Riu Palace Tikida Agadir - All Inclusive

Amazing hotel, amazing food and drink, amazing staff. The clealiness is second to none. You are made to feel special and everyone goes out of their way to help in any way possible. We keep coming back and it gets better every visit

Riu review Me and my wife visited the Riu Tikida Palace for one week in June 2017. Coach transfer to the hotel was about 30 minutes. We were greeted with the drinks but check in took a while as two flights arrived at the same time so the queue was epic. Accommodation We payed a little extra for a pool view room; when we arrived we were on the ground floor facing the pool but couldn't see the pool from our room. We arrived in the dark so left it until the morning, definitely no pool view. A quick word with reception and it was sorted to a third floor room with an excellent pool view. Rooms appear to be the same, reasonably well stocked, clean and excellent decor, safe was free of charge, absolutely no problem with accommodation. 4.5/5 Food Cuisine is obviously a very personal experience; with that in mind, however, I struggled more than I thought I would. Breakfast was the usual selection continental, traditional English cooked breakfast, pastries, toast, fruit etc. The traditional English wasn't great, chicken sausage being a low point. Certain foods were there but they weren't done very well in my eyes. Lunch was the better meal; burgers, chips, pasta and pizza were available every lunchtime a selection of Moroccan food, salads and typically a grilled fish/ meat, potatoes and vegetables. Moroccan deserts were excellent, biscuits and ice cream was always available. Dinner was either delicious or a disaster; Moroccans eat a lot of fish, I do not. Spanish night I ate very little, Chinese night was better, other nights were hit and miss. They usually ran out of food quickly leaving you to queue and the main hot meat dish, chicken, duck etc when it was gone was gone. Food was a big problem for me - if you love seafood or you like your food sweet you're in heaven, I was in hell. We ate at the Moroccan al la carte restaurant, the cold starter was a selection of salads, it was poor. The hot starter was delicious as was the tagene, desert was fruit. Booked into the second al la carte (Krystal) didn't go, too much seafood and too exotic a palate for my wife however I'm told it was excellent. Food wasn't great for me, if you like seafood and fish you'll eat like a king 2.5/5 Entertainment Was minimal - there was a show every night and most were ok; others weren't great, the Moroccan dance was interesting but not entertaining, the dance show was average. Most of the time we were happy to miss these completely. There was very little poolside entertainment, sometimes they put music on; sometimes the activities happened but it was inconsistent. If you didn't watch the show there was nothing else to do apart from sit in the bar. The bar however did stock branded drinks usually two or three so was well worth a gin and tonic. 3/5 Facilities No complaints at all - indoor pool, gym, poolside bar, plenty of areas to sit outside, close to the beach. My wife went to the Spa had a traditional Hamam massage which was about £40 and well worth it. It's a short taxi ride away (£2) from pure passion the #1 restaurant in Agadir, a couple we met went and said it was £35 (including wine) each and was one of the best meals they ever had. There was a shop onsite but it was expensive; if you walked to the shops across the road from the hotel, literally 30 seconds, the price dropped by 60%. There was no external traders by the pool, nor were we harassed when by the pool by anyone. The pool itself was great; swim up bar, and 2 regular bars, clean. There was a jacuzzi in the smaller pool. Does what it said on the tin 4/5 Service Hit and miss - some days staff were very attentive others we couldn't get coffee or the table cleared. The hotel is so big that you are often competing with others for attention of the restaurant staff. Men seemed to get preferential treatment at the bar, which drove my wife nuts. 3/5 Other comments We went on the Agadir experience; half a day hitting 4 main landmarks: the casbah mountain, main mosque, a small museum and the main market (souk) Was just enough time to hit the main culture points and it was worth the £12 price tag per person. As you can imagine some traders are very pushy and will follow you around but its manageable. It's a Muslim country and men did appear to get preferential treatment. The souk (market) was huge and chaotic and whilst we were expecting to be able to off load some dirrham it was mainly food, household goods and furniture most of us left an hour early. You can go to Marrakesh from Agadir it will cost you £90 per person but be warned there is 7 hours of drive time in that and the people that went said it was too hot, too busy and too intense and wished they hadn't. Getting sun loungers was a nightmare; to get anywhere decent you had to be up at 5am for your pick, 6am gave you a choice of about 75% of the loungers after that it got a lot tougher. Internet available at no cost and was a reasonably good strength throughout the hotel, I streamed from Netflix without a problem. However a power cut left us without internet for most of the last day. The currency is closed meaning you can't exchange it before you go, or when you leave. The hotel however does exchange it at reception for roughly 12 Dh to the £1 but you don't need much, we exchanged £60 and have only spent £15, it can be changed back to sterling at the airport but for a very poor rate and it's a slow service so just exchange as you need it. One final thing to note is that we went during Ramadan so services might be different. Overall I enjoyed myself but I wouldn't go back; I'm glad I didn't do longer than a week as well. I think anymore than that and I'd have been bored. Some people return year on year but for me it's not that sort of place, it doesn't appear to be great for children either, there was a kids club but I never saw anyone in it.

