Ramada Les Almohades Reviews

Just arrived back from a week in Morocco.
Very enjoyable holiday, different from anywhere we had been before.

BEWARE!!! Everyone in Morocco wants a tip! Porters just grab your things off you in the airport then hold their hands out for money, we gave ours a pound, but he wanted more! He`d also put our suitcases on the wrong coach!! So be warned! You do get hassled everywhere you go, everyone wants you in their shop or wants to be your guide, some physically try and pull you into their shop! It makes a quiet stroll around the shops very tiring! In the end we pretended that we couldn`t speak English and spoke Welsh to them, it threw them all off!! Seemed the only way to get rid of them that worked!

The Ramada was good. Stayed all inclusive and really got our moneys worth.
Food was good, had to keep an open mind.
Breakfast was omelettes, fried eggs and pancakes (cooked in front of you) plus croissants, salad, cereals, boiled eggs, lovely fresh bread. Fresh orange, pineapple juice, mineral water, tea and coffee. Lunch was served at the pool bar, pizzas, burgers, chips, baguettes, pasta or in the buffet restaurant which also had chips and pasta and usually something on the BBQ. Dinner was different most days, included, pasta, chips, mash, potato wedges, rice etc. Also had plenty of well cooked meat, again usually things on BBQ, turkey, fish etc. Always soup and fresh bread. The food is geared towards the French as they make up 95% of the guests, but we are a family of very fussy eaters and managed to find something for everyone every night bar one when we had to go to McDonalds! Cannot fault the food, it was always fresh and well cooked. Drinks were coke, sprite, fanta, water, Stork lager and Moghrabi wine.

The waiters were attentive, our waiter Ahmed, was brilliant. He really looked after us during our stay and was so welcoming. We tipped him about 4 quid on our first night and from then on he remembered what table we sat at and every morning he would have set it out and got our drinks for us. When we had nearly finished our drinks, he would be there with a refill. He was really nice, we missed him on his day off!
The hotel was nice but def not a 4*. Our rooms were a nice size and clean. Staff were friendly on the whole. Entertainment fair, included a snake charmer and Berber dancers, who of course wanted tips!
The beach was lovely and huge! Always room. You get hassled every second by beach sellers though. The sea was cold most of the time and the current was quite strong.

We went on the secrets of Agadir/Fantasia trip with Thompsons. Cost about 24 pounds each but well worth the money, we had a fantastic morning. Firstly went to Fantasia, a great show with traditional dancers, berber horsemen racing at you like they`ll never stop and firing off a really loud gun! Acrobats, brilliant young lads doing flips etc on the concrete! Snake charmer was good, loads of snakes including cobras let loose on the floor! Also have the chance to join in with the dancing and hold a snake. It really was great. But of course, as you are leaving they are all stood with a big bucket wanting tips. Next stop was the Medina, we were told by the reps that anything in the Medina cannot be purchased anywhere else - WRONG! We were stung for loads over things we saw in shops around Agadir for HALF THE PRICE!

The last stop was up to the Kasbah, the only building to survive the earthquake in 1960. Very hairy ride up, the roads are good, but there is either a little wall or nothing up the mountain road that seperates the coach from a sheer drop. My daughter and wife couldn`t wait to get back down! The view of Agadir from the top was breathtaking, although again, make sure you hold on to children up here as there are massive sheer drops. There are also camel rides, little stalls and Berber men with goats who want to have their picture taken with you with your own camera and then charge you for the pleasure! I gave one man 20 Dirhams (about GBP1.20) and he wanted more! He didn`t get it though!

Outside the beach entrance to the Ramada there is a man selling the same trips as Thomson (in fact there are people all over the resort doing this.) We went on the camel trek with him, cost a tenner each compared to 16 quid with Thomson. We were a little apprehensive but no need to be. We were taken by taxi to the camels (10 mins away) and taken on a two hour trek through a Berber village, past the Kings summer palace (well, the driveway!) and passed the river. Really enjoyable. The guide was great, he took pictures, was very talkative, sang to us! Dressed us up as Berber men! Also provided a drink (coke/fanta) which we could share with our camel! Really good trip. Only downside was, after paying for the trip, we decided to tip our guide 100 Dirhams (about 6.50) which we thought was fair, we gave it to him and he proceeded to ask for 50 Dm more!! He didn`t get it either!

BIG TIP, go out the beach way from the Ramada and turn left. Walk past the shops until you come to two kiosks (about 2 mins walk) they are fixed priced which means you don`t get any hassle and you pay a fair price. The people who ran them were lovely. Everything was fairly priced and much cheaper than the other shops. LV, GUCCI, CHANEL etc bags from 4 pounds to 10 pounds, ";designer"; watches from six pounds. Also had sarongs, scarfs etc from about GBP1.20 and Kaftans for about 4 quid. Moroccan shoes for men and women were 3-5 pounds. The womens shoes especially are lovely, loads of different colours and all embroided they really are nice. Usual souveniers, magnets, pots, plates, wooden camels starting from 30p upto a pound. These shops really are good, we ended up getting loads from here. If you do go to the non fix priced shops don`t forget to haggle as the whack the prices up, don`t pay anymore than you would anywhere else, they are all desperate to sell so you can usually get a good price, however if you don`t want the hassle, head to the fixed priced kiosks.
The valley of the birds is definatley worth a visit. 5 Dirhams for adults (about 30p!) and 3 Dirhams for children.

