU presents the Palace as a hotel for couples.
Wi-Fi is free; between January 2024 and June 2026, 4 Google reviews describe it as weak or unreliable.
By domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo and then speedboat, or by seaplane from Malé
| Flight and boat | A 45-minute flight from Malé to Kudahuvadhoo and 15 minutes by speedboat to reception, according to the official page |
|---|---|
| Seaplane | 50 to 60 minutes direct, after a wait in the seaplane lounge, according to RIU’s blog; daylight only |
| Price | $395 per adult and $352 per child aged 2 to 11 by flight and boat, $816 and $450 by seaplane, return, according to Agoda |
| On arrival | A RIU representative meets guests outside arrivals in Malé and takes them to check in for the domestic flight |
From the official page and RIU’s blog post of 4 August 2026, read on 7 October 2026, and from Agoda, Booking.com and Expedia the same day. The blog names the domestic airline as both Maldivian and Manta; Agoda and Booking.com give 20 minutes by speedboat, the official page 15. Agoda describes a 60-minute seaplane flight with a stop at another resort, and wants flight details 10 days ahead, Expedia 72 hours.
Riu Palace Maldivas · Dhaalu Atoll
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Join the free RIUFit programme before settling into the rest of the day.
Take lunch at Palm, where the buffet’s live cooking stations lead out to a terrace facing the sea.
For a change of scene, the resort offers boat excursions through the atoll.
With a table reserved, sit down to Japanese dishes at Yu Hi.
Cross to Riu Atoll for its evening live music and shows.
The platforms’ scores, read between 3 and 7 October 2026, and what guests say about the service, the suites and the lagoon.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 1,256 ratings, 87% of them 5 stars. The figures by theme come from the latest 500 reviews with text, from September 2022 to September 2026, in many languages; many thank members of staff by name. They are accounts of stays we have not verified.
6 stays described on Google between July 2025 and September 2026.
GoogleIn September 2026 a parent travelling with their son left the beach by the pool, where other guests were loud and kept smoking, for the one outside their room: there it felt like an island of their own. In the restaurants, they note, only wine and beer are served.
GoogleIn July 2026 a couple who had stayed at Riu Atoll before were moved, unasked, to an overwater suite with a bathtub: from the deck they watched blacktip reef sharks, eagle rays and stingrays go by. They were let down by the room service menu, and by premium spirits on the menu often served as cheaper substitutes.
GoogleIn August 2026 a guest asked for, and got, a ground-floor suite on the west side: the reef in front, shallower water and a steady breeze, while the sea is deeper on the east. Leave the air conditioning on, they advise, because of the humidity.
GoogleIn August 2026 a couple who cannot swim describe their overwater suite on the deep side; they would have preferred the shallow side, where you step down and stand on the bottom, and suggest the hotel ask guests first.
GoogleIn August 2026 a guest who proposed here recommends the Palace for a more relaxed and exclusive stay, and Riu Atoll for a more traditional resort village; the sea, the guest writes, is just as beautiful on both sides.
GoogleIn July 2025 an unhappy guest describes Wi-Fi that worked only early in the morning, a very expensive spa, $165 for 80 minutes, and buggies between the 2 islands that came by rarely.
The questions people ask before booking Riu Palace, answered from sources read between 3 and 7 October 2026.
A 5-star all-inclusive resort in the Palace line of RIU Hotels & Resorts, the Mallorca-based chain, with 176 rooms on Kedhigandu, in Dhaalu Atoll. RIU’s blog dates the opening to May 2019, together with Riu Atoll, a 4-star resort on the next island; the official page says it joined the chain in 2019 after being built in 2018–19, and Agoda lists it as opened in 2018 and renovated in 2019.
The 2 islands work as one complex: Palace guests also use Riu Atoll’s restaurants, bars, pools and activities, which has its own restaurants, kids’ club and Sports Bar; Krystal and Yu Hi are the Palace’s own restaurants.
4 types, according to the rooms page: the 40 m² Jr. Suite with a balcony over the sea, the 40 m² Junior Suite with a patio on the beach, the 47 m² overwater suite with a bathtub on the deck and the 60 m² overwater suite with a private pool. All have a 200 by 200 cm king bed or two 125 by 200 cm beds, a sofa, satellite TV, air conditioning, a ceiling fan, a minibar and a kettle.
The site does not say how many suites there are of each type; its FAQ calls the overwater units Junior Suites, while the rooms list calls them Suites. For 2 adults in November the booking engine asked $787 a night for the overwater suite and $1,202 for the one with a pool, against $633 for the Jr. Suite.
On Kedhigandu, in Dhaalu Atoll, 2.8 miles, about 4.5 km, from Kudahuvadhoo airport according to Booking.com, which gives the address as Gadifuri-Maafushi Island. An 800-metre walkway over the sea, lined with suites, joins it to Maafushi, Riu Atoll’s island.
