Palmeraie Golf Suites by Pickalbatros

The Palmeraie Golf Suites is not a novelty, it is an older address that has changed names many times. Opened under the Golf Palace banner, run under Rotana, it is today operated by the Egyptian group Pickalbatros, which turned it into an adults-only 5-star all-inclusive. The building has not moved: a large Moroccan-style farmhouse, green and ochre, set at the edge of the Palmeraie golf course, twenty minutes north-east of the medina. You come in by the Circuit de la Palmeraie, this road lined with ochre walls and palms where hotels follow one another off the city. No souk at the door here, no call to prayer in the background: you come for the fairways, the palms and an all-inclusive price, not for the old town.

The estate is broad - more than three hundred rooms and suites - and it is the setting that holds you first. The golf runs up to the terraces, the Atlas outlines the horizon part of the year, and the water hazards lined with palms give the whole real bearing, most of all at sundown, when the greens turn orange and the fountains still run. Most rooms open onto that view: private balcony, garden view, pool or fairway, classic-cut furniture rather than design. On the swimming side, two pools share the days: a large outdoor basin at the lawn’s edge and a heated indoor one, useful off-season, when Palmeraie nights turn cool.

The core argument is the golf. The Palmeraie course is one of the oldest in Marrakech, drawn in the 1990s among the palms, punctuated with lakes and bunkers, with snowy summits on the score card from January to March. For anyone travelling with clubs, the address makes real sense: the tee is within room reach, no transfer or distant booking. For the others, the ground mostly serves as a set - you walk it, you take a drink at sundown, without ever touching a ball. It is an accepted stance: here the golf shapes everything, the rest builds around it.

The rest follows the resort logic. A spa announced at five thousand square metres gathers hammam, hot tub, gym and treatment cabins - one of the address’s best-rated strengths. Several restaurants revolve around the all-inclusive: a main buffet with Mediterranean and Moroccan notes, an à la carte table, a pool bar, and drinks and entertainment included in the price. The promise is clear: you drop your bags, you do not pull out the wallet again, and the stay unfolds among adults, no children at the water’s edge or in the corridors. For a golf trip or a quiet pause, the machinery runs, and staff and Wi-Fi turn up among the best-rated points from travellers. It is a settled-stay logic shared by other Palmeraie addresses, off the buzz. For every outing in town, on the other hand, you need to plan car, taxi or hotel shuttle: reckon 20 to 30 minutes to Jemaa el-Fna, and the same back.

We stay honest on the score, the lowest in our selection: 8 out of 10, on a still modest review count. It reflects mixed stays, and the complaints repeat. All-inclusive catering turns in circles quickly, judged repetitive and below what you expect of a 5-star. Renovation work has bothered guests, with daytime noise. And some fittings show their age - bathrooms and furniture from a previous generation, upkeep sometimes lagging. Nothing dealbreaking, but you do not pay here for a fault-free address. From around £128 a night all-inclusive, this is one of the most accessible entries into a Marrakech 5-star, in the Palmeraie and at the foot of the golf course. You come for that, knowing the trade-off.