Agadir comes alive at night. There`s a lovely atmosphere on the promenade at night but it can be slightly over whelming. Children and women begging they are hard to get rid of, you have to be firm and try not to give them anything. We`ve since been told that most of the beggars are well off, one women apparently owned 6 houses!
The Noddy train that runs through Agadir is a good ride. Cost 18 Dirhams each which is just over a pound. Takes you all around Agadir. No time table as such, just flag it down when you see it and they will stop and let you on.
The men can be quite over powering for women. My daughter who`s 21 found it quite intimidating walking past men who look you up and down and hiss or try to talk to you, they are very leery! She felt uncomfortable quite a few times.

Overall we really enjoyed our holiday in Agadir, we saw things we never thought we`d see and had so many new and enjoyable experiences.
They are spending a lot of money on extending the promenade so would definatly go back in a couple of years and see what it`s like then.

The Ramada was a good hotel, good food (no tummy bugs!) nice staff (especially Ahmed!) fair entertainment and clean rooms. We were very worried after reading some of the reviews that this was going to be a nightmare holiday, but we certainly didn`t encounter any problems and would definatly recommend the Ramada as a good base to explore Agadir.

if you like cold food this is the place for you absolutely appalling food apart from breakfast if you go about 0800 they actually cook fried eggs or pancakes that are edible. saw many customers changing rooms due to sewerage problems. spent 4 days attempting to get a remote control for tv as it was stuck on a french channel, however found a twig that you could poke through front of tv and it worked, would never go again pretty shoddy and should only be a 2 star rating if that.reception staff certainly gave the impression they could not or would not understand english,

just returned from agadir, went 23 march - 30 april. arrived at the airport, you have to fill out a form on arrival which just states basic info about yourself and the resort your staying. you dont have to pay for entry into to country as previously arrived.

no problems in the airport or transfers.

arrived at the hotel half hr from airport, good first impressions. the lobby/reception area is clean and presentable, did struggle to explain a few things to reception staff sometimes. beware - the money exchange guy can be quite funny sometimes. not too sure why! also it is not open 24hrs as advertised. we were lucky to catch them open at the times we needed but would have been pain in bum if we couldnt.

would advise def hire a safe key, approx 150 dirham. not refundable. the safes are electric/digital so much safer than your normal key locking ones. very easy to use.

the room we stayed in was 282, appeared to be miles away from reception when your first arrive but its really not that far!!

the room was well presented, had 2single beds pushed together. very comfy. wish i had taken some pj's for nighttime as i was abs freezing, had to nick my fiances fleece off of his bed!! although im sure the cleaning ladies would have provided another one if needed. had good view over the pool. however was next to the cleaners cupboard so did get quite noisey-take some ear plugs and u'll be fine. the cleaners were the least noisey out of all of the people here, very pleasant, would come in everyday to make the beds and give clean towels if needed, please note that these towels are not upto much but serve their purpose.

the bathroom had bath with overhead shower. bidet as well. their was a large hole that went round the back of the sink which wasnt very nice and quite often an armoa of urine would float out of the bathroom, i think it was the hotels drainage as i could smell it in reception toilets too. the bathrooms are ok, could do with refurb but still they were clean.

there is one main restaurant, which serves buffet type meals, mainly pasta, seperate sauce, veg tagine, couscous, meat of the day, lots of salad although this was all mixed with tuna and some type of dressing. only salad that was plain was lettuce leaves. this was generally the same for dinner and tea.

we only went down for breakfast twice, couldnt be bothered!! is served upto 11am. not much left by 10 to be fair. there was egg, hotdog sausage, coissants (lots of) salad, lots of baguettes, toaster (this is only provided for breakfast which is bummer really) 4 types of cereals, 3 of which were choclatey type. no weetabix/branflakes etc. none of these were kellogs. would have been nice though, the cerals are poured into a large bowl which i wasnt too keen on and you scoop them out with spoon. would be better in individual boxes but hey!!

dinner is available 12.30 - 2.30. between 12.30 and 5.30 there is a seperate snack bar at side of pool which gives you a limited type of food, sarnies (cheese, chickn or tuna) omlette, burger, salad or mini pizzas. ate here for most of my dinners as couldnt stomach a big stodgy meal from the restauant due to heat.