The Palace side is the quieter one, many guests wrote in 2025 and 2026; Riu Atoll, with its entertainment, parties and Sports Bar, is busier, and buggies run along the walkway, the road between the 2 islands.
By a 45-minute domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo and 15 minutes by speedboat, according to the official page, or by a direct seaplane of 50 to 60 minutes, according to RIU’s blog. Agoda and Booking.com price the flight and speedboat at $395 per adult and $352 per child aged 2 to 11, return, free under 2; the seaplane costs $816 per adult and $450 per child from 1 November 2026.
Agoda also mentions a free domestic-flight transfer for stays of at least 4 nights from 1 May to 31 October, and a mixed option, seaplane in and domestic flight out, at $605.50 per adult. Seaplanes fly only in daylight, so you must land in Malé by 3pm. Expedia charges the transfer as a «resort fee» of $395 per person from 1 November to 30 April.
No. Kedhigandu is a car-free island reached only by air and boat, and the official page says so: no parking, you arrive on the resort’s transfer. Tripadvisor lists «Parking» among the amenities; on the island you get about on foot or by buggy.
From the beach, in front of every suite, and straight from the decks of the overwater ones, which the rooms page gives direct access to the sea; the ground-floor Junior Suites have a patio on the sand, 12 to 14 metres from the water according to a guest in July 2026.
The seabed changes with the side: shallower water on the west, deeper on the east, one guest wrote in August 2026, and another, who cannot swim, would have preferred an overwater suite on the shallow side. Several guests advise reef shoes.
Yes. The official page mentions snorkelling on the reefs, and the Riu Atoll page house reefs with the gear included. A guest in July 2026 found the reef about 50 metres from the shore, within wading distance at low tide; others, in 2025 and 2026, saw blacktip sharks, rays, mantas and turtles without leaving the lagoon.
The rules limit the included snorkelling: the Riu Atoll page allows it only in the stretch of water in front of the water sports centre, and a guest in November 2025 says you use the gear there for an hour and cannot take it back to the room; another left a $50 deposit, refunded on return. Bringing your own gear lifts those limits, and in May 2026 a guest warned of strong currents on one side of each island.
At the Palace, an infinity pool facing the sea with submerged loungers, the Paradise swim-up bar and a children’s pool, according to the official page; the largest overwater suites add a small private pool. Guests can also use Riu Atoll’s pools, with shallow pools and slides for children.
The official pages publish neither the pool’s hours nor its temperature; Booking.com lists it as open all year. Service at the swim-up bar and the loungers is part of the all-inclusive plan.
According to the restaurants page: at Palm, the main buffet, breakfast from 7.30 to 10.30am, lunch from 1 to 3pm and dinner from 7 to 10pm; at Krystal, fusion, and Yu Hi, Japanese, à la carte dinner from 6.30 to 10pm by reservation. Riu Atoll adds Sofia, Italian, from 6.30 to 9.30pm, and the Beef Steak House, with a continental breakfast from 10.30am to 12.30pm, an afternoon snack and dinner.
Smart dress is expected at dinner. Guests praise the buffet’s variety and chefs who prepare gluten-free, vegan or halal dishes on request.
It is the only plan the official booking engine sells, round the clock. According to the official page it covers meals, snacks and premium-brand drinks at any hour, the à la carte restaurants by reservation, room service, special diets, the minibar and drinks dispensers in the suite, the RIUFit fitness programme and access to the spa; kayaks, paddleboards, pedal boats and snorkelling gear are included according to the Riu Atoll page.
Left out are the transfer, the Green Tax, spa treatments, diving, which Google Hotels lists as paid, and the extra activities. A guest in September 2026 says only wine and beer are served in the restaurants, with cocktails at the bars.
It is called Renova Spa and offers massages, facials, hairdressing and beauty treatments, according to the official page, which gives neither its size nor its zones. Booking.com and Google Hotels list a sauna and Booking.com a hot tub, which the official pages do not mention.
The Riu Atoll page describes the same Renova Spa, and a guest in September 2026 had 3 massages at Riu Atoll, across the walkway.
Access is included, treatments are not. The FAQ on the official page lists spa access among the all-inclusive services, and Booking.com sells rates with «unlimited spa access» and $460 of credit per stay, $200 of it for treatments according to Agoda, until 23 December 2026.
A guest in July 2025 paid $165 for 80 minutes. No source publishes a day pass for anyone not staying in the complex, which can be reached only by domestic flight and boat or by seaplane.
riu.com’s official pages do not publish Renova Spa’s hours, neither on the Palace page nor on the Riu Atoll one; a guest in August 2026 writes that bookings and requests go through the RIU app, and are answered quickly.
Yes: Booking.com welcomes children of all ages, charges them as adults from 13 and offers a free cot up to 2, with no extra beds; Expedia says there are neither cots nor extra beds. Both set a minimum check-in age of 18.
