About

4.0

Very good

372 reviews

#2 of 17 hotels in Addu City

Location

4.1

Cleanliness

4.4

Service

4.4

Value

4.1

Travelers' Choice

Located on a private island at the remote, southern tip of the Maldives, South Palm Resort Maldives is a haven of peace and tranquility , a million miles from the stresses and strains of everyday life. Whether you are traveling with friends, family or that special someone, South Palm Resort Maldives is the perfect, barefoot, beach destination. A 10-minute speedboat ride from Gan International Airport, Addu Atoll, the resort has 130 villas in six room categories. A magical spa, set around the island’s natural lake (or kulhi in the local Dhivehi language), boasts the ﬁrst ﬂoating spa room in Maldives.

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Property amenities

Parking

Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)

Pool

Fitness Center with Gym / Workout Room

Free breakfast

Beach

Bicycle rental

Babysitting

Wifi

Sauna

Bar / lounge

Restaurant

Breakfast available

Breakfast buffet

Kid-friendly buffet

Kids' meals

Wine / champagne

Canoeing

Diving

Snorkeling

Entertainment staff

Evening entertainment

Fishing

Karaoke

Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)

Kids club

Kids pool

Highchairs available

Airport transportation

Business Center with Internet Access

Spa

Couples massage

Full body massage

Head massage

Manicure

Massage

Massage chair

Neck massage

Pedicure

Steam room

24-hour security

BBQ facilities

Currency exchange

Gift shop

Sun deck

Sun loungers / beach chairs

Sun umbrellas

Umbrella

24-hour front desk

Laundry service

Room features

Bathrobes

Air conditioning

Housekeeping

Room service

Safe

Minibar

Cable / satellite TV

Bath / shower

Seating area

Sofa

Telephone

Wardrobe / closet

Bottled water

Clothes rack

Wake-up service / alarm clock

Refrigerator

Complimentary toiletries

Hair dryer

Room types

Ocean view

Non-smoking rooms

Family rooms

Smoking rooms available

Good to know

HOTEL CLASS

Languages Spoken

English, Russian, Hindi

Location

Ismehela Hera, 19010

Getting there

Gan-Seenu Airport8 miSee all flights

Fuvahmulah Airport24 miSee all flights

Rental CarsSee all Addu City rental cars

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Nearby restaurants

See all nearby restaurants

372Reviews56Q+A80Room tips

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SiveshanMoods wrote a review Yesterday

Johannesburg, South Africa10 contributions

+1

Amazing honeymoon experience with picture perfect scenery’s

We visited South Palms resort for our honeymoon from 22 May to 29 May 2023. Firstly, expect long travel times especially if you are travelling from afar. We had taken 3 airplanes to get to the local airport and then a speedboat to South Palms (The speedboat was a great experience as neither of us has been on such a boat) Although the travel time was exhausting, it was definitely worth it once we reached the resort. Staff were friendly and welcoming and the resort was amazing. We stayed on the water villa which was an experience on its own. The room had a beautiful honeymoon setup and exceed d our expectations. Santosh our guest relations for all water villa’s was helpful and thoughtful, nothing was too much trouble for him. After the long travels, I became ill the next morning and Santosh ensured that I was given all the necessary medications and regularly checked in to make sure I had a speedy recovery. Once recovered, we visited the Moodha Bar daily with our “buggy” driver, Bandaranaike from Sri Lanka who was extremely friendly and a great conversationalist. He made the morning and evening drives to and from the villa’s pleasant and memorable. All of the amenities were kept in a great condition although air-conditions or some sort of cooling systems at both the restaurant and bar would have made the stay a lot more comfortable. The bar staff and restaurant staff were all amazing and very friendly. We checked out at 12 with our speedboat only leave at 5pm. Santosh arranged for another room from 12 to 5 so that we can be comfortable while waiting. Very accommodative Overall a beautiful place with the team making our stay very memorable. Highly recommended. We were in water villa 606 and will miss everyone there! …

Date of stay: May 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Ahmed h wrote a review May 29