everything you order from snack bar, drinks and bar you have to sign for on a little order pad, becomes pain in ass by end of hol. the only soft drinks available were branded coke, fanta, sprite, and water. no dilute or still drinks, no diet options either. personally i drank lots of bottled water which is drinkable. i had a bottle of rose wine which is served in a little jug, i had to use 3/4 of bottle of sprite to make it drinkable. stuck to vodka from their on. the 'fresh oj' is diluted but still drinkable. we went down for the 'entertainment' which i say lightly once. this was held in main bar downstairs. all catered for the french. nothing in english at all. tried getting served at the bar, bar man with glasses very rude, looks like moroccon version of simon cowell. it took forever to get served, when finally did they had issues because we wanted to have 2 drinks each to save us getting up again and queing forever. major attitude...

we were lucky to have a mini fridge in room which we requested. when craig wanted to get a bit of stock going so he could have a drink in the room, again they were not happy giving him 3/4 stubbie bottles of beer. which he says was drinkable.

overall i would say the food is nice, but more or less the same every dinner/tea time. got a bit fed up. ate out at jardin restaurant over the road which was absoloutly gorgeous, you must try the profiteroles!! came to £30 for 2 2course meals and 2 drinks. also ate at the rest at side of this, this was very nice too. pizzeria type on outside but classy on inside, gave me a rose at end of our meal. also had some drinks in the bar attached to side of this which you walk through into. catered for locals but we didnt care! quite trendy. had 2absolute vodkas + 2/3 beers came to 140 dirham which is bout £8/9. very cheap. also serve you little snack bar nibbles. very pleasant.

i dont think i would stay at ramada again, only because there was not much variation in food. i think if i'd stayed any longer i would have turned into a baguette. the pool area is very nice and clean. bit like sardines with sunbeds. but all of the entertainment was catered for the french. not much to do in the resort. went quad biking through sunset, was 600 dirham each for full morning. you must give this ago, best adrenaline rush ive had in ages!! well worth the money. however we were told by our rep who was not english, that safety equipment will be provided and it was not. not even helmet, bare in mind the quads go about 60mph. still, very enjoyable.

make sure that when you go to the airport you do not have any dirham currency. is pain in backside to change back. we went through to departure lounge with about £40 worth only to be told that you cant use dirham in duty free, only euros!!!!! how bizarre!! anyway, they let me through back to the side i came in at to change to money back. was not a happy bunny. vodka very cheap in agadir aiport duty free. cost 13 euros for litre bottle of absolute.

would not return to this resort for about 5 years. it is very developing and not much to do. however if you want week in sun to do bugger all with nice food (but repetitive) stay at ramada. do not believe reports on some websites it is 4* cos it aint!

sorry to babble on but if id known this info before we went i would maybe re-considered my location. hope this has been some help.

p.s. the orange taxis are everywhere, we were told max 15dirham to most places but most charged us 20. one of the tried to swindle us out of 10dirham which really is pence. also took us to wrong place when we asked to go to the main souk market which is well known, instead he took us downtown to a crappy souvenir shop which appeared he would get commision from for taking us there. i refused to get out the taxi. was quite scared. there were no tourists this end of town!! got to the souk eventually where you will be approached by loads of 'guides' who promise they will not charge you, and will tell you this is their job.we were very firm in telling this man who spoke good english we wanted to look round ourselves but he would not leave us alone. followed us everywhere and we ended up going round with him. he reckoned to show us the best bits then asked for some cash at end of it all for the privelage. was not happy, very cheaky, craig gave him 50 dirham and he asked for 70!!!!

also look out for the touts on street who will tell you they work at your hotel, and oh dont you recognise me im your chef/cook. (they look at your wrist band first to see where you are staying) one took us to what appeared to be someones house where he was selling lots of spices and 'argane oil' which he told us you cant buy anywhere else. we later found this in supermarket.

Arrived at the ramada vey late. The reception were very unhelpful. The rooms are basic and the food is cold and tasteless. The pool was dirty with cracked tiles dangerous for children. The beach was a building site with tractors going u and down. We stayed one day and asked to be moved to the Founty Beach which we enjoyed there was access to the beach guarded by security. I would not recomend the Ramada. At the airport people staying there had food poisoning.

Hotel very central..We found it to be very clean with decent sized rooms..Higher flooors have bigger balcony's so are worth trying to book. The hotel as a very nice pool area and as large superbly landscaped gardens which are well tended.
The food at the hotel although not Cordon Bleu was satisfactory with a reasonable choice.Evening meals always had 2/3 choices of freshly barbequed meat/fish.We never found the need to eat out during our stay..anyone wanting the burgers and chips menu would be disappointed.

The trips organized be Thomsons were very expensive..we purchased two trips from the man outside the rear (beach road) entrance,these were less than half the price of the tour operators,and proved to be reliable. We went for the one day trip to Marrakech and found this a long day and Marrakech itself to be very disappointing(personal opinion).

Overall a very good holiday-would recommend the hotel/resort.