Riu Tikida Palmeraie

The staff are brilliant especially the teams working in the restaurants and bar staff plus reception. They are all very friendly and welcoming. The entertainment staff try hard but it does not reflect a 4* level of entertainment. The hotel lobby and grounds are very nice and well presented. Plenty of options for lunch although breakfast became very repetitive. The only issue I have is I found black mould in the bathroom on my last evening which I reported the next morning at check out to which the rep (khalid, also a great guy) apologised and contacted the hotel manager but I had to then go and find him to show him the photos and video I had taken. Despite contacting tui when i returned I have been informed that no compensation claim will be accepted (apparently according to tui and Riu this is my fault for noticing sooner like I should be walking right staring into the ceiling in each room I walk into). A real bad end to an otherwise nice holiday but this is definitely not a 4 star resort in my opinion. Other people also mentioned to me problems with their rooms.

We came here around 10 years ago and absolutely loved it, so we were really looking forward to returning. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t meet the same standards we remembered.

The hotel feels very outdated and could definitely be cleaner. There was also an unpleasant smell of sewage, which was particularly noticeable in some areas. The toilets in the lobby were not clean, and most of the flushes were broken, which really needs addressing.

The entertainment team was also disappointing. We found them to be quite lazy and, at times, more interested in interacting with each other than engaging with the guests. That said, all the other staff we encountered were lovely, friendly and helpful.

The food was another let-down. It was very repetitive and, unfortunately, the quality felt below the standard we expected.

It’s a real shame, as we had such wonderful memories from our previous visit 10 years ago. We really wanted to love it as much as we did back then, but sadly, this visit fell short of our expectations.

We’d had the luck that our son had stayed at the hotel a few years ago so we had some background to utilise. What he didn’t say was it wasn’t just hot, it was 44 degrees every day, only dipping under 40 degrees at night time. The hotel is about a 25 minute drive from Marrakech airport and again we were lucky in that there was us and another couple to book in and not a coach load. First impressions were good, even though our rooms weren’t ready we used the bar until they were. A quirk of a few hotels we’ve been too recently is that the bar area is quite dark whilst reception is bathed in light. Once we got our rooms which the porter had driven us too with the luggage (he expected a tip but we hadnt used the ATM in reception to get currency the dram then so we went and found him the next day.) There are 4 meal times. (You can also book once a stay, for Moroccan food, which was beautiful and Italian which was poor.) there is something for everyone at meal times. We tried a few Moroccan style food and they are tasty. It’s down to personal taste, If you want chips and dippers then that’s fine too. We found out as we went along that you can pick early or later times to suit your plans. As per the standing joke you weren’t meant to put down towels on sunbeds. This rule was ignored and even when busy and not going down early you could find some beds. Drinks are available in the reception and poolside bar until midnight. There is also Zumba and Aquaaerobics in the main pool. There’s also a toilet block nearby. There’s also a spa, indoor pool and Childs pool. There is an entertainment board but all that seemed to happen in the designated room was music to get the children running around. There were a few room niggles, the toilet flush mechanism was half broken, the bed for us wasn’t used to the firmness, the mirror is old in the bathroom and the sink is crazy cracked. There’s was a spider and general dirt at the side of the setee. Apart from this the room is fine and the maid came everyday. There’s plenty of space, big bottles of warmer, small fridge, tv, phone and 4 usb charger points.theres also a shaded outside patio with 2 chairs and a table. There’s also the chatter of crickets, North African toads and birds at nightime. If like me you are afraid of cockroaches, there was only 6 and 2 of them where were swimming in the toilet bowl much to my shock. Then to nighttimes and we were happy to sit in the reception/bar area playing games, cards, talking and making up quizzes. This leads me to mention the staff, specifically the restaurants and bar. They were so friendly, waiter service and they knew the rounds of drink after your first time. They were so warm and friendly that even my mr grumpy photo hating husband asked for a selfie with one of the staff, wish I’d got his name. The shot of gin wasn’t large and the topped up soda was at different levels during the night. The local lager is quite weak but drinkable.