Having come back from our trip to Riu Tikida Palace in Agadir, we expected a lot of this 4 star hotel. Unfortunately, our expectations were too high. Not to say that it isn't a nice hotel though.

Starting with the rooms which were very basic indeed, just some more soft furnishings would have made a hufe difference. They are spacious but the bathroom is very dated, with a shower curtain which may as well of been made of paper and stuck to you contantly. The bed was quite hard and there was only one wafer thin pillow each, we had to ask for more.

The food, as with the other Riu was brilliant, only two lunches were quite short of variation but the rest of the time, was great. Lots of choices, very well cooked and presented. There was always a selection of pastas and great traditional tajines, as well as grills going with steaks or turkey breasts. Lots of salad options and deserts that were great to ook at and better to eat. Breakfasts were great too, I have to mention the omelettes, which were great to wak up to.

The service n both the restaurants and at the bar were exceptional, always a smiling face, keen to help and they remeber your drink straight away for the rest of the holiday. As we found with Agadir, get a tip in on the first night ( I would suggest 50 dirhams) and that waiter(ess) will look after you every night and lunch. The bar staff are hapy to have a laugh and help with my very poor arabic, and I think that the staff along with service, are what really ake the rius stand out.

The pool wass freezing everyday, with a heated indoor pool if you're desperate. However, there was always a lot of beds available and was very clean. You are provided with towels but unlike most places, you need to take the towels back to reception to exchange, which was a bit of a nuisance.

The animation team are slightly over the top, but they do need to be. I think that this was the first time that I have actually found some of them funny though. The activities were pretty much the same everyday (Darts, Table Tennis and Bingo) but they did try with cookery lessons, showing how to make mint tea and with arabic lessons, which was quite refreshing.

The hotels gardens and landscape are all very well maintained and pretty. Very clean hotel as well.

To be honest, unless you really want to visit this part of Morocco, I would suggest going to the Tikida Palace in Agadir, which was the same price region, but if it's got to be Marrakech, I don't think you can go wrong here. I would go back, but I think I'd want to barter on the price next time.

If you are travelling with Thomson, my only big negative would be the Calleche by night trip. This is a horse drawn carriage ride around marrakech, which sounds very romantic so we booked up for Valentines. Only to find out that (not mentioned) you have to share the small cariiage with at least two other people, so we were chucked in, facing the wrong way with another couple, ot exactly the romance we were after. Also, if you get the shuttle down to Marrakech City (which is free from the hotel) and just get on the carriage yourselves, this will only cost around 135 dirhams total,rather than the 240 dirhams EACH that Thomson wanted.

All in all a good holiday, but after Agadir, not what we expected

Just returned from a fabulous holiday in Marrakesh at the Club hotel Riu Tikida Palmeraie.
First just the little niggles – could have done with tea, coffer making facilities in the room , the outdoor pool being heated as it was very cold and the animation team evening entertainment was the usual audience participation stuff .Everything else was super the rooms and balconies were large with fresh water supplied every day. The quality and variety of the meals was excellent as it needed to be as there were a lot of French guests. The drinks supplied on the all inclusive were branded and coffee, teas and soft drinks were available all day from the restaurant .machines or bars. Entertainment in the evening is in the reception area which is like big outside square with bars, theatre and restaurant leading off. I must praise all the staff that could not have been more helpful to the guests and they were so efficient.
There are two themed restaurant s which have to be booked with the head waiter in the main restaurant Moroccan and Italian; you can eat here as often as you want
The hotel also has a courtesy bus which goes in to the centre of Marrakesh a few times a day this has to be booked the day before .Money can also be changed at the hotel - if you have dirham’s left you can spend this at the Airport but anything over a 1000 (£80.00) has to be changed before leaving Morocco

I visited Tikida Palmeraie with a friend for five nights in February 2013, we had a great time. The receptionists were very helpful and friendly. All the amenities are clean and safe. The spa is beautiful, we had a hammam scrub - a great experience. In the restaurant, there is a good mix of Morrocan food and also pasta, pizza and chips for those with less adventurous tastes. We enjoyed playing tennis, table tennis, swimming, salsa dancing - the entertainment staff are brilliant, very friendly but not too intrusive if you just want to relax.

(The only slight negative was that the outdoor pool was freezing cold (February), but there is an indoor pool and the rest of the hotel is so good it's not worth knocking off a point!)

I would love to revisit this hotel if we come back to Marrakech.

Following on from previous reviewers, I have to say my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Riu Tikida Palmeraie. We would not normally go on holiday at the beginning of February, but my wife had a big birthday, so off we went and we weren’t disappointed, the weather was lovely allowing sun bathing, even though you did need a coat to go for dinner later.
While the check in was a bit chaotic, the welcome drink was appreciated, as was the delivery of our cases to the room, which was a walk from reception (this hotel is low rise, so the rooms are spread around the complex).
The room was spacious with a view over the biggest hotel pool I have seen, there was a free safe (no charge) and it was maintained by the first class and cleaning staff. As per our other visits to RIU hotels there was a varied menu, with plenty of fresh food and your glasses were kept topped up by the friendly restaurant staff. All area’s were very well maintained and staffed by great people, the animation staff worked deserve a special mention as they were always there around, be it stretching or darts around the pool or entertaining in the evening.
On my wife’s birthday there were some great touches, firstly the maids decorated our bedroom then in the evening we were escorted to a table decorated with rose petals where there was a bottle of champagne, later the staff brought out a small cake and sang happy birthday.
While there we went on two trips, organised through Thomson, the first was very disappointing and the second great. The poor one was around the Souks and Medina, which we and many others thought was just an excuse for the guide to take us into place where we were pressurised to buy from expensive shops! The great one was a trip into the Atlas mountains, up the Ourika valley where we experienced some great sights, saw how Argon oil was produced and had mint tea in a Berber house.
The only downside I could see is that the hotel is not within walking distance of anything being out on the edge of the city, was that a problem, not really as there is a regular free bus from the hotel into the main square.

Would we go back – oh yes!