Lovely grounds, rooms are nice and airy. Staff are extremely nice and helpful and can't do enough for you. Lots of lovely seating areas. Lovely pools however they really need a better step system for getting in the pool if you have and kind of disability. The pool bar staff really need an extra hand as one person really isn't enough. The food is ok but could have a better variety. But over all lovely hotel and staff.

Arrived home on Tuesday after a relaxing week. As others have already said the hotel is spotless and rooms spacious. Housekeeping was excellent. We stayed in room 2049 on the top floor and had a sea view which was an unexpected bonus as we only booked 10 days before departure. I have read other reviews that complained about lazy and moody staff. I'm afraid I have to disagree. Every member of staff I came into contact with was polite, friendly and couldn't do more for you (and that was without tipping!) I think being pleasant goes both ways tbh. The staff work so hard and I certainly never saw them on their mobiles and ignoring guests as others have mentioned. The only rude people I came across were a few French/German guests who thought it was perfectly acceptable to barge to the front of the bar while others were waiting, push through doorways, hit kittens with cushions and nick all the good sunbeds. Can only imagine they got up at dawn to do this as by 9am 90% of them would have towels on them. Seems to me that some people can't walk more than 30 secs from the lounger to the pool or bar. Having said that the beach had free beds every time we went there and as we're not fussy, we got beds near the pool area when we wanted. Trying to think of negatives to this hotel and can only come up with three minor issues. 1) Pack a travel kettle as none in room. 2) Entertainment isn't the greatest. The "what I assume was meant to be" Belly dancing resembled someone having a go as a dare and then we saw a man with many skirts just spinning around - a tad boring really. We never bothered after that. 3) Don't bother paying for the trip that takes you to a silver museum (it's rubbish), the harbour (pointless) up the top of the Kasbar (Camels & lookie lookie men plus rubbish strewn about) and the Souk. It's NOT Marrakesh - it's just a regular market selling fruit and veg and second hand shoes etc. IF you want to experience a real Souk stay in Marrakesh (we stayed in the Riu Tikida Palmeraie) - excellent hotel) - was so disappointed and actually felt very uncomfortable in there. Overview of our week in Agadir - LOVELY HOTEL, GREAT STAFF & RESTFUL HOLIDAY.

