ClubHotel Riu Tikida Dunas

We have just come back from an absolutely amazing holiday at the Riu Tikida Dunas. We spent 2 weeks there from Fri 10th November and didn't want to leave! We had the time of our lives from the moment we arrived until the moment we left (with a tear in our eye!) Things we liked: The food The food in the hotel is amazing, and there is plenty of it! Breakfast is served from 7-1030 in the main restaurant. Due to extreme laziness, we didn't manage to make it there until the end of our first week., However, after out first visit we started putting our alarm on so we could go every morning!! There is a huge selection of food, including a choice of about 10 different cereals, yogurt, cold meats, cheeses, croissants, pain au chocolat, danish pastries, sausage, potatoes, beans, crumpets, potato cakes, pancakes with a choice of syrups.....and my favourite -you take a small bowl and select from large bowls of cheese, onion, tomatoes, herbs, turkey, then hand it to the chef and he cooks you a fresh omelette. If you don't manage to get up in the morning, there is a continental breakfast served from 1030-1230 in the downstairs restaurant. This is a smaller version of the main breakfast and includes sausage, potatoes, beans, croissants, pastries etc... Lunch is 1230-330 and again, there is a wide selection of food. Every day there are 2-3 different pizzas - which are delicious, especially the margarita!, chips, burgers, salad bar.There is always a choice of plain pastas/spaghetti and different sauces such as bolognaise, tomato, creamy herb.... Then there are about 10 or so different meals which vary each day - e.g. honey and ginger chicken, beef kebabs, chicken steaks, fresh fish. If you can still manage to eat after your main course there is a selection of cakes and you can help yourself to ice cream with a choice of sauces and sprinkles. If you miss lunch or are feeling peckish, they serve "snacks" from 330-530.These include croque monsieurs (cheese+ham toasties), pancakes, sausages, and more cakes and ice cream. Dinner is in two sittings the first at 630 and the second at 8. You are allocated a sitting when you check in but you can change it if you want to. There are 3 restaurants: the main buffet restaurant, the Moroccan restaurant Alhambra, and the Grill. You have to book the Moroccan restaurant and the Grill 24 hours in advance, you can do so in the main buffet restaurant by speaking to one of the waiters. The Moroccan restaurant serves - unsurprisingly - Moroccan dishes such as couscous, tajines etc. There is also a salad bar with Moroccan salads and starters, and a cake buffet with delicious Moroccan cakes and biscuits. The Grill is not to be missed! It is downstairs in the restaurant where lunch is served.It is much quieter than the main restaurant with only about 20 people max per night. The food includes steaks, chicken kebabs, fresh fish, lobster, squid, beef grill steaks, chicken steaks, roast chicken, chips, potatoes in foil... and of course a wide selection of cakes! The Grill was definitely our favourite place to eat. The main buffet restaurant has an extensive choice of food, there are 2 salad bars, and a choice of 2 soups every night. You will definitely not have any difficulty in finding anything to eat. There are 3 different pizzas each night, pastas with a choice of sauces, a different roast meat every night - turkey, beef, gammon etc...couscous with vegetables. In the 2 weeks that we were there, they managed to serve different meals every night so there is no chance of getting bored. There are also theme nights twice a week - we had Italian, Spanish, Moroccan and oriental( which is Egyptian food?!) We were absolutely amazed with the food and couldn't believe the choice available. We had no complaints whatsoever, the food was always hot and there was plenty to go round. The weather The