"Avoid - Pretty hotel that comes with a side of mould, poor maintenance, hygiene issues and varying levels of service."
Stayed August–September 2026 | 4 nights | All-inclusive
We stayed at Riu Tikida Palmeraie in Marrakech from 28 August to 1 September 2026, booking a four night all inclusive package through TUI (including flights and transfers arranged by TUI).
Would we return or recommend to a friend ? Absolutely not.
I'll start with the positives. The hotel is attractive, particularly on first impressions, and many members of staff were warm, welcoming and friendly. The food selection was also quite good, with options for those who prefer familiar European dishes as well as those wanting to try more traditional Moroccan food.
Unfortunately, our overall experience was overshadowed by numerous issues with the accommodation, maintenance, hygiene, facilities, customer service, cold food and disappointing drinks.
1. Before travelling – misleading information and unanswered enquiries.
Before travelling, we reviewed the information about the resort, which at the time stated that men were required to wear long trousers and long sleeved shirts for all meals. Given that temperatures were expected to be around 35–45°C, this seemed rather excessive, so I emailed the hotel to clarify the dress code and also requested information about booking spa treatments.
After considerable chasing, the hotel eventually responded confirming that the long trouser and long sleeved shirt requirements were correct, but we still received no proper response about the spa. Its good that I actually phoned TUI to double check the dress code the day before departure, it turned out that the information about dress code was incorrect - basically no sportswear, flip flops, swimwear at dinner.
2. Gatwick Airport and arrival transfers
Our problems began at Gatwick Airport, where there was no running water. We had planned to eat at the airport before our flight, but the water disruption made obtaining any non bottled drinks or a hot / non prepackaged sandwich meal extremely difficult. There were no updates from Gatwick Airport (in house or on their website) despite this starting hours before we arrived at the airport, EasyJet or TUI about what was happening or what passengers should expect. We contacted TUI through its online chat, but the representative was unable to provide any meaningful assistance.
Our outbound EasyJet flight was also delayed by approximately an hour. Upon arriving in Marrakech, we could not locate a TUI representative, any clear signage or our arranged shared transfer. We were not the only people stranded. We encountered another couple whose private transfer (also booked and arranged by TUI) had also failed to arrive, alongside other passengers who appeared to be waiting for the same shared transfer as us.
Eventually, we found a driver operating a different TUI coach, who kindly phoned somebody on our behalf. After further waiting, someone arrived and directed us to a small shabby looking minibus. The vehicle did not have air conditioning (something we understood it would have from asking before booking) and it reeked of cigarette smoke, we quietly baked in the heat of the minibus for the 30 -40 min ride to the resort, whilst another passenger loudly complained about the heat and smell. The cigarette smell was so strong that it remained on our travelling clothes the following couple of days.
3. First impressions and an uncomfortable encounter with a staff member
The reception area is pretty and gives an initial impression of luxury. However, once you move beyond it, much of the resort feels rather worn and rough around the edges, with facilities and fittings that do not always function as they should.
When we arrived, a staff member insisted (literally taking hold of our bags - whilst we politely declined) on taking our us and single bag to our room using a golf cart after we checked in. We checked in and the receptionist informed us that we would be taken to our room by golf cart as it was dark and it was part of the all inclusive service. We had checked the hotel's / the TUI all inclusive information and understood that tipping was not expected / fair wages were paid. Nevertheless, we were happy to thank staff for their assistance.
Once we arrived outside the block that our room was located within, we explicitly thanked the staff member and said that we could take our bag from there. Despite this, and despite there being no language barrier, he kept hold of our bag, walked ahead of us and stood at our room door until we unlocked it. He then walked straight into our room, still carrying our bag.
