We stayed here for one week 9-16th Feb in two standard rooms, 3 adults, one child on all inclusive basis. Weather was 23-27C and sunny every day. We booked direct. This was our third trip to Marrakech & we've stayed in a Riad and boutique hotel previously. We understand that the hotel was almost full during the week. We don't usually take any prisoners when it comes to service and standards.
Reception and check-in welcome and check-out, was excellent and efficient, staff in the Hotel speak French, and many of the clients are French, so if you can speak a little that helps, (as it does anywhere in Morocco) but there were many who spoke excellent English. The hotel clients were predominantly French
Rooms were exactly as shown on the web-site, were clean, modern and v comfortable beds. Cleaned daily to a good standard. All facilities worked and the rooms looked fresh. We stayed near to the tennis court which was some way from the main facilities, but was v peaceful
The food was excellent and varied with a different theme each evening. The main dining room is catering for a large number of people, but there are quieter areas, and it is v pleasant and modern, and service and presentation standards was generally v good even at peak times. Sometimes there were slight delays in replacement of dishes, but food was clearly being prepared fresh so this is only to be expected. The salads and desserts were