weather was perfect. After visiting Tunisia in February when it wasn't very warm we didn't get our hopes up too high. However we were lucky enough to have sunny, hot weather every single day for 2 weeks. Temperatures ranged from 26 - 33 degrees C in early/mid November. However it wasn't too hot - you could walk around and do stuff without passing out from the heat. The hotel itself The hotel was spacious and clean and the decor was really nice. The rooms are set away from the main part of the hotel (only a 2min walk) and set out on 3 open air levels around a small lake and palm trees. Even though the hotel was quite busy whilst we were there, it never seemed overcrowded and you can be sure of getting a lounger by the pool, or a seat up on the terrace. The staff The staff were genuinely friendly and helpful and seemed to go out of their way to help you and be nice to you. We were always served with a smile at the bar, and our plates cleared away quickly in the restaurant. Reception staff were pleasant and very helpful. We had special cocktails made for us by some of the bar staff, and one guy even gave us some Moroccan tea and a teapot to make it in on our last day! The beach The beach is probably the nicest we have ever seen. It is so clean, we didn't see a single bit of rubbish the whole time we were there. The sand is golden and really soft, and the sea is so clear that you can see right to the sea bed. The beach is huge and so never gets crowded, and there are some good waves for body boarding! The massages We had relaxing massages, and reflexology in the hotel spa, for about half the price you would pay in England. A visit to the spa is definitely recommended, there is a wide range of treatments available including massage, shiatsu, reflexology, manicure, facials etc...as well as hairdressing. However do not miss a trip to "Les massages d'Argan" Our tour rep organised trips there, but it is only about a 10min drive away. For about £20 we got a 2 hour massage which commenced with a cup of herbal tea while we soaked our feet in rose petals. Our feet were then massaged before we lay on a bed and had a full body massage including face and head. It was so relaxing and so good that we went twice! The price also includes a return taxi so it is an absolute bargain. Not to be missed. We didn't go on any other excursions as we had just gone for a fully relaxing holiday ! (i.e. mainly spent our time round the pool or on the beach) However there were a number of excursions available through our tour operator Thomas Cook, and I think the other operators offered more or less the same. These included a 2 day trip to Marrakesh, a 2 hour camel trek, a trip through the Atlas mountains and a fishing cruise. We walked into Agadir along the beach to the promenade - it took us about 45 minutes. There is a little train that stops outside the hotel, you can get this into Agadir for about £1.The promenade is mainly restaurants and a couple of souvenir shops, there is also a McDonalds and Pizza Hut! Things we didn't like Not much! The only things we can think of that stopped the holiday being absolutely perfect were.... Beach sellers The hotel has its own private bit of beach with plenty of sunbeds and parasols. This is up at the top part of the beach, separated from the main beach by rocks. However, once you get onto the main part of beach, you will find yourself approached by numerous sellers trying to flog you anything from postcards, donuts, shells and camel rides (although there were no camels in sight.....) They're not aggressive or threatening, if you just say no and walk away then they wont bother you. It just gets a bit annoying cos there are so many of them. No jacuzzis Yes we are getting a bit picky here, but a jacuzzi by the pool would have been nice! Overall this was a holiday of a lifetime and would be 100% recommended to anyone!