1 contribution

V218

Great hotel of its range Remarkable Food -Amazing experience with the kids. Kids food arrangements done by massoodh ( Fnb in-charge) Being sent to villa daily 3 times. - great food in restaurant( lot of live stations make the difference) - breakfast eggs/ pasta station is great. - Mr . Masoodh laundry manager make it clear that all the clothes were washed and pressed nicely. Presented On clean hangers . - room-boy kept the room cleaned. - spa did great job( Ayu in spa) and other two( firgot name) took good care of babies as well while parents were on treatment . - can improve IVD service , beach and add more restaurants. - Add gratuity section on the bills for staffs( this generation people don’t carry cash)

Date of stay: May 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Safari68420578542 wrote a review May 23

1 contribution1 helpful vote

Absolutely amazing experience, beautiful resort and lovely people

Well what can I say about this idyllic island! From start to finish our experience was second to none, plenty of choice for food ( fully recommend homemade soup even in 30°!!) Santos our guest relations for water villas was so helpful and thoughtful, nothing was too much trouble. Abu our attendant visited twice a day to ensure our villa was kept immaculately, Bandaranaike our buggy driver from Sri Lanka was so lovely and happy! Kumar pool attendant kept the pool area in immaculate condition, changing towels twice a day and he takes great pride in his job! Arif, Seff and Mylee in main bar were a joy!! Can't rate thus beautiful place highly enough Couple of suggestions for further improvement, consider putting a hand rail at one side of steps into pool to aid people with mobility issues in and out of the pool. Perhaps also a bench near the bar and water villas for guests to sit on whilst waiting for buggy....not a criticism at all but merely to further enhance people's experience. We were in water villa 610 lots of love to everyone there from Maxine & Jeff xxx…

Date of stay: May 2023

Value

Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

1 Helpful vote

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Mithun S wrote a review May 14

1 contribution

Amazing Destination

It was an amazing experience, friendly and cooperative staff, excellent hospitality. Must visit place for relaxing and to experience water sports activities. And the only constraint is travelling which takes time so one should be prepared for that. Thanks for the entire team.

Date of stay: May 2023

Value

Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Zak wrote a review May 11

Doncaster, United Kingdom6 contributions5 helpful votes

+1

Good times to be had at South Palm Resort, Maldives.

Let's get the negatives out the way first: 1. The travel - it's a long, long way to go i.e. 3 planes and a speedboat, over 30 hours of travelling, be prepared!! 2. It rained a lot, heavy, heavy rain at times and strong winds - be prepared to sit in your room entertaining yourselves (take that how you will). Now to the good points. 1. The place is great, the staff are fantastic, they make the resort. 2. We stayed in a water villa for 10 days and our butler, the great Santosh, was readily on hand to see to our needs. A great person to deal with as was the rest of the staff such as the buggy drivers, especially Ali, top man. The villa was great, superb, fantastic, it was clean, cleaned and refreshed daily and stocked up with towels, shampoo, fresh water and tea and coffee. The wooden sets leading into the water were cleaned regularly so no chance of slipping on them. The water sports equipment were free as we stayed in a water villa so another nice touch. 3. The restaurant staff were very friendly and very helpful. Our server was Ashran, a credit to the resort. She remembered our drinks every time and had them waiting for us as soon as we walked in to the dining hall. 4. The food was good, a tad repetitive at times but all in all nice and tasty with a variety of dishes to suit all. We enjoyed all the facilities from the pool to all the night entertainment. 5. As it was our honeymoon we had a romantic night time dinner on the beach, organised by Santosh. All we have to do was choose our menu and sit and relax for our dining experience, pretty fantastic. 6. We enjoyed the spa treatment that they had booked for us, another day lounging about and being pampered, cool. Overall our experience was great, the weather could have been kinder but we all got a great tan, relaxed, enjoyed viewing the fishes and turtles and ate good food. There will always be negative comments about any place in the world but as far as we are concerned our treatment at South Palm was exemplary. …

Date of stay: May 2023

Value

Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

Room Tip: Take plenty of reading material for when it rains, although the TV is programmed we all the...