The RIU Land club, with games and crafts every day, is at Riu Atoll, and the official page does not give its ages; the Palace has a children’s pool. RIU presents the Palace as a hotel for couples, and Riu Atoll’s gym is closed to under-18s.
According to the official page: the infinity pool, the Paradise bar, 3 restaurants, the gym, the spa, a medical service, laundry, a shop and free Wi-Fi; Riu Atoll adds the Sports Bar, the Boduberu lounge bar, water sports, daytime entertainment and shows at night.
Agoda counts 6 restaurants and 6 bars across the 2 hotels. A guest in 2025 writes that the gym was at the other hotel, while the Palace page shows one with glass walls onto the sea; Google Hotels lists golf, which no official page describes.
The official engine, read on 7 October 2026, showed discounts of 3 to 20% off the full price for November, December and January on the non-refundable rate, with the free-cancellation rate a little dearer. Booking.com showed 30% off, sometimes as a «Late Escape Deal», and $460 of credit for the spa and diving, for stays of at least 3 nights until 23 December 2026 according to Agoda.
RIU Class, the chain’s loyalty scheme, promises members benefits on the official page; Agoda mentions the free domestic-flight transfer from May to October for at least 4 nights.
Yes, with a symbolic ceremony facing the ocean, according to the official page. RIU’s blog of 26 May 2022 on Maldives weddings explains that you agree the date, that a wedding planner looks after the cake, music, flowers, photographs and hairdresser, and that the ceremony ideally starts at sunset, at 5.30pm; it also suggests proposing with rose petals in the pool of an overwater suite.
Prices and capacities are not published. Guests in 2026 describe a vow renewal with a photographer, a proposal and a honeymoon.
The official pages publish no programme or menu for 31 December. The booking engine, read on 7 October 2026, had no rooms from 27 December to 1 January and required at least 5 nights over Christmas; none of the Booking.com rates read listed a compulsory gala dinner. A guest in January 2026 writes that there is no better place to spend New Year’s Eve.
No: no official page mentions golf, though Google Hotels lists it among the amenities. The activities are on the water: snorkelling, kayaks, paddleboards, pedal boats, diving, sunset cruises and boat trips, according to the Palace and Riu Atoll pages.
All year, as far as the official page says, with no closures announced. On 7 October 2026 the booking engine had no rooms for any stay read between 8 October and 2 November, while a guest was writing on Tripadvisor from the resort on 4 October: the resort was open, and its rooms sold out or not on sale.
The site names no best season. A guest in September 2026 describes the first 2 or 3 days of rain, in the rainy season, then 7 of sunshine; another, in May 2026, wind and strong currents.
On the official booking engine, read on 7 October 2026, for 2 adults on the all-inclusive plan in the cheapest room, tax and service included, Green Tax excluded: $633 a night for 4 nights from 5 November 2026, $683 a night for 4 nights from 19 November, when only the beach-access Junior Suite was left, $633 for 3 nights from 8 December and for 4 nights from 15 December, $802 for 5 nights from 22 December and $754 for 4 nights from 12 January 2027.
Booking.com, the same day, asked $541 a night for the Jr. Suite from 24 November and $686 from 22 December, but before the 17% GST: with the tax added, the total matches the official site’s.
You cannot book a single night: the engine had no rooms for 10 November and asked for 3 to 5 nights depending on the dates, and had none for the stays read between 8 October and 2 November or from 27 December to 1 January. Google Hotels, on 6 October 2026, showed no price for any of the 117 nights to 31 January. The transfer and the Green Tax are extra.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 1,256 ratings; on 3 October Tripadvisor gave 4.8/5 from 1,815, with a Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best 2026 award, and Booking.com 9.2/10 from 244, with staff and cleanliness at 9.6 and Wi-Fi at 8.3. On 7 October Expedia gave 9.4/10 from 225 and Agoda 8.8/10 from 38.
In the latest 500 Google reviews with text, 88% of the 390 guests who mention the staff and services speak well of them, 83% of those who mention the location and 85% of those who mention the suites. What also recurs is humidity in the rooms, which several guests mention in 2025 and 2026 and which is best met by leaving the air conditioning on, weak Wi-Fi, a short room service menu and the extras outside the all-inclusive plan, from the spa to diving.
The official engine includes tax and service and warns that local taxes of $12 per person per day, the Green Tax, are not included. Booking.com includes the 10% service charge but leaves out the 17% GST and the $12: $2,163 for 4 nights in a Jr. Suite from 24 November, against $2,530 on the official site.
Expedia, for the same nights, gave $3,416 with every tax, the Green Tax and a «resort fee» of $395 per person per stay from 1 November to 30 April, which covers the transfer. The spa, excursions, diving and late check-out, which Expedia says is charged, remain extra.
Check-in from 3pm and check-out by noon, according to the official page, which suggests checking in online. Booking.com asks for photo ID and a credit card on arrival; Expedia adds that late check-out depends on availability and is charged.
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This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