We arrived at Tikida Dunas for a weeks Holiday on Monday 6th November not really knowing what to expect.However we soon discovered what a well run and efficient Hotel this is-How nice it is to see happy smiling faces from all the staff and that applies to all Departments within the Hotel set up.Polite,helpful and yes it does help if you speak a bit of French but you can certainly get by just fine if you can't.The room was spacious and very clean and well maintained during our stay-the choice of Restaurants was great and we were not disappointed with the standard of food,the Bar staff were great fun and a particular vote of thanks to the Animation Team who kept us involved in most of the activities.Quelle surprise-a General Manager who could not resist the temptation to 'sing with the band' during the evenings entertainment-talk about 'hands on'-this was something else but he clearly has great respect from his staff and we came away thinking this was one of the best Holiday hotels we have been to and a thoroughly good experience.By the way the weather was superb wall to wall sunshine 27c-33c daytime and around 21c at night not bad for second week in November !! If you do venture into Agadir itself forget the Taxi's -Take the little Train that tootles past the front of the Hotel every 45 minutes or so.Have no doubts about this Hotel , it's big but not so big that the client becomes a number and you do feel that they are pleased you are in their Hotel enjoying your Holiday experience, Go for it !!

Having juat returned from a weeks holiday at the Tikida Dunas I can safely say that it is one of the best holidays I have ever been on! The hotel itself was very modern and excellently presented. Our rooms were brilliant, much bigger than average with ample places to relax. The hotel is split into many blocks so you could be placed in a number of locations, all of which were very pleasant. The maid service was very efficient and they cleaned every day. The food was also of a very high standard. Be sure to eat in the Moroccan restaurant to sample the local cuisine, a truly memorable experience. Buffet restaurant was excellent, serving a wide variety of food at both breakfast and dinner, as was the pool side restaurant which served lunch. The entertainment team catered for all languages, sometimes not giving an english translation, but only if english people didn't join in! They worked very hard and were also very helpful, without forcing people to join in. The pool area was amazing and lagoon style, a real treat! If you go on any excursions be sure to take small change as you will need it for tips, a trip to the Atlas mountains comes highly recommended, a glimpse of REAL Morocco! If your looking for a relaxing mostly hotel based holiday then this is definetly the place for you.

Agadir: Club Tikida Dunas: "Overall a good holiday!" Date: October 2006 We have just returned from Club Tikida Dunas, after spending a weeks break. It was our intention to have an autumn break in the sun based on beach and pool activities, which were well catered for. We are a family of four with two children aged 8 and 3. As the previous comments implied that the hotel was full of children running around and misbehaving, I cannot endorse this as we found that we were well in the minority (at a best guess there were probably only 20 children in total within the whole complex during our stay). My wife and myself were together for 13 years before we had children and if we wanted a holiday without children running around we would not have picked an all inclusive holiday in the school holiday periods (which are at a premium in any event) therefore my suggestion would be that this hotel is ideal for all tastes as long a you are sensible when you decide to go. It is also true that the French do seem to get preferential treatment especially from the the dining room staff. NB make sure you do get your table allocated for the evening meal on your arrival as we walked straight in and asked if we could sit anywhere and was told yes only to be later removed quite rudely by the head waiter, with no admission that their procedures were at fault (not a good start to the dining experience). It would appear they try to make the evening dining a more formal experience which backfires and becomes a bun fight that is rushed and you are sat canteen style with little or no break between yourselves and other diners. The breakfast is far more relexed and you can also sit where you like. The afternoon snack self service reteraunt was our favourite serving more or less the same as the evening with a more relaxed and an private seating. All the staff made a fuss over the children and encouraged them to help themselves to what they wanted and not to feel shy. The entertainment staff were not pushy at getting you to join in activities (which we have found in past holidays). The entertainment was low key and the live musical entertainment in the reception was awful. Reception did change travellers cheques (when they had Dirams available) Rooms were larger than the norm, clean and well maintained however our particular balcony did have a seaview but was totally in the shade. Tipping is the norm at the end of the holiday and all the staff seem to know when you are going home and start to get even more friendly. On the whole an enjoyable holiday and one which I would recomend for all tastes dependant on the time of year and we shall be booking again in the future for a week in the sun.

Arrived at the hotel, met efficiently and checked in effortlessly, bar still open for the first of our all inclusive drinks. Arriving at the room was very pleased to see how clean and amazingly big they were, coupled with a big balcony and fabulous views right onto the lovely beach and atlantic ocean. The rooms was a long way from reception however this was a pleasant walk everynight after you had eaten in anyone of the three restautants. The grill restaurant was not nice to eat in as it was dark and dingy however the buffett was very good and the moroccon restaurant was outstanding. As with all all inclusive hotels boredom does set in so we did eat out several times and had very good food - try the onion soup with cheese on top, lovely. Good restaurants and bars to eat and drink in. Take a trip to Essouria, hire a man and a car as very good prices and you can relax and watch the scenic coastline views. I visited with 2 boogie boarders who thought they had died and gone to heaven as the surf was up every day... and it was big. Hire the quad bikes and go into the real morocco villages - a great way to see the country. Lee-Ann, Dean and Steve - Hove Thoroughly recommend Agadir, we had great time, Thomas Cook rep was excellent.

