The palmeraie district is located about five miles north of marrakech, and tradition has it that this vast palm grove (which includes about 150,000 trees) dates back to the 11th century. After consuming dates brought back from the sahara, soldiers of the almoravid sultan youssef ben tachfine spit out the stones around their encampment, which germinated over time to create the vast 45 square-mile palm grove that exists today.

Robert trent jones snr built the original 18-hole layout at palmeraie golf club in 1992, the first golf course to appear in marrakech since the fairways of the royal course were laid out in 1923, in this rich area of fields, gardens, and orchards. In 2008, stephane talbot, a former palmeraie professional, added an additional nine-hole series.

The jbilettes nine (holes 1–9) and the atlas nine (holes 10–18) were designed as two returning loops, with fairways that wind through several wide ponds on a relatively flat location. Since it's a resort course, the greens aren't as heavily bunkered as they are on many rtj layouts, and their gentle contours will help golfers record a respectable score with a little care.

New resort owners agreed to rebrand the golf course as golf club rotana in 2020, closing holes 19-27 (the tensift nine) in favour of an 18-hole layout containing only the original robert trent jones sr. holes.