Once inside, he remained there asking for a tip. We explained that we had not yet withdrawn local currency (you can only exchange currency once you land in Morocco and due to the delays, the soon closing dinner buffet and growing hunger, we had not yet had the chance to do so), we offered to leave a tip for him later at reception. He appeared visibly annoyed, huffing and grunting before leaving in a manner that felt almost like storming out. The interaction made us extremely uncomfortable, particularly as he had entered our room despite us saying that we could manage from the doorway. Unfortunately, I had accidentally left my jacket in his golf cart. When he returned it a few mins later, he banged on our door, appeared irritated and grunted at me before leaving.
4. Our room – multiple defects, cleanliness concerns and rapidly spreading mould.
We stayed in room 5150, we discovered several problems:
Air conditioning and mould: There was visible water staining beneath the air-conditioning unit, initially with a small dark mark. During our short stay, this developed rapidly into a substantial outbreak of visible black and green mould. The speed at which it spread was particularly concerning.
Dirty bedding: One side of the bed had visibly stained bedding that smelled strongly of stale sweat or old milk. The bedding on the other side was clean and fresh, making the difference very noticeable.
Broken shower drain cover: The shower drain cover was damaged and could not be fitted back securely. We could not stand directly under the only and non moveable shower head, we had to stand further away and bend awkwardly when showering.
Broken towel rail: The towel/drying rail had broken away from the wall, leaving us with one hook to hang things on.
Noisy refrigerator: The refrigerator repeatedly made loud clicking and clunking noises, sometimes sounding like somebody opening the room door, which disturbed our sleep.
Faulty balcony door: The handle did not work and so the door could not be closed or locked securely.
We raised the room issues with housekeeping. The bedding was subsequently changed, but the other issues were not resolved before we left.
What surprised us was that several of these problems were so visibly obvious. Surely routine housekeeping and maintenance inspections should identify damaged fittings, water damage and potential safety hazards before allocating a room to guests.
5. Food – good variety, but some concerns
To give credit where it is due, the buffet offered a good variety of food. There were dishes suited to guests who prefer familiar European meals, as well as Moroccan and other local style options.
However, some dishes that we would have expected to be served hot were only barely warm. By approximately the second day of the holiday, my partner developed diarrhoea. This continued after we returned to the UK and required doctors appointments and tests, taking almost 3 weeks to stop.
We ate and drank at the hotel (we ate and drank different things the vast majority of the time) and used bottled water, including for brushing our teeth. I cannot 100% say that the hotel food caused his illness, and I would not want to make that allegation without evidence. However, the timing of his symptoms and our observations regarding food temperatures left us concerned.
6. All inclusive drinks and communal snack hygiene
The drinks were another disappointment. The spirits were so extraordinarily sweet that it tasted as though somebody had added half a glass of sugar to each drink. The cocktails were premixed, the red wine was extremely acidic and unpleasant often untouched or discarded by many people, and the beer taps repeatedly ran out. Even the hot drinks were poor. For example, the hot chocolate (made with brown powder) was so diluted that it was white rather than chocolate / brown coloured.
Snacks were supposedly available, but the selection we saw was very limited, mainly consisting of communal nuts and occasionally olives in the bar. What particularly put us off was watching multiple sets of guests repeatedly put their hands / fingers directly into the communal nuts, place food into their mouths (fingers touching or inside the lips / mouth) and then put those exact same fingers straight back into the shared bowl of nuts. Serving spoons and plates were available (right next to the bowl of nuts). We did not see any staff intervening to stop this behavior.
7. Spa – not made easily accessible.
Before travelling, I tried repeatedly to obtain information about the spa, including treatments and booking arrangements, but never received a satisfactory response, just a you can book it when you get here. At the hotel, reception simply pointed us to a QR code, which did not work. We also discovered that the spa treatments were not operated in the way we had expected from a hotel run spa. Our understanding was that external treatment providers were brought in upon request, meaning the available treatments, and potentially the prices, could vary. We ultimately did not book any treatments.
8. Facilities and entertainment – limited things to do
Although the grounds are pretty, there is not a great deal to do at the hotel itself, we knew this which is why we prebooked short non TUI organised events out (we recommend checking Get your guide for days out against the TUI offered ones before booking). This resort alone is very much a resort for guests who want to spend most of their time sunbathing and relaxing on the limited number of sunbeds around the outdoor pool which is relatively small.
