Radisson Blu Resort, Maldives — Hotel in South Ari Atoll

We stayed with Radisson Blu in March 2025.The resort is new and opened in 2018. We stayed in a sunset water villa. The villas belong to the largest in the Maldives (220m2 including exterior) large deck and pool. Everything build in high quality, minimalistic modern design, and working perfectly; great to enjoy the gentle surf of the Indian Ocean not disturbed by any other noise. Aircon works perfectly and is very quiet. Rooms 10/10.

All restaurants have fantastic locations and are either located above water (Kabuki, Alifaan and Raha) or next to pool and beach as Eats and Beats and Crusoes. In addition the Premium plan includes fine dining with Alifaan restaurant (a la carte, no restrictions) and Kabuki Japanese restaurant (restricted to the family set menu). Classic AI offers a meal credit of USD 65++ when using fine dining. A romantic theme night dinner and a wine tasting are also included in the Premium plan. At the price point of Premium AI I would have expected to have some champagnes and Kabuki a la carte options to be included in AI which unfortunately wasn’t the case. In hindsight the Classic AI menu seems to offer best value for money and would be our option when we come back next time. During dinner and evening time we enjoyed acoustic life music in Mahurab bar and Alifaan restaurant. The Philippine duo played a very extensive repertoire of evergreens and today’s hits. It was the staff, and in particular everyone working in and around the restaurants which made a huge difference and set this resort apart. It is our 8th visit in the Maldives and hospitality and quality of service was always second to none in the Maldives. The staff with Radisson does compare to the best and beyond. I could name many names of staff who have made our vacation with Radisson very special: but let me call out one: chef Prasad from Sri Lanka with Alifaan restaurant: not only was he seriously interested in my diving adventures but likewise he was keen to let us explore local Cuisine from Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives and so he did, cooking local specialties for us. More surprisingly he was asking us for our favorite dishes and so we got Sashimi, Korean Kimchi and others ( not on the menu ) - a truly nice and personal experience which we loved.

In addition staff was not only friendly but also open for feedback. Once in a while a dish might not be cooked to our liking: no problem: meet the chef and discuss about cooking techniques and details and you get your dish exactly in the way you want it. Likewise you might miss some items on the buffet: no problem: if possible you will get it. “The answer no does not exist….. yes we can” best describes the service attitude with Radisson Blu Maldives. Dining Experience: 10/10

The activities and diving center OCEAN was very professional and customer oriented as well. My experience was limited to diving about every day; luckily having various Manta encounters, one whale shark sighting ( a shadow in a distance unfortunately ), turtles, eels, reef fish and a lot of grey reef sharks, some white tips, nurse sharks and occasional a silver tip. Loved diving with the Ocean Team. 😎. 8/10

Snorkeling/ house reef: Unfortunately Snorkel/ reef experience: 2/10

Beauty of island and beaches: the island was manmade. In that sense it seems to be a miracle that all the palm trees, flowers, bushes and more had been individually planted and give a pretty green and lush island feeling. Nevertheless the beaches and the natural beauty of the island does not compare to natural islands which we have experienced during prior Maldives visits such as Hideaway or Amilla as example. Natural bea

Compared to the resorts we have visited before Radisson comes in as a strong second according to my wife ( third in my opinion):

Hideaway (2024, Signature Sultan BV, 2022 Family BV) Radisson Blu 2025, Sunset WV Constance Halaveli 2024, Sunset Wv Amilla (2023, Sunset WV) LTI Maafushivaru (today Outrigger) 2020,2021 Sunset WV with pool (303) Adaraan Prestige Vadoo (...

My wife and I stayed at Radisson Blu Maldives for an annual general meeting in February 2024. We stayed for 9 nights (Feb 14 to 23) and had the opportunity to thoroughly check out the resort and get to know the team working here.

We have done a fair bit of traveling and have many resort stays to compare to, and I can honestly say this property and its team top them all. We were sad to leave, and after a 9 night stay, that is unusual for us.

As with all properties, there are good and bad points.

I'll start with the bad:

There isn't an electrical outlet in the bathroom near the mirror to plug a hairdryer or small hair appliance into. This makes for awkward hairstyling, which was a bigger challenge for my wife, but it proved a relatively small detail that didn't taint the stay at all.

It is pricey - especially if you dont purchase an all-inclusive package - so be sure you purchase all-inclusive.

Drinks were sometimes slow to come.

That is it... there truly was no other bad... this place was amazing.

Now some of the positive items we noticed:

The attention to detail is second to none at the property. It's as though there are magic people running around doing things without being observed. The public washrooms were always spotless, the toilet paper roll always folded into a point - every time - how is that even a thing.