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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

1 Helpful vote

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anyabelisle wrote a review May 9

Chicago, Illinois8 contributions3 helpful votes

Hard to get to, with poor customer service

While the rooms and facilities at this resort are quite nice, the lack of customer service is pretty astounding. Traveling as a group of friends, we specifically requested villas with twin beds, which were confirmed. When we arrived, we were told that no such rooms existed. No effort was made to make up for this error, and no manager ever got in touch with us to address it. So, that was day one, after 24 hours of traveling to get there. Not a great first impression. Some of the food is okay, but gets boring pretty quickly, if you’re staying a week. There seemed to be very little traditional Maldivian cuisine to choose from, but the restaurant staff and cooks are very nice, especially our server Dina. The housekeeping staff was also very helpful. The restaurant is extremely hot, though, with no air conditioning, so be prepared to sweat while you eat. We took one tour to the nearest local island. When we first arrived, we mentioned to the guide that we wanted to try one of the local restaurants, but this was never allowed for. I think they really want to keep you paying for food at the resort. We were essentially just walked around the island by a guide who spoke very little English, and could give us very few answers about basic questions on Maldivian history and culture. I ended up going to the Maldives Wikipedia page to get my questions answered. Service in the bar is almost always slow, and I’m pretty certain they water down their alcohol. I’m a long-time bartender, so I know that a bottle of Campari shouldn’t look light pink instead of bold red. After trying a couple of mixed drinks, I decided to stick to canned beer for the rest of the stay. The grounds are well-kept and the water in the ocean feels lovely, so it is still possible to enjoy your time here, especially catching glimpses of the sea life so close to shore. The sand on the beach is rough and full of broken coral, so I highly recommend water shoes. I was so glad I had mine! All in all, I wish I had stayed somewhere else in the Maldives that had more variety of food and activities, and wasn’t so far and expensive to get to from Malé.…

Date of stay: April 2023Trip type: Traveled with friends

Room Tip: Bring water shoes, be prepared to keep yourself entertained, and research other options for the...

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GeorgeJr7 wrote a review May 8

48 contributions29 helpful votes

+1

Good not Great

As a retired military member that’s literally traveled around the world for work and play, I hope this helps. If you’re traveling from anywhere in the US, mentally prepare yourself for two LONG days of travel. The hotel will have someone meet you in Male to get you over to the flight to Gan. The luggage process is Male is SUPER SLOW! The hotel lady told us to leave our bags and they would follow us to GAN. DO not listen to this advice. Customs will declare your bags ‘abandoned’ and you will have to perform a kabuki dance to get your bags released. Four flights and a boat ride later we arrived at the South Palms resort. We were immediately checked in and taken to the ‘second bar’ for our welcome drink. This bar is perfectly located for guests in the over the water bungalows however it’s only open from 4 - 6 during Happy Hour however, you could not get free drinks at this bar. In my opinion, the space is wasted. Our over the water bungalow sprung a leak from the floor to the wall on day four and from the roof after three nights of serious wind and rain. Not much they or we could do except enjoy the pool and the all-inclusive* drinks. All-inclusive vs Full Board, if you booked your trip through an agency I.e. travel zoo you more than likely have Full Board. To upgrade to all-inclusive it’s an extra charge of $55 per day per person. The all-inclusive is not what you’re used to if you’ve been to other resorts in places like Cabo where all-inclusive includes drinks every where to include to mini fridge in your room. This all-inclusive is from 9 am - midnight and only includes drinks at the main bar. If you want drinks by the pool, they are not delivered and you cannot take drinks from the bar to your room. The staff was phenomenal and super attentive day in and day out. Our Server - Athif Pasta guy - SAIaUDDin Tall omelette guy - Shamsuddin Went out of their way to make sure our group was taken care of, and we made sure to tip them accordingly. Overall, bucket list trip achieved and we made some great memories with new friends. …

Date of stay: May 2023

Value

Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

Room Tip: Bring a ton of snacks. There is no food in between meal times.

