Stay At The Club Med Marrakech: Everything You Need To Know Before You Book

As much as I loved my trip to Morocco staying at the Club Med Marrakech, there are a few things I wished I’d known before I booked…

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

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Planning Your Stay At Club Med Marrakech

There are a few things to note when planning your stay at the Marrakech Club Med La Palmeraie.

Book For At Least A Week (I Wouldn’t Recommend Any Longer)

Everything at the Club Med Marrakech runs on a weekly schedule, for example their menus, activities, shows, and excursions.

It doesn’t really matter when you arrive at the Club Med, but you want to stay for at least a week.

Technically, I think their weekly program starts every Saturday. But it’s not a big deal if you arrive any other day throughout the week.

We arrived on Sunday and actually preferred it. We started our trip with their Arabian Nights evening, which felt like the perfect welcome to Morocco.

But that did mean we stayed an extra day passed their Champagne Party, which felt like a send off to guests.

And I wouldn’t recommend staying longer than a week, otherwise it starts getting repetitive.

small red patterned pillows all over on the floor with tables. There are palm trees around the sitting area. There's a moroccan tower rising above into the sky

The Cultural Activities Are Only Once A Week

There were only two “cultural” activities offered at the Cub Med Marrakech: a souk alley and cooking class. And they both happen on the same day (in my case, on Monday) once a week.

I would have appreciated if they were on different days and happened more than once.

We almost missed both of these because we were scheduled to have our half day guided tour in Marrakech on Monday.

In the end I’m happy we switched our schedule because I thoroughly enjoyed the cooking class!

You might be also interested in: digital and printable Marrakech travel guide for your trip!

a woman wearing a chefs hat is standing behind an island speaking to a group of people. In front of her are several patterned tagines and pinch bowls filled with moroccan spices

The Excursions Are Also On A Weekly Schedule

All the excursions offered also only run once a week, with one exception.

The half day trip to Marrakech happens twice a week. It’s also their most popular excursion (we had two full vans!).

The schedule for the excursions are available on their website (go to Activities
→ Excursion). So you can always plan which ones you want to do in advance, and book your travel dates accordingly.

And worst case, if you ever miss an excursion, you can usually pay a bit more to have a private day trip planned for you.

the view of the seating at the buffet at the club med in Marrakech. There are tables with umbrellas on either side of a shallow pool of water in the Marrakech gardens of bushes and olive trees. At the end you see the reception building with arched windows

You Only Get The Schedule After You Book La Palmeraie Marrakech

The excursions are the exception to the rule – you’ll only be able to see the weekly schedule for activities, shows, and opening times after you book…

And you won’t know if they’re going to keep that schedule for your trip. They also don’t update the schedule even if it does change.

I know this because they moved the Souk Alley shopping experience ahead by an entire day when we visited… and didn’t think to inform guests of this change…at all!

the schedule at the club med marrakech, a screenshot from the app. It details the opening hours for the artisanal shop - everyday from 9:30 to 7:30

Newspaper stand: everyday 9 am to 4 pm

Free shuttle
*from the club med: 9, 10, 11, 12, 3, 430, 6, and 730

Departure from place jemaa el-fna (city) 930, 1030, 1130, 1245, 4, 530, 7, and 830

There Is A Free (Secret) Shuttle To Marrakech

There is a free shuttle to Marrakech everyday, which is AMAZING! But they’re not very good at promoting this and don’t give you the schedule before you book either.

The schedule also has no consistency to it, so be sure to always double check the times!

Also, it says that it drops you off at Jemaa El-Fna in the Medina, but that’s not exactly accurate. It drops you off on a random, nondescript street that’s a whopping fifteen minute walk from the Jemaa El-Fna.

And the last shuttle is at 8:30 P.M., which is quite late in the evening, but not late enough if you want to watch sunset in the summer, or spend the entire night in Marrakech. Keep in mind though, you can always taxi back to the hotel.

a screenshot of google maps with added pin drop locations. In the top left corner is the pin dropped in a random area, it's circle in red and written below is: the drop off location. Towards the centre of the map is a circle pin drop with Jemaa El-Fna

There’s A Lack Of Contact Before Your Trip

This was my first experience at an international all-inclusive and Club Med so I was shocked by the lack of communication before our trip (I’m just not sure if this is normal).

I would have appreciated a simple, generic e-mail outlining the pick up process at the airport. I was a bit stressed before we left, because they also didn’t answer my e-mail that I sent asking about this.

In the end, it’s very easy. There’s about ten Morocco resorts set up with signs immediately when you exit the airport, and the Marrakech Club Med La Palmeraie is one of them.

a red carpet leads down from a few stairs all the way out to a black van in a courtyard at the club med in marrakech

The Excursions Are NOT The Main Focus Of The Club Med

I did not realize before booking the Club Med Marrakech that the excursions are not as popular as I thought they were.