The team here always has a smile on their faces and work extremely hard to see that everyones needs are looked after. Even the smallest complaint (we had tough steaks one night and mentioned it) is taken seriously and followed up on extensively (they checked with us at EVERY meal after that to ensure we were satisfied and there wasnt anything special they could get for us - it was almost an overwhelming degree of service which is not something we have ever experienced on our travels).

The spa services were phenomenal. My wife and I had a 60 minute couples massage that rivaled any I have had anywhere. My wife and her friend went for a 3 hour spa pampering and both left singing the praises of the treatment team. Again, attention to detail was top notch.

The snorkeling and diving is insane. This resort is located near or in a protected area for marine life and you can snorkel right from your villa and see everything from reef sharks, to titan trigger fish, to picaso trigger fish, to all varieties of surgeon fish, parrot fish, lion fish, trumpet fish, cornet fish, needle fish, rays, cuttlefish, and more. I dont know how many hours of snorkeling we did, but it was the most we have ever done by a long shot, and we were all sad to be leaving it behind as we still hadn't lost interest.

The dive team at Ocean Dive Centre provide top notch service and scuba dive guiding. A special shout out to Iyaas and his team who led the three dives we did. They handled the prep and set up of our gear (we brought our own and expected to handle this all by ourselves, but they took care of every detail from loading, assembling, assisting with putting it on, and help in and out of the water). After the dives, they kept our gear at the dive shop and took care of safely storing it and doing a full and thorough post dive cleaning of all of our equipment. As far as the dives themselves, they successfully took us to see whale sharks, manta rays, sea turtles, and one of the healthiest reefs I've ever had the chance to dive on complete with eels, octopus, and more varieties of fish and sharks than I could begin to list. By far, this was the best diving and service I've ever experienced.

The food was really good. The main buffet is honestly the best spot for food at the resort. Its excellent quality and features a wide range of ethnic styles ranging from Thai, to Indian, to Maldivian, to western. Lots of flavour. Lots of variety. The A La Cart restaurants are decent as well, but the quality wasnt generally as good as the buffet.

The comfortable rooms and idyllic setting make this resort perfect for anyone looking for a romantic and truly relaxing and...

My wife and I have been wanting to go to the Maldives for years as one of our bucket list vacations.

First and foremost, the resort was always clean and felt safe at all times. We had a room out on the water and more specifically the “heart” section of the water villas. The room was better than the photos and was extremely spacious. We had a view of the open water. Everything in the room exceeded our expectations.

Each visitor will get a specific guide that you will meet when you first get to the island. They will give you a tour as well as be your main contact for any questions or needs you may have. We had Muby who was extremely personable and always answered promptly. He was able to give us updated information as well as get us reservations for specific restaurants and/or activities. I’d have to say having a direct contact to answer questions helped significantly keep us in “relax mode.” I’d highly recommend Muby for any upcoming stayers.

Let’s talk more about the staff. The staff was amazing and in my opinion a large component of the overall experience at the Radisson Blu.

While we are taking about the staff let’s talk about one of the main cooks. Ajit was extremely personable, kind, and passionate about his cooking. My wife asked for beet juice one morning in which they did not have that day however, the next morning we were greeted with fresh beet juice! He also made some of our favorite Indian dishes that were beyond flavorful.

In the kitchen helping things run smoothly was Vineet! Vineet was also pleasing and always ensured everything was up to par which it always was.

Next mention would be Zuntey! This guy not only was knowledgeable about the menu in terms of spot on recommendations, but super funny and just put off a vibe that he is definitely a people person. Zuntey always had a smile on his face and also cracked several jokes which is how I roll as well. Das was also extremely nice and pleasant as well.

We worked out everyday in the morning to keep the positivity flowing. The gym was always clean and had ample equipment to get either cardio and strength training completed.

My wife and I got a couples massage out on the water in the villa which had a glass floor below each massage table where you could see the fish in the Indian Ocean.

The food was all really good and I cannot complain about the food at all.

The only suggestion I would have would be having more evening activities and/or shows. However, given we were in relax mode this wasn’t a deal breaker for us.

One thing I’d like to add that isn’t specific to this resort but more to the Maldives in general. If you are a star person. Wake up early one morning and take a look outside in the sky. We had somewhat poor weather the first 3-4 days with rain and clouds. The last evening I woke up at 4:30 am and opened my eyes to see a clear sky filled with stars on a level I’ve never seen before. The stars were so large, bright, and felt very close to me. I’d normally never wake my wife up at that hour however, I knew this was a new of a lifetime. I woke her up and she was also amazed. We took photos however, they did not do justice for what we actually saw with our own eyes.

All in all I’d highly recommend the Radisson Blu in the Maldives. From the amazing views, rooms, staff, and crystal clear blue water, we really got a reset from our extremely busy lives we life here back home in Florida. Not only did we love our time at the Radisson Blu, but we also met friends (staff) that we still continue to be in contact with...