RIU Hotels & Resorts will inaugurate the five-star Hotel Riu Palace Maldivas and the four-star Riu Atoll in summer 2019. Both hotels are located on the private island of Kedhigandu, part of the Dhaalu Atoll, connected by a walkway with the neighboring Maafushi island.
The hotels, of new construction, offer modern facilities and luxury fresh-looking décor in predominantly light colours. They will feature RIU’s 24-hour All-Inclusive service to make the Hotel RIU’s Riu Palace Maldivas and the Riu Atoll excellent options for enjoying a relaxing holiday alone, as a couple or with friends or family in a virgin island on the Indian Ocean.
The Riu Palace Maldivas offers its guests 176 light-filled rooms that all have free WiFi, air conditioning, minibars stocked with soft drinks, water and beer, plus beverage dispensers, among others. The land-based villas offer direct access to the sea and the water villas include rooms with a private terrace and stairway leading to the sea, some of them with a private small pool.
At the Riu Atoll, 264 rooms afford outstanding views to the sea for views of spectacular sunsets.
The gastronomic offer is one of the Riu Palace Maldivas’ strong points, as it offers gourmet, Asian and Italian options in its Krystal, Yu Hi and Sofia restaurants. In addition to three different bars, the Riu Palace Maldivas also has the Beef Steakhouse and its main buffet restaurant, Palm where local cuisine, rich in meat and fish and with international influences, has a place alongside a wide variety of international dishes. Guests at the Riu Atoll will enjoy its main buffet restuarant, Dhooni, the Beef Steakhouse and the Italian restuarant Sofia as well as three different bars.
Both resorts have outdoor infinity swimming pools with swim-up bars overlooking the beach, plus a gym and a wide variety watersports under professional supervision. To go home from their vacations totally renewed, guests can visit the Renova Spa and enjoy the Jacuzzi, the steam bath or schedule appointments for all body and beauty treatments.
There are daytime and night-time entertainment programme with live shows and music, and even the youngest ones have special areas designed for them at the Riu Atoll, such as a children’s swimming pool, a children’s club and a playground.
Located in the Indian Ocean, south of India and 780 kilometers from Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, the Maldives are made up of around 1,200 islands, of which only 203 are inhabited. The country is organized into 26 atolls (groups of islands) and RIU’s two islets are located in the Dhaalu atoll. The closest main island (inhabited and with services) is Kudahuvadho.
RIU’s debut in the Maldives
In order to bring its brand to the Maldives, RIU faced an enormous challenge since communication between islands is very complex, and infrastructure and services are non-existent. Construction is unlike any other project previously carried out by the chain, while the investment necessary is also significant. Between the land and construction, RIU calculates that the spend it will be close to 140 million euros.
The results will be unlike any of the chain’s current hotels. The water surrounding the islets is quite shallow, creating a gamut of turquoise blue – the beauty of which is striking. This is in addition to the unique nature of the construction, which will include small seaside structures that have direct access either to the beach or to the sea. by way of a stairway from the room’s terrace.
Both sides of the walkway, joining the two islets, will have rooms built directly on top of the water. These will belong to the Riu Palace hotel and will be the most luxurious, with private pools and bathtubs on the terraces which will have direct access to the water.
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The international RIU chain was founded in Mallorca by the Riu family in 1953 as a small holiday firm and is still owned by the family’s third generation. The company specialises in holiday resorts and over 70% of its establishments offer its All Inclusive by RIU service.
With the inauguration of its first city hotel in 2010, RIU is expanding its range of products with its own line of city hotels called Riu Plaza. RIU Hotels & Resorts now has 92 hotels in 19 countries which welcome over 4 million guests a year and provide jobs for a total of 28,894 employees.
RIU is currently the world’s 34th ranked chain, one of the Caribbean’s most popular, the third largest in Spain in terms of revenue and the fourth largest in number of rooms.