I thought the Club Med was all about an active trip. And although they have active things to do at the resort, it seems that’s all the guests are interested in doing.

We spoke to other guests and we were the only ones who seemed to leave the resort daily on any excursions.

This means that an excursion you sign up for might not happen if not enough people sign up… or you have to be willing to pay the difference.

a tour guide turns around to speak to the woman next to him, her back is completely to the camera, she's wearing a shawl and a straw hat as they walk through the lively market in essaouria with blue andwhite buildings and souvenirs on display outside

The Excursions Are Not Connected To Club Med Marrakech

On top of that, the excursions are not as connected to the Club Med La Palmeraie Marrakech as I though they were.

The Club Med Marrakech and the excursions are two separate businesses that happen to operate at the same location.

Club Med is simply finding a local tour companies and bringing them to the resort to sell their tours. The guides are not hired by Club Med. And if you have an issue with the excursion, you can’t go complain to Club Med.

a man and a woman are photographed from behind walking on a gravel path with mountains surrounding them on every side. The woman is wearing beige palette with a floral blouse, a bucket hat, and full length pants. Even her purse matches the beige. The man is next to her, with his arm in the air, explaining something to the woman as they walk. He's also pretty covered up with long sleeves and pants.

La Palmeraie Morocco Resort (Is Huge)

La Palmeraie Marrakech resort is very large, so expect to walk quite a bit when you stay here.

You’ll find yourself using three main areas (well four if you golf… but please don’t go to Morocco just to golf…).

You’ll obviously use your room, the food hall, and the pool. But any time you have to go anywhere, add five minutes to your journey because there aren’t any rooms near the pool.

a vibrant blue pool that's huge. It leads all the way to a moroccan archway. Palm trees and lounge chairs line the outside of the pool. There are a few groups in the pool, other people are lounging outside on the chairs

To Book (Or Not Book) The Family Oasis

We stayed in the Family Oasis which are the farthest rooms from the front desk, food, and main pool.

But this is the newest section at the Club Med Marrakech (which is why we booked it), with the newest rooms and facilities.

They do have their own family friendly pool in this area… there just aren’t any cocktails so we always ended up at the main pool.

But if you’re visiting with your family, then this is the perfect place to stay, especially with younger kids!

P.S. you’ll want to pack these…

Bring your own toilet paper, moisturizer, and shampoo and conditioner to the Club Med Marrakech.

It’s so dry in Morocco and the shampoo and conditioner didn’t help my air.

I don’t even want to discuss the toilet paper situation, it was that bad. Just trust me and bring your own, you can thank me later!

And you might also want to bring some hotel slippers for the room. It’s all unglazed tiles, and I didn’t love the feeling on my bare feet.

a very moroccan inspired room in the family oasis at the club med marrakech. The head board is bright blue and dark blue stripes. A king bed is in the middle with white bedding, and an orange accent throw on the end. There's a large balcony doors, covered by sheer curtains. The floor is all tiled.

Felt Like You’re In Morocco Everywhere You Look

The resort itself screams Morocco, which was amazing.

So even if you never leave, you’re going to feel like you’ve been to Morocco (but you should still at least visit Marrakech).

Read my full report on whether staying at the Club Med La Palmeraie is a good place to stay for touring Marrakech and Morocco.

a semi circle rounded archway in morocco, peaking out onto the pool oasis at the club med morocco at night. There are shadowed palm trees on either side of the vibrant royal blue lit pool

You Better Like Cats…

Stray cats are everywhere in Morocco, and it’s no exception at the Club Med Marrakech.

The cats wander freely through the resort and they’re very friendly. They are spayed and neutered and they try to keep them out of the restaurants, but as you can see below, they have a mind of their own…

The Pool was the Perfect Moroccan Escape (But It’s COLD!)

There are actually four pools at the resort, but we always opted for the main pool (it was the best one that we had access to).

a calico kitten stands half on the table and chair at a restaurant. They're looking up with guilty eyes, they know they're not supposed to be there.

We never struggled to find a two seats together, and if there wasn’t an umbrella nearby, a staff member would bring you one in no time!

The water though is cold and yet it’s just so hot outside that we ended up going twice (that’s A LOT for someone who doesn’t pools!).

The Food – Be Prepared (Especially If You Have Kids)

Although the food was delicious, and had traditional Moroccan cuisine, there were quite a bit of issues with the schedule…

I didn’t appreciate going to an all inclusive and having to hoard food out of fear for a lack of food when I was hungry.

It felt as though the Club Med Marrakech La Palmeraie did not understand people’s dietary needs…

a hand holding up a paper plate filled with slices of cheese pizza. But she's not at a restaurant, you see her bare red painted toes, with a blue pool and palm trees behind her. — *Pizza by the pool anyone!?*

There Was A Lack Of Snacks Throughout The Day (At The Pool)

There were no easily-accessible all-day food. And that’s a serious problem.

