We spent four nights at Riu Tikida Palace Agadir and overall had a lovely stay. The hotel is huge, palatial, has beautiful gardens, two large pools and plenty of space to relax.
The staff were lovely. We'd read that tipping was important for good service, but we found that friendliness and politeness went a long way too - we witnessed some abrupt and demanding behaviour from other guests which we felt unnecessary given how warm and genuine the staff are. On our first evening in Krystal, our waiter was particularly attentive and even decorated our table with a red rose and rose petals, which was a lovely touch.
The rooms are spacious and the beds are enormous, the mattresses and pillows are firm which is our preference. The bathroom layout isn't ideal, one of the doors opens directly in front of the storage area, and the toilet has slatted doors rather than a solid door, so privacy is limited. The room, decor and some areas of the hotel too, are quite dark - some brightness would be an improvement.
The pool area is lovely and the water wasn't nearly as cold as we'd expected. From the photos, I was worried that pool area would be busy, noisy and crowded, but it's not the case at all. The sunbeds nearer the pool are popular, but there's plenty of space elsewhere if you prefer somewhere quieter and with more personal space around your pair of sunbeds.
There's plenty of food choice and we enjoyed trying the different restaurants during our stay. Krystal was fantastic, the steakhouse and buffets were great, but the Moroccan restaurant wasn't so good. The restaurant sittings are a little rushed too, we'd prefer more time between courses.
Drinks were fine with us, we'd have preferred wine choices as the white and rose were very dry, but the red, plus the sparkling wine (also included at breakfast!) were nice. The cocktails are more refreshing than strong!
One point to be aware of is room location. We were allocated a room on the external side of the hotel. The rooms are not very soundproofed and between roughly 2.30am and 5.30am, the taxi traffic can be extremely noisy. When the nightclubs close, there's traffic congestion, with a lot of engine revving and beeping horns. If you're a light sleeper, I'd strongly recommend requesting an inward-facing room when booking or checking in or packing heavy duty earplugs!
We also had a lack of hot water one evening when there was a day of sea mist and hazy weather. Not a major issue for us, but mentioning as the hotel may rely on solar heating.
Hotel entertainment isn't really our thing, so we'd have a later dinner, walk along the promenade and go back for a quiet drink. The pool entertainment and music can be fairly repetitive and some guests annoyingly play their own music through personal speakers, so pack your earbuds.
As for Agadir, it's definitely an all-inclusive resort and not somewhere with much to see or do. Yes there are excursions, but if you like exploring beautiful cities, towns and villages, this isn't really the place. The marina is small and a bit smelly to be honest. There are some bars and restaurants nearby. There's a number of gift shops and small supermarkets too, but most of the staff will hassle you and they won't take no for an answer if you say you just want to browse.
We would recommend this hotel for a short break, but definitely request a quieter, inward-facing room and bear in mind the resort itself, whist modern and spotless, doesn't have much to offer in terms of sightseeing.
