TUI BLUE Riu Tikida Beach

My holiday at the Tikida Beach has changed my view and outlook on all inclusive holidays. I love Agadir and will always holiday there for a bit of winter sun. Good Food – A good selection of salads, breads and cold meats. Staff – The cleaning staff and room service teams get 5 stars here. They keep the rooms and hotel spotlessly clean. The room fridges are also kept topped up with water and sodas. If you tip well you will get good service at and around the bars from the waiting staff. Facilities – Very good gym. Spa on site. Location – Right on the famous promenade. 30 minute walk to the marina. Beach opposite. Reps – I flew with TUI and the reps were about the hotel daily when I walked through and it was easy to book trips with them. Bad Food – Overall very disappointing. Breakfast is advertised at starting from 6am, however their doors were not open until 7am. Maybe a change in times due to it being their winter? This was not explained. Even at 7am the staff were not fully prepared – still putting items out meaning they were not there to provide direct service to the guests. The lady on the egg station was terrible – so called boiled eggs would explode when cracked open due to them not being boiled for long enough. She also had responsibility for sausages and these too were undercooked. I ask, where is the supervision? A lack of protein at breakfast was a common theme throughout the day in the restaurants. The snack bar, available between 3-6pm, never had any protein or fruit – just fries, pasta, crepes and deserts. The offerings of fruit were terrible. Apples, oranges were common. Soft fruits were there but cut up and placed on yoghurts. There is an enormous fruit and veg market on the outskirts of town, so no excuse for there not being a better selection of fruit at all times. Price I suspect maybe the issue. If you are interested in healthy eating you would have been disappointed – bar the salads. Staff – If you tip well you will get good service at and around the bars. Certain customers do get preferential service – French nationals, returning customers and those that tip regularly. Some staff have a really bad attitude. Especially prominent in this category are the breakfast staff first thing due to them being rushed and the reception staff. Bars – The alcohol, especially spirits, served was pretty poor. The beer was OK. The vodka and gin didn’t taste of vodka or gin. There was not offering of premium spirits for payment which I know some of the other all-inclusive hotels offer. Facilities – The hotel advertises, Air Conditioning. I went to reception to inform them that the AC was not working. They said the AC does not operate in the winter! The day before this the temperature had been 28 degrees. The winter I left at home was in the minus figures. An example of the hotel doing what is best for the hotel and not the guests. The reception staff member was quite rude while relaying this information to me. The room did have a fan but a blast of AC would have been appreciated on return from being outside. The pool signage clearly states that you can not pre book sun lounger by placing your towels on them before 9am. This was not enforced in any way. I went for breakfast about 7am and the towels were out! It is pointless having a rule if it is not enforced. The gym is very good but is closed between 12 and 3pm. Inexplicable really as when open there are no staff there. The on-site spa appears very professional. The prices indicate this, being very high. I think a discount is offered to hotel guests of 30% - but this was very unclear – as to whether the prices in the glossy brochure were with the discount included. Location – I saw more than one guest complain about the location of their room being over or near the disco and they were unable to get to sleep. One gentleman appeared a reception, where I was having a night cap, in his dressing gown making such a complaint. He was told it would be sorted out in the morning by an unhelpful disinterested reception staff member. I will never book all-inclusive again because of this experience unless I can afford The Robinson Hotel just up the road – reputedly the best in town. I shall go self-catering and buy quality foods locally.

We had a fantastic holiday at RIU Tikida Beach and in the circumstances surround our stay (mid march during Covid-19 lockdown) TUI did a fantastic job looking after us. We would like to say a huge thank you to the hotel and TUI for looking after us, and carrying on business as usual so we had the most wonderful week away in the sunshine. All the staff in the hotel were friendly and helpful. Despite the impending closure of the hotel (we were the very last guests to leave) the staff continued to look after us fantastically. We could easily have believed that nothing in the world was going on. Our thanks to our TUI rep who kept us informed but also kept calm and allowed us to finish our holiday without a worry. We were diverted to Stansted instead of Gatwick and TUI arranged a coach to get us back to Gatwick. Really so grateful to have been so well looked after. Will always book TUI!