People are active at the Club Med, subject to the hot Moroccan sun, and drinking alcoholic cocktails. there needed to be food options at the pool, but there wasn’t anything.

El Kebir is open all day for snacks, but it was the farthest restaurant from the main pool. At least I never wanted to leave my pool side seat to walk to a gourmet sit down snack mid-afternoon…

At one point in the afternoon crepes and other sugary desserts are served by the pool. But there’s no schedule, and seemed to be at a different time every day.

But even that, I wanted something more substantial, like trail mix or chips and dips… Where were the local dried dates and walnuts!?

a vertical photo of a table at the el kebir restaurant. There's a plate filled with different delicious moroccan desserts, with moroccan mint tea behind it, a salt and pepper shaker and toulal moroccan wine

Honestly this felt dangerous to not have easily-accessible food between 2:30 P.M. and 7:30 P.M., and absolutely no food options between 6:30 P.M. and 7:15 P.M..

For some reason cocktails and appetizers start at 7:15, a whopping 15 minutes before the dinner buffet opens (thank you, no thank you!).

P.S. it’s the same thing if you book an excursion (half day or full day). The half day excursion to Marrakech left at 9:00 A.M. and only came back at 1:00 P.M., without any thought for a food stop… And they only provided a tiny water bottle for both the half and full day excursions.

a beautiful spread of appetizer finger foods to pick at. The chef is standing on the other side of the L shaped bar, prepping some more food. It's golden hour so the sun is a rich golden hour — *Delicious appetizers served by the pool at 7:15 (15 minutes before dinner!)*

My Food Hack For Marrakech Club Med La Palmeraie

You need to bring Tupperware AND plastic bags to the Club Med all inclusive Morocco Marrakech. This way you can take food from the buffet for your afternoon snack whenever you start feeling pekish.

And we weren’t the only people storing food for later… I saw a few people running around with a Tupperware at the buffet.

I didn’t have Tupperware, but there were paper plates in the baby kitchen section at the buffet. So I took two plates (placing one on top as a cover). You could also ask staff for some aluminum foil, although that was a much bigger hassle.

*Cannot stress the importance of a second plate to cover it on top if you aren’t eating the food right away!*

And for our excursions, I packed up my ziploc bags filled with cereal and breads from breakfast.

The Buffet Didn’t Always Have Local Moroccan Food & El Kebir Restaurant Was SLOW

We made a reservation every night at El Kebir, and I recommend doing this as well!

a hand coming in from the top right of the frame, holding a sealed ziploc bag filled with fresh bread rolls to be saved for snack later. Blurred in the background you can see a larger display of even more bread

The food quality was a lot better than the buffet, and it was always traditional Moroccan food unlike the buffet. You could always go to the buffet afterwards, but you can’t go from the buffet to El Kebir.

But I will warn you, it was our entire night spent at the restaurant because the service was so slow. It became a bit exhausting by the end.

We kept going back though because we loved the food, became friends with the staff, and it’s not like there was anything else to do at night here anyway.

You might be interested in: my complete Marrakech travel planner includes a Moroccan food checklist and more!

appetizer at el kebir at the club med la palmeraie in marrakech morocco. A plate mostly empty, but there are some slices of hearts of palm, with walnuts on top, and tomatoes in between. An eggplant pate rests on top of green lettuce. On top of the eggplant is a poached egg. Behind the plate is a glass and bottle of rose wine — *Our favourite dish at El Kebir: Aubergine (eggplant) and poached egg with argan oil*

Other Places To Stay in Marrakech

I stayed at the Club Med Marrakech La Palmeraie, and it was exactly what I was looking for – a mix of touring and relaxing without any of the stress that typical comes with travel.

But as I mentioned, more typical place to stay in Marrakech is in a riad, a hotel with an open air courtyard in the middle. Sometimes there’s a pool, while other times it’s a lounge area.

Riad NayaNour has a few features that I appreciate compared to other Riads in Marrakech. For starters, the room and the courtyard pool are larger than most Riads I’ve looked at. Plus there’s also a rooftop for you to relax in the sun! If you’re a Booking.com Genius Level 2 member, you’ll also get breakfast included with your stay! See room rates and availability!

Riad Lyla is another good option in Marrakech, and it’s even more budget friendly! It offers a wonderful pool and rooftop for guests to enjoy and your booking even has a delicious breakfast included! See room rates and availability.

Or see more Riad and accommodation options on Booking.com.

an example of a riad hotel in Essaouira Morocco. Looking at the inner couryard form the second floor of a riad. There is a railing leading your eye to the right, there are doors a bit further inside the outdoor corridor. These outdoor corridors, with railings, go all the way around an inner courtyard, and up several stories - although you can't see how many. In the middle is a beautiful garden, you can only see the tops of some shorter palm trees, and the trunk of another one that the top is halfway cut off it's so tall.

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