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Mark L wrote a review May 6

Nottingham, United Kingdom13 contributions16 helpful votes

A little gem

We arrived by their personal speed boat from Gan airport, took about 20mins. You arrive at a pier, your luggage is unloaded and taken to your chalet by their staff, whilst you register in their reception area. You are then taken to your allocated/ booked villa. We had a beach villa, which was spacious, with an entrance hall. To the left was a room which housed an area to hang clothing (plenty of room), loads of cupboard space, a full length table top for multi purpose usage, safe, fridge, power points. Bathroom is a good size with shower, 2 sinks, storage, loo with a bum washing hose, a patio door leading to a private outside shower area with a long seat facing it. The main room is big, a king size bed with a firm mattress, a huge LED TV, drawers both sides of the bed, a 2 seated settee, with a large glass coffee table. Lots of power points, and they all take a 3pin UK plug, so no need to take adaptors👍aircon & a central overhead cooling fan, a huge glass front with patio doors take you out onto a decking area, which is covered, it has 2 chairs, a table, 2 wooden wheeled lounge chairs with a thick padded mattress to lie on, which you can wheel onto the beach, which is not far away. The beach villas face north west, and have the main sandy beach area on the island, it also has a nice cooling breeze coming off the sea, which is welcoming. The restaurant is large, you get your own allocated table for the duration, although you can speak to your waiter if you want to change it, if desired. The food is good and varied for lunch & dinner. Breakfast, 6.30 - 9.30am, big selection to appease all types. Lunch 12.30- 2pm, varied selection, some changed daily on a rotation basis. Dinner 7.00- 9.30pm, again varied on a rotation basis to appease all types and tastes. The cooled salad room has a very extensive salad selection just full of different dishes and individual ingredients. There is also a cool room which contains fruits, cakes, puddings etc. Please bear in mind when packing, that men have to wear clothing that cover their shoulders, eg, t-shirts, short sleeved shirts, etc, in the restaurant. The staff are extremely friendly, helpful and cheerful, always greeting you with a smile on thier face😊 2 bars on the resort, the main one is large, its next to the pool area, which is next to the restaurant. It has themed nights, eg, live band, disco, cultural, etc. The other bar is at the top end of the island near the water villas. The island is spotless, beaches are cleaned daily, rooms are clean and cleaned daily, beach and bath towels changes daily, fresh bottled water given by your steward daily, your steward is extremely helpful, and looks after you. English is the Maldivian second language, which helps. I must make a special mention of Hallal, the duty guest relations manager. My wife was take ill during our stay, and after visiting the resort medical centre, who were helpful, but unfortunately, the problem did not go away. Hallal personally visited us to enquire about her illness, subseqently, he immediately arranged all transport from the resort to the main island, to the doctors surgery, with whom he contacted. He came with us, and stayed with us the whole time we went to the surgery and back to our villa. That needed a special mention, as it gives everyone comfort in the knowledge that you will be helped and looked after if anything befalls you there during your stay with them. Thank you Hallal, and the South Palm holiday team for a lovely and memorable holiday👍…

Date of stay: April 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

2 Helpful votes

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Julieg2901 wrote a review Apr 2023

Carshalton, United Kingdom9 contributions7 helpful votes

Beautiful beach but a long way to go….

A very long way to go. Travel via Bahrain with a 4 hour stopover. Another plane journey then a speedboat to the Resort. . On arrival the beautiful white sandy beach was as imagined and the beach bungalow was light airy and exclusive. The pool was small for the amount of properties at the South Palm resort- though I am a sand and sea person so it didn’t bother me. The food comprised Maldivian cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner again ok if you don’t mind curry but otherwise very limited which is expected, I guess, based on the location. Staff were polite and generally friendly. The deal was based on All Inclusive though not as I know it! Drinks from the bar area were not allowed to be taken back to our room and the mini bar though extensive was shockingly expensive in comparison other places I’ve stayed. Overall a pleasant experience but a very long way to travel. …

Date of stay: September 2022

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Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

Room Tip: Get a flight directly to Male if possible to shorten the journey.

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BellaClaire429 wrote a review Apr 2023

White Lake, Michigan100 contributions101 helpful votes

+1

South Palm Resort Maldives - Bucket List Fulfilled!