Having stayed at this hotel for our honeymoon in July 2006….I can say we were TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED. The hotel itself was made up of several buildings which were well maintained and kept clean. I cannot fault the physical structure or layout of the hotel, or indeed it's cleanliness. The grounds were also lovely. The hotel location is OK - its approx a 25 minute walk into Agadir. However, the hotel is almost entirely french, with most of the activities in French with an english translation as an after thought. I am not saying this is wrong but please BE AWARE as an english person you are not so well catered for. Thomson did not make us aware of this. The entertainment is also geared towards children, and finishes around 10.30 at night. The hotel is VERY popular with children. Children play everywhere and the staff don't stop them. This makes for running, screaming children in the restaurant, bar and the, what we had hoped would be, relaxing reception lounge area. They are also permitted in the fitness centre and treat all the equipment like it is a toy. Firstly, this has clear health and safety implications and secondly, makes using the equipment almost impossible. The children play with the food and drinks in the restaurant and have no idea what it is to queue. My husband and I suggest this is a great hotel for parents who are happy to let their kids run riot while the stay relaxing on the beach. Then, there was the food. Well….on our first night it seemed quite nice. However, every meal after that was BAD. Infact, it got to the point where we started eating out. The food was often cold, and that was if there was any left. They continually ran out of items and, even when advised of this fact, were in no hurry to replenish. The salads were quite fresh but the children would often treat it like it was a toy….again, the staff made no effort to stop them. The bars were also poor. There was no effort to interact with the guests and very rarely a please or thankyou - and never a "hello, how are you". The beer was served in glasses that literally held about a quarter of a pint and, watch them when they make the cocktails because they rarely add any alcohol. When we complained about this to the bar manager he didn't even apologise. We got the distinct impression that the hotel didn't care about their guests - being an all inclusive hotel they already had the money so tempting them back into the bars and restaurants was not necessary. If you want an overpriced hotel designed for children who will have ASBOs (or the French equivalent) in a few years time, then the Tikida Dunas is for you. Otherwise, keep your money in your pocket!! A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY. Oh, and just for the record, although Thomson assured us that the Tikida Beach would welcome us (the next door hotel), they did not want to know (despite being all inclusive guests at their sister hotel).

The hotel overall was nice. The staff were incredibly helpful. The hotel was clean and big. Majority of holiday people were French then German, but the English are increasing. The food was repetitive as said by the last reviewer and it got boring. I felt sorry for kids because when looking at there meals it looked the same everyday! Weather was a bit hit and miss on some days, it was always warm, but some days there was cloud cover. Entertainment, very butlins like and by the end of it of the week we decided to give the live nightly shows a miss and have a drink in the bar area near reception. We went to the club at the sister hotel - 7min walk. Before we went to the club we went to the sister hotels public bar Zanzibar, and it was great, good entertainment and more importantly commercial alcohol (to be paid for). The club was good, however full of prostitutes, it finishes at 4am! We went on a tour of agadir, which was good, recommend it as a tour. The hotel itself it one of the furthest away from the main shops area but a nice walk down you will find shops to purchase gifts, the main aim is to haggle, never pay the price they say. We found the local people where very pushy generally when it came to buying things and required tipping. On our agadir trip we went up the mountain and as soon as we got off the coach we were bombarded with men selling things, it is overwhelming buy politely say no and walk on, the guide will help if he sees you been pestered to much. The morocco restaurant was nice in the hotel and it was our best meal. The grill, which is the other restaurant, is just like what you would get on a normal dinner night. Towels are provided but the place to return them closes way before the end of the day so you either return them at reception or wait till the next day to get fresh ones. The beach is off the hotel and a small part is sectioned off and called a private beach for the hotel but it’s all apart of the public beach. Loads of sun beds, im not sure why people were up to reserve them! Agadir is in development with many new hotels being developed and the place is set to boom in the next 5-10 years. Money can be changed at the airport or hotel, the rates are the same everywhere. London, UK

