South Palm Resort Maldives

This place is paradise. Just had the best time away with my partner. Green clear waters, turtles, stingrays, sharks. Dolphins. We stayed in a water villa. Was perfect. Straight down into the steps,into the sea. Which is warner than a bath. Felt so comfortable and safe. Treat so well. Staff couldn't do enough for you. Especially Solhi. He was incredible. Ali was also a stand out for us. 100% will be returning.

The most expensive and most disappointing holiday ever! :( ....The South Palm Resort (3 star at best) is a long journey from UK. 2 flights and a boat ride. Be prepared to wait for connections. On arrival we were handed a wet flannel and a glass of lemon tea with ice. I asked for water but they said there was no water in reception. It was 32 degrees, hot and incredibly humid - all I wanted was a glass of ice cold water. We were shown to our room, a beach villa. Very clean and spacious and a bathroom with and outside shower. The TV did not work. Bedding was clean but the pillows smell stale. Towels were changed daily. The air conditioner did not work properly. We could not get it to any lower than 29 degrees so it was so uncomfortably warm at night. We suspect the filter needs to be cleaned. We did report this. Norman was great and cleaned our room everyday. He gave us plenty of fresh towels and replenished the water bottles every day. The position was great with our own access to the beautiful beach which was fantastic. (Lots to be seen with a snorkel. Its a coral beach so beach shoes are a must). Fantastic sunsets. There is a mini bar fridge in the room but prices are extortionate (US$ 10 for a small diet coke). The fridge in the room does not work properly either so drinks are tepid and there is no ice maker. The fridge is not cold enough to store essential medications. They do not like you to take drinks from the bar to your room but we did this and always returned the glasses. The bar manager does not have people-skills. He was very rude and unfriendly. There is a seperate cocktail menu for all inclusive. Very limited and no proper cocktails. No rum. The only coffee is instant! There was a barista machine in the bar but when we asked for a coffee they said it "was not part of the all-inclusive package!" Never heard of that before. Instant coffee on a £5K holiday!? Crazy! Every night the excessively loud music (I've heard quieter music at rock concerts) resounds from the bar goes on until midnight. We complained about it and they offered to move us to another (not so nice position) room. We stayed put and persevered. It spoiled our holiday a lot. We didn't go in the pool. There are only a few 'shoulder to shoulder' sunbeds and parasols so we opted to stay by our part of the beach under the shade of a palm tree. In the restaurant they still have christmas decorations! The food was mediocre and pretty much the same most days. There are open cooking stations with food exposed to flies. A bit concerning. The only fresh fruit was watermelon and bananas on the first two days. Yogurt was more like curdled milk. Teapots had no lids! Our waiter, Viraq, was super helpful and found me a pot with a lid. He said most of the lids were broken. How odd not to replace them? The restaurant staff are really helpful and friendly but there is a hierarchy system and you must only ask the staff member assigned to you if you need anything. No need to dress for dinner. You don't need any posh frocks. Everything is casual so pack light. Just loose, cool clothing as It's incredibly warm in the restaurant. There are a few trips - snorkelling, shark-feeding, dolphins etc but these are not cheap. There was also a tour of the neighbouring island included. It was like a walk around a derelict housing estate! Nothing much to see. But there was a supermarket where we could get pots of long-life greek yogurt. It's a relaxing holiday and 10 days was plenty for us. We were glad to have visited the Maldives. We left with upset tummies. This was again disappointing but hardly surprising given the food hygiene standards we saw. Think long and hard before choosing this place for your holiday.

The resort needs maintenance. This is not a 4* resort. Staff are friendly enough. Travel reps need to be coming out to see if the resorts up keep. A la carte restaurant was closed all the time we were there, The Spa was closed all the time we were there and the floating spa boat and facilities were disgusting and not fit for you. Thank goodness for beautiful scenery and snorkelling