We booked an over the water villa at South Palm Resort Maldives back in 2021. Before our arrival we were a bit nervous on what to expect as we got a great deal through Travelzoo, yet honestly, some of the reviews were mixed The package included lounge access in Male (in which we were greeted by resort employees at the airport), air fare from Male to Gan (about an hour flight), a 15-minute speedboat ride to the resort, the water villa for 9 nights, and full board which included breakfast lunch and dinner plus a 2-hour happy hour from 4-6 every day. Here are the details and comments: Meet and greet and transport on Maldivian Airlines and speedboat to the resort was flawless. On the plane to Gan, we received certificates for when we flew over the equator and the pilot made an announcement as well (nice touch). We were greeted upon arrival at the resort at around 9pm by resort staff who checked us in and escorted us to the dining room and then to our room afterwards to show us around! The Villa: The villa is LARGE! I love how the bed faced the ocean. The bathroom was big too! The shower has strategically placed frosted glass, but you can also look out to the ocean while showering! It had 2 double sinks and plenty of place to store your things. Back to the main room, there was lots of counter space, open closet to hang clothes, a safe, a bench by the door, and sitting area. The deck was a nice size too. The deck had a bali bed and table and 2 chairs on it. 2 suggestions - the bali bed did not rise like a lounge chair - so you had to lay on it....I would have liked to lounge on it. Another issue is that it was HOT! There is no shade. I suggest some sort of awning/umbrella as it was hard to sit there during the day (so we just sat in the water! Lastly, the deck and stairs to the sea are wood. Our stairs were rotted - but after reporting it to our butler, they were completely replaced the next morning! The beach is long with a pier in the middle. On the far side from the water villas is the snorkel/dive shop (more on that later).. There are no chairs/loungers on the beach for those staying in the water villas. The loungers were for the beach villas only. That would be another suggestion - have chairs available at the bar near the water villas and at the dive/snorkle shop. We brought our towels to sit on - but it would have been nice to set up shop on the beach.... The beach and water is spectacular! When the tide is out you can walk for what seems like miles and still not have the water reach your waste. It was truly fabulous. The amount of sea life we could see from our villa - or even shoreline at the beach was unbelievable. You didn't even have to snorkel to see the sea creatures clearly - trigger fish, squid, black tip reef sharks, turtles, and SO MUCH MORE......I'd sit on the stairs and watch the sharks/turtles and fish swim right by me!!!!! The pool was VERY refreshing. The pool attendant was also very accommodating. Here we had comfy chairs with umbrellas. The pool is a short walk to the lagoon side of the island as well as the ocean side. It's also right next to the restaurant and happy hour/entertainment bar. The happy hour bar was right next to the pool. The bar tenders (Arif and Mohamed) were fun, ver nice and their service was great. So here is my complaint about the happy hour. which was from 4pm - 6pm every day. This bar is far away from our water villa...so typically around this time, people like to relax in the villa - get ready for dinner - so it was inconvenient to be far way (had to take golf cart to water villa area or walk the beach - which was only around a 10 minute walk) but still......there is another bar near the water villas but it was only for paying customers! Even if you were part of the all-inclusive option - you could not get beverages there without paying. This didn't make sense to me. Surely there is a way to accommodate all of your guests conveniently. Dining - there is one large dining room. I liked how we hsd an assigned table and could go to eat anytime we wanted while the restaurant was open. There are tons of food options - the salad room was wonderful, and desert was good too. My mistake was eating a little of this and a little of that each night. If I had it to do over again, I'd eat Indian one-night, Italian next night, Middle Eastern the next and so on. The chefs always had a smile, and they work hard and long hours - as does the wait staff. I was completely satisfied with the restaurant. Excursions - we did the finding dolphins tour which was as awesome as going to Africa and seeing all of the animals in their own environment. I had seen dolphins before - but I can count on one hand how often. Not only did we find a couple of dolphins - we saw OVER A HUNDRED! It was just jaw dropping and fun - no words describe the experience. Went snorkeling twice - saw Nemo! The water was so clear in the Indian ocean I could not believe it. We saw so many schools of fish I thought I was in a snorkel commercial. We also saw sharks! The tour was very satisfying. I felt safe with the guides and the amount of time in the water was great. Also went to the spa. The Balinese gal actually straddled the table to massage my back! That was a first and she was fabulous. The entertainment changed nightly. The dance night was my favorite along with when the staff did a skit/dance representing their country. It was really great and informative! Summary - this was a trip of a lifetime - a bucket list item fulfilled. The staff at the resort were wonderful and they work SO HARD. The cart drivers (Bandera) were so nice and fun! Our butler, Shaamin was great, the person who attended to our room was so accommodating - bringing us tons of water, etc each day. I cannot say enough about the employees at the resort. They were all so customer friendly. I wish this place wasn't so far -(36 hours travel time) I would have gone back already! Happy to answer any questions anyone has. And if Resort Managment reads this. Thank you and please thank your team for a job well done!…

Date of stay: February 2023

Value

Location

Service

Trip type: Traveled with friends

Room Tip: Don't hesitate! Go!

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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

7 Helpful votes

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