This hotel is fantastic. It's clean and tidy and everyone is as helpful as possible. The selection of food available was excellent, always well prepared and plentiful.

Even though we had not booked as part of a package, we were always invited to the entertainment provided by the animations team.

There is a free shuttle bus from the hotel into town and back, although the times are very limited and staggered. We actually used Taxis most of the time, and I didn't pay more than 150 dirham each way. The taxi rides were an experience, but i'll leave that to you to find out. Oh, watch the roads, they don't stop if you're crossing!!

All the information in the hotel is in French and everyone in the hotel (and Marrakech) speak French and Arabic, very little English. The reception staff try their best and with their little English and my limited French, we managed to get by. The people in the towns have picked up some Enlighs phrases, like "asda price" and "very cheap"

This hotel offers wifi at a responable price although making calls is 4 euro per minute to the UK! (cost me 2000 dirham for a call to vodafone to sort out my mobile). The Spa has some lovely facilities at resonable prices.

The weather was around 28 - 30 celcius.

If you like horse riding, visit Kasbah Agafay, it's about 30-40 minutes outside Marrakech. Our taxi cost 600 dirham, there and back and included him waiting for us for about 2.5 hours whilst we rode. The ride itself was fantastic, excellent views and lovely well kept horses. They have an array of hats and chaps. The guy who runs the stables is lovely, although again very little English, but he will take care of you. Don't be scared on your journey to the stable! You'll see what I mean if you go. (On our return journey our taxi driver stopped to pick up and tortoise that was in the middle of the road, he was taking him home.)

Many of the cash machines do not take maestro cards, even if they say they do, so you may have to hunt around for one that will take your card.

I have some photos that I will put on soon.

Arrived to a Sunny morning in Marrakesh. Flight was excellent with Easy Jet. 3 Hours flight time from Gatwick. Went outside terminal to get taxi - no problem. We did manage to get some currency at airport before we got taxi. Taxi ride cost 250 MAD (around £20 english money). Approximately 20 minutes from airport to hotel. Arrived at hotel and had to fill out a few forms and then was shown to our rooms. The rooms were excellent. We had a double deluxe room, which consisted of a large super king size bed, sofa bed in lounge with tv and fridge. The bathroom was fully fitted, including hair dryer. Air conditioning was in room for use hot and cold. Overall you could not fault the rooms. The maid came everyday to tidy room, make bed and leave fresh towels. The breakfast was very good, consisting of cereal, toast, cold buffet, fried eggs, scambled eggs, sausages, tomatoes etc. Tea,coffee,hot chocolate etc. The fresh orange was beautiful. The lunch was very great with good choice from hot to salads. Wine, beer and soft drinks were served to you both at lunch and dinner. A bottle of water was left on your table and you could take this with you back to your rooms. The evening food was variable, always something to choose from. Me being a little on the fussy side found it sometimes difficult to eat, but always plenty of rolls and I mainly stuck to soup (which was to die for). Did have roast lamb and roast turkey one night though. Made up for it with the desserts, which were beautifully laid out. The pool outside was clean and looked lovely, but being the time of year was very cold, so never went in. The hotel caters mainly for the French and Belgium, but they mostly speak some English. Abdul, one of the Thomas Cook Village reps spoke very good English and made you feel welcome and got you to join in. They were all very polite, even the bar staff. The all inclusive package included your meals in the restaurant and drinks up to 11 am. The only feel we slipped up on was eating at the snack bar at lunch time around where the pool was. We did not know that the cheeseburgers were not all inclusive and was not told until about the 4 day (when we had already eaten 5 between us). The pizzas and toasted sandwiches and chips are included in your package. So please be aware. We however did not have to pay this on checking out as we spoke to the Manager and he told us not to worry, which was very nice. The entertainment in the evening is in French, so found it very hard to understand. Some of the entertainment is in the theatre, so we stayed in the lounge bar where they played English music. There is also another lounge where you can relax and watch TV on big screen and play pool. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere. No shops to walk to. You need to take a taxi into the main town (about 15 minutes away) costing around 150 MAD (around £10.00).

OVERALL WE ALL LOVED THE HOTEL AND WOULD DEFINATELY GO BACK. WELL WORTH THE MONEY FOR WHAT YOU GOT. FULLY RECOMMEND IT.

This hotel has enormous potential, but some major obstacles to overcome if it is to be worthy of its star status.

The infrastructure is in place, with excellent family rooms, pool area and sports and spa facilities. The animation, domestic and portering staff are unfailingly curteous and extremely efficient in their work. The room cleaning was exceptional. A stay at this hotel however fails to deliver any kind of service - the extra mile that is so evident in other Moroccan establishments. This rests with the management team who appear to instruct rather than lead. As the hotel had been in operation for 8 months at the point of our visit, it might be reasonable to assume that this is not due to initial teething issues.

If you choose to travel here, then it might help to know that:
* the hotel does not take sterling travellers cheques - there are good change facilities at the arrivals area in the airport
* the dirham is a closed currency, but you can take up to 1000 out of the country at the end of your stay
* all food in the hotel is cold, including that which is intended to be hot
* the dining area has hazardous trailing cables to the hot plates tucked under loose carpets in the restaurant - watch your toddlers on them
* the Moroccan restaurant was shut for the full duration of our week's stay
* there are no price lists anywere in the hotel as the majority of guests visit on an all inclusive basis. Do not upgrade lightly from half board as the cost is high and the extras limited.
* the pool/snack bar does not take cash, so an adult is required to sign a slip charging food and drinks to a room - we had to insist to be given any idea of the pricing structure. The bar food is reasonably priced at around £15.00 for a lunch for four excluding drinks.
* the prices in the bar by reception are very high, and not listed
* the fridges in the room are empty - take bottled water from breakfast and dinner rather than buying from the bar.
* the times listed on the reception desk for the shuttle bus to Marrakech centre are incomplete - look at the list on the front of the bus for the full set. The bus will gladly stop off and pick up at any point along the route, so calling in at Marjone Supermarket to stock up on drinks and snacks is a good idea
* the indoor pool at the spa is very warm and children can use it
* the locals work to an informal tiered pricing structure on everything, particularly taxi fares, so expect to pay the most if you are english

Our major issue with this hotel though is the lack of customer service. We, along with several other half board guests, were asked to pay a supplement of £130 per person for a gala dinner on new year's eve, despite having already booked and paid for dinner, bed and breakfast for the week. This was raised for the first time with those guests on the afternoon of 31 December. On refusing to pay this extra we were excluded extrance from the new year's eve celebrations - a procedural step too far.

We stayed her for 3 nights in late September after getting a good deal from Travelzoo and reasonable flights on Ryanair from Luton.
But to save me writing a report, our trip was mirrored by -
''laurengucsb - Nyon, Switzerland''
Just read that report as our stay was exactly the same.
This hotel could be amazing if they just put some thought for their guests into it.

Paul - Hertfordshire