Indoor swimming pool
On our final day, I used the indoor swimming pool (less crowded). I could not identify any clearly displayed information about the depth of the pool. The individual I presumed to be the lifeguard remained sitting outside throughout the time I (and other people, including very young children) were swimming. I cannot confirm what supervision arrangements were supposed to be in place, but this did not inspire confidence. There was also no direction / way to obtain towels in this location.
More of a concern was that separate gender changing areas are not secured, you can see and walk into these areas from the pool, no doors to lock whilst changing or showering that I could find / see, just a curtain which for safety reasons for women and/or children was a bit unsettling.
9. A practical warning for women – limited sanitary products
This is a slightly personal point, but I think it is worth mentioning because the hotel is not particularly close to convenient shops. My period unexpectedly arrived much earlier than anticipated, and because I was not expecting it, I had only packed one emergency sanitary towel and one tampon.
When the hotel shop opened, I went to purchase additional supplies. Unfortunately, there were no sanitary towels available, and I could only find one type of non applicator tampon, tucked away on a lower shelf. I appreciate that this is not necessarily a failing of the hotel, but it is worth knowing if you are travelling here. I would strongly recommend bringing bulk spare sanitary products, even if you do not expect to need them.
10. TUI representation and communication problems
Our booking documents specifically advertised a TUI hotel representative, plus 24/7 support through the TUI app and telephone. However, we regularly walked past the TUI representative's desk on our way to the restaurants, bar and other facilities, and never encountered anybody staffing it. We did not see a clear attendance schedule or contact number displayed at the desk.
We did want to speak to a TUI rep about the issues and on one occasion, we noticed somebody wearing a TUI T-shirt sitting at a table in the buffet restaurant eating. We had no way of knowing whether he was the TUI representative, a driver or another employee, and it would not have been appropriate to interrupt somebody's meal.
Our iphones did not work upon arrival in Marrakech (despite having made arrangements for calling / data abroad), it may have just been our room but there was zero information on how to connect to the Wi-fi and nothing initially provided upfront by reception. Access to the Wi-Fi was also delayed because reception provided us with an incorrect password by phone (we called from our rooms landline), we ended up having to go the reception desk to seek help, they pointed us to one printed / moveable sign with the correct password. Even once connected, the service was limited. Normally we would have just have gone without Wi-Fi but the events we booked relied on whatsapp pick up time information sent just before the event.
Given our experience with the arrival transfer and a lack of information about our return transfer time, we ultimately paid separately for a taxi back to the airport rather than risk relying on the arranged return transfer. After arriving home, we submitted a detailed complaint to TUI, including our photographs and concerns. TUI's initial response was that because TUI had no record of us contacting the TUI resort representative during the holiday, it would not investigate our complaint further. This is particularly disappointing given the representative's apparent unavailability, the communication difficulties and the fact that we had raised the accommodation issues with housekeeping. We have since challenged that response.
11. Overall – Pretty surroundings, but too many problems
There are positives here. The communal parts of the hotel is visually attractive, some of the staff were genuinely lovely, and the buffet provides a good selection for different tastes. Unfortunately, the experience behind the attractive reception and grounds did not match the impression created throughout our stay.
The numerous room maintenance defects, visible mould, bedding cleanliness issue, the very uncomfortable interaction with the staff member on arrival, concerns about food and snack hygiene, disappointing drinks, and inadequate support significantly made this into a holiday we remember for the wrong reasons.
We understand that no hotel is perfect, but we would expect considerably better maintenance, cleanliness, safety checks and guest support from a four star all inclusive resort, and from a large travel provider like TUI.
If you're considering booking, I would strongly recommend checking the condition of your room immediately upon arrival, bringing essential personal supplies, confirming any spa arrangements in advance and ensuring you have reliable contact details for your tour operator.
It is a shame, because with better maintenance, attention to hygiene and more consistent service, this could be a much better experience.
