Barcelo Palmeraie Oasis Resort

"We stayed here for 2 weeks and had a fabulous time. The adults pool was calm and we spent time here whilst the children were in kids club. Kids club was fantastic, the staff were amazing with our 2 girls and they regularly asked to go back. As a result of kids club, our children made lasting friendships throughout our holiday. Hajar, in particular, was fabulous and kind to our children. As well as this, there was nightly entertainment for the children including discos and a gala dinner. The service from the staff around the pools and in the restaurants was excellent. All staff were super helpful and couldn’t do any more to ensure our stay here was positive and comfortable. A specific mention to Youssef (server around the big pool) who was kind and attentive. Storage in the room was a little tight (2 adults and 2 children) however the cleaners were great. If you prefer a quieter experience in the evening we found having drinks and playing cards in ‘La Place’ to be very relaxing and calm away from the busier main bar. We stayed for 2 weeks and were not bored by the food. There was a big variety with constant nightly changes, which was a nice surprise. We were 1/2 board and found that this was a good balance in giving us options to choose throughout the day."

"We had a seamless trip with Jet2 and arrived to a really beautiful looking hotel, the gardens are immaculate. The room we were assigned had a drain smell and it was changed to a much better one with no issues, the size of the room is manageable and has everything you need, kids go on the sofa as their bed but my daughter found it comfy. Air-con is great (and essential 👌) TIP: you get toothbrushes and lovely Nuxe toiletries so save the space in your case. There is a little shop on site but if you want pool toys, etc you'll need to bring them. Food offering is really good, everything felt clean and hygienic and the omelettes, tagines and puddings are lovely. Plenty on offer and we didn't feel like we were missing out on all on this magical "All Inc Plus", didn't really notice anyone getting more than us? Entertainment was great, kids disco Friday, Moroccan night Tuesday, foam party for kids Wednesday and other stuff we didn't see as we out - TIP: get to bar for 8pm if you want a decent seat. Shuttle bus into Marrakesh was helpful, we also did a trip to the Atlas Mountains through Get Your Guide (TIP: don't book Jet2 trips, they are double the price). The best thing about the hotel is the staff, they are all so friendly and helpful and we didn't experience any negativity. The worst thing about the holiday was some of the terrible parenting and entitled kids we encountered, queues exist for a reason. The pool is great and the big beds are amazing, get down about 8am if you want one of those...this holiday has been extremely enjoyable and we are sad it's nearly over! (Big shout out to Sara at the bar who is a customer service STAR)"

"We booked Barcelo with the pretense that we were going to be staying at a 5star luxury resort… this was far from reality. Don’t get me wrong the hotel in itself isn’t bad, but still not 5 star worthy. In a nutshell these are the issues we had. We stayed for 1 days and then checked out because it was not anywhere near up to the standard we expected. - no one is at the entrance when you arrive, no concierge etc. Fine if the front reception is close by but it isn’t. We arrived with 3 suitcases and 2 prams. My husband went to reception and they said yes that’s normal just leave your stuff there. Not sure why we would leave our stuff unattended upon arrival at a place we’d never been with no one in sight. Also if this was the case there should be a sign, or are we supposed to guess? - Prior to arrival, I tried contacting the hotel on 3 occasions and through social media. I had a generic response after the final attempt. When we got there I mentioned this and their response was ‘Mam it’s high season’ - surely as a hotel you should be operational in any season. Paying customers should have communication. - The rooms were dated but not too bad - definitely not 5 star worthy. We had ants all over the floor and in the bathroom. At one point they were on our pillows. The shower drain was also blocked and therefore flooding. We felt like we couldn’t walk barefoot in the room as the floor wasn’t clean and couldn’t let our baby crawl. - Food was pretty rubbish, breakfast was not good and the coffee was awful. - Overall cleanliness was poor. The hotel toilets were dirty. The room wasn’t cleaned properly. We had our fridge replaced and it was filthy. Outside the breakfast one morning there was discarded food covered in ants. There was a forgotten swimming costume left in our room, makes you think if they cleaned before we checked in. There were random bits of food outside our room terrace. - Service was pretty awful, no one ever answered the phone. My husband spent the two days we were there, going to and from reception. We kept asking for things and either were ignored or it would take 4/5 hours for anything to happen, for example ‘can you clean the ants’. - Hotel says it caters for kids but there is no kids menu in any restaurant. All restaurants open at 12.30 so kids who eat earlier just have to eat in the room. - The air con cut out a few times - The pool was so busy and people were reserving beds early in the day. There was also music quite loud from midday so if you’re going for relaxing this isn’t for you. In summary, not a 5 star hotel and not worth the money. Did not feel like a resort, more like a holiday village. Glad we made the decision to leave after our first 24h there."