Stayed here with my family for seven nights. From the moment we walked into the hotel everything was fantastic. The bar staff and restaurant staff work very hard and are very accommodating. The rooms are lovely and big and well looked after. The hotel grounds are stunning. We also took family photos in and around the hotel with Abdou who was really helpful and was absolutely fantastic with his job and was a really friendly guy,thank you abdou for making our stay so memorable by giving us amazing pictures of our lovely memories of Riu palace. Again we would like to say thank you to the restaurant,bar and housekeeping staff for their help and service especially with my 2 year old son running around the hotel and them for putting up with him lol. I will recommend this hotel to people who love having a relaxing and enjoyable stay with the best service. Thank you all for having us in your hotel and creating lovely memories to take back home and will appreciate it for the rest of our lives. Thank you

Me and my partner have just got back from a week in this hotel, and both thought it was great! The staff are all so friendly and helpful. The food was lovely, lots of variety throughout the whole day. The bars are great, lots of great cocktails on the menu and a lot of branded alcohol included :) We had a standard room whuch was really nice! better than we were expecting, spacious and the bathrooms are lovely. We loved the pool and the hotel is right on the beach :) A couple of very minor points ... the tables in the main restaurant are quite close together, so can feel like you are having dinner with the people next to you. In our room we had no plug sockets close to any mirros, so not great for ladies wanting to dry and straighten their hair. For the price we paid we thought this was great value for money. We would highly reccomed and would love to go back!

Big property located in front of Agadir beach, spotlessly clean and very elegant. Hotel guests were mainly Germans and French. . 1) Rooms: my room was at second floor, really BIG and well equipped, extremely clean and everything was looking new, housekeeping was ok. The only minus is that they don't give you any bathrobe or slippers, but this has not been a problem. 2) Food: excellent, plenty of choice, always delicious and always fresh. Same goes for beverages, no cheap all inclusive spirits but quality ones only. Real coffee (not instant one and not the "dirty water" they are usually giving in all inclusive resorts). 3) Hotel staff: receptionists, waiters and other hotel staff are wonderful, always ready to help. Some waiters are not very fluent in english but I had no problems as I speak french too. No problems with receptionists as they speak 3-4 languages. 4) Amenities: beach was absolutely huge, but keep in mind it's a public beach so the hotel has just a small portion of it reserved to guests. This is somehow a good thing, because the beach sellers are not allowed to enter inside this area and some of them are more than aggressive. The ocean water is pretty cold and I did not see many people swimming. Pools look nice, but I never stayed there (I always prefer the beach). Free wifi everywhere, inside the rooms, in public areas and even at the beach. Great speed, 144 mbit. IGNORE the sellers that will stalk you every time you will put the nose outside the hotel and you will spend for sure a fantastic holiday. I would definitively come back !

Just arrived home from a lovely week away! The hotel is gorgeous and very clean! So much attention to detail. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was lovely, we always sat outside which was so peaceful. as inside would always be very busy, hot and loud. The majority of waiters were very helpful and attentive but some were not so, however I do understand that it's Ramadan at the minute so they are easily irritable and it can't be nice serving food all day when hungry and thirty. The waiters will bring your drinks to the table which is so helpful so you don't have to carry plates and drinks together. Only downside of meal times is they need some extra areas with buffet food as it was always very crowded with people trying to get food and you would end up waiting ages due to people pushing in. Pool area was gorgeous! Choices of sun loungers, beds and cabanas. Reserve if you want however always lots of extra beds left around 10/11 if you wanted a lie in. Pool bar was really nice to. Good drinks choice! We noticed if you tip your bar man they will come to you with drinks so you don't need to get up. We only wondered down to the beach a few times as waiting outside the beach exit to the hotel is always around 5+ people waiting to sell you things and it was very annoying. They don't want to take no for an answer. However on the beach they have camels! So perfect photo opportunities. Rooms were gorgeous. So clean, tidy and beautifully decorated. No faults at all! Wifi is amazing! You can get wifi in ALL areas of the hotel, fast and it's free! Perfect. TUI reps were really helpful and always offering help if you needed it. They even put cards under our doors just checking in with us which was a lovely touch. Keep your eyes peeled for tortoises as they live in the hotel grounds! Very cute RUI reps were really nice, made an effort to be very welcoming and remembered your name.They ask if you wanted to play hotel games and if you not they weren't pushy at all. I absolutely loved this holiday, without a doubt the best hotel I have ever been to! Only a couple of negatives, but these were heavily out weighed by the positives! I hope I can come back one day! Perfect holiday and gorgeous weather! Thank you RIU! x