This is a lovely hotel, the surroundings are very relaxing with well kept gardens and situated right on the beach front. The rooms are a good size and everything is kept very clean. There are 3 large pools and plenty of sunbeds, even later in the day there were always plenty free. The all inclusive service is well worth it, from the drinks to the food. There were no funny time restrictions on getting drinks from the bar and the bar service was always friendly. Kids could also help themselves to soft drinks from the machines at the bar unless they wanted a special non alcoholic cocktail made for them! There are two dinner sittings (which they do not always mention in the brochures- but I knew of beforehand from this website and was able to request an early sitting when booking), they are 7pm and 9pm. Basically if you are on the 7pm one you can go in any time from 7 til around 7.45 but they want to clear the restaurant by 8.30pm to prepare for the 9pm sitting. They are however flexible on occasions when you may wish to change your sitting or like us on the first night when we did not arrive at the hotel from the airport in time for our early sitting so went at 9pm instead. They say there are 3 restaurants, but really it is like 2. There is the Grill Bar (which you also use freely at lunchtime) and the Morrocan restaurant both of which you book with the Head waiter for evening meals. Also the Agadir Restaurant which is the main one for both evening meals and breakfast. The Morrocan restaurant is nice, not particularly a lot of choice for the children but well worth at least one visit for the experience and the surroundings, very peaceful and relaxing. The Grill Bar however serves virtually the same food as the main one, albeit a smaller choice but they will tell you it is different and that they have more BBQ food but we couldn't see the difference! The was plenty of choice of food every day. Always pizza, pasta, chips, salad bar, cold meats on offer for those less adventurous and the kids. Plus other Moroccan style dishes and lots of grilled fish. Breakfast was great- eggs anyway you wanted them, omelettes cooked to order, sausages (no bacon though!)continental breakfast. None of us suffered with any stomach upsets at all so my guess is that the food preparation here is very good The entertainment is not very good as you may have read in the other recent review, it is a bit Butlins style, also the kids club and kids disco is primarily aimed towards the French people visiting and until our kids (6 and 8) had met some other English kids, they had felt a little left out at the Disco because of the language barrier and also for that same reason we had not suggested that they go to the kids club. My understanding is that this was Portlands/Thomsons first season in Morocco and I guess it will take a little time for them to get client feedback and act on it. Be aware though that Agadir is quite often cloudy when the rest of Morocco is basking in sunshine because of the surrounding Atlas Mountains and the locals will tell you that this is quite common in August . Overall we had a great week there and I would definately recommend it.. In fact after listening to the lady sitting next to me on the plane on the way home, telling me her horror story about the Occidental hotel in Agadir, I was almost embarrassed to tell her what a great time and hotel we had, her story couldn't have been more opposite to mine!

Tikida Dunas is a lovely hotel in a part of Morocco that is still being heavly developed - the hotel is only approx 3 years old and is still in very condition. The rooms were very reasonably sized and cleaned thoroughly every day. We had a lovely sea view room and could hear the waves whilst in the room which was very soothing. The pool is very large and there are ample sun beds and umbrellas for everyone - although you still get the sun beds reserved every morning! Please note sun bed towels are provided - something, which they fail to mention in the brochures or websites. Poolside entertainment is low key so you can join in if you want; it wasn't in your face with blaring music and entertainers on microphones. All staff were very friendly especially the waiters who showed you to your table in the evening for dinner. As this hotel is only just being opened up to the English customers the entertainment for the children is very much in French, which is a shame as there were a number of English speaking families with children who could not understand anything that was being said. The evening entertainment is not 4 star quality it is more like Butlins style so do not expect very much. Food - we are all vegetarians so we don’t normally expect a great deal of thought put into creating vegetarian meals - this hotel was no exception - however there was always a good choice of salads/pasta/pizza/chips/veggie fritters/bread/soup on some days and lots of cakes and fruit. The mealtimes do become a little boring and repetitive - I think my children had pasta for every meal for the 7 days! Cous Cous was only on the menu a couple of times and there was a very limited choice (meat or veg) of Moroccan food. The food was mainly cooked to the European palette. They only have one specialty restaurant, which is the Moroccan - however the food is exactly the same as in the main restaurant - the surroundings were good though. The weather is very good in Morocco however be warned that Agadir sits between mountains and there is often very heavy mist. The temperature was very high (30 - 35degrees) but you may not actually see any sun. This is something that brochures tend to omit - so do not expect blue skies like you would in the Caribbean or Europe. Overall a very good holiday was had by myself and my husband and 2 children (6 & 9). If you are looking for a relaxing holiday with good weather that is something different that the rest of Europe give Morocco a try, it seems to be the place to be! Hope the review helps make the right choice - enjoy your holiday!

We confirm most of what was writen in the previous reviews. The hotel is very good, the location is excelent and the staff is very helpful and efficient, including the entertaining team.