The good bit... +Beautiful hotel +Youssef and the rest of the animation team are lovely +Branded drinks are good but staff are moody when you ask for them +Pool is cool which is relaxing in the hot sunshine +Rooms are nice and spacious The not so good... - Staff are lazy - Restuaraunts are overcrowded and not enough tables - Bar service is slow - Some staff are very rude The Riu Palace Tikida Agadir was advertised as a 5-star resort which, visually, was. In terms of the service, however, this was absolutely not 5 stars rated. We were booked to stay for 2 weeks and when we arrived in our room, we felt very hot and found the air conditioning to be poor. When we asked about it at the reception after 1 week, we were told that the air conditioning in our hotel block was broken and that they would move us to a different room. After unpacking our suitcases and hanging up our clothes, we then had to re-pack and the unpack again in our new room - not ideal when you go on holiday to relax. Furthermore, we found the bar and food service to be very poor. Not only were staff lazy but we found some to be very rude. We even ordered drinks at a table with some other couples that we met and on several occasions, we never saw the waiter again - so the drinks order vanished. At the bar itself, we found the service very slow. Staff seem to only care if you gave them a tip - which we did - but this shouldn't be the 'be all and end all' of getting a drink in a 5-star resort. At the pool bar, when asking for a bottle of water, the bartender responded with 'don't you have water in your room?'. The final straw was when I asked for a drinks order at the lobby bar. The order contained 2 of each drink, to avoid having to go back up to the bar and wait and one of the members of staff started to get grumpy with this and asked why I was ordering 2 of each drink. After explaining why, he said it was 'more work' for himself and he couldn't understand that I didn't see an issue with it - after all, it is all inclusive. In terms of the food - it was a bit repetitive but manageable. However, it was concerning when we entered the restaurants to find staff on their mobile phones, not bothering to take us to a table to be seated. We found it very difficult to find a clean table due to tables not being cleared quick enough or in most cases, not at all. The Thomson website says that there is an Italian a la carte restaurant. When we tried to book this at reception, the member of staff laughed at us and told us it opened in the summer. Isn't June classed as summer? Additionally, when we booked another of the a la carte's we were told to come back and get a receipt of the booking at a later date because the printer was broken. We came back on the night of our booking (around 7pm) - the booking was at 8.30pm. When we spoke to reception, they told us they had no record of our booking but they would book us for 9pm that night. We turned up at 9pm to be turned away as they were full. We then were forced to go to the main buffet, which was now closing up and after complaining to the hotel manager, we managed to rectify this. The entertainment is a bit meh, and is repeated each week - we had the pleasure of seeing each performance twice - woohoo! Our cleaner kept leaving the balcony doors open to 'air the room'. It didnt need aired and our valuables were at risk of being stolen - we were on level 1 (jumping distance up to our balcony) and we looked out onto a busy street. We submitted a formal complaint on the 12th June 2017, whilst on holiday, with the TUI rep, Chris - who was quite helpful but not very empathetic. Apparently because it was Ramadan, it was to be expected. Hotel standards shouldnt drop beacause of staff's personal issues/beliefs. We complained to the hotel manager, Nadir, who tried to help but initially said 'what do you want me to do'. Isn't that his job to decide how to compensate guests? Eventually, we were offered late check out for free but this made no real benefit as our flight was delayed by over 2 hours - not any fault of the hotel though. Quite frankly, our whole experience has been a complete shambles, from start to finish. We are so glad to be home but we're furious at how poor our holiday was, how poor the hotel service was and how uncaring your staff are. As university students who have saved up all year for this holiday, we were completely gutted and disappointed at the above and honestly, we feel robbed of our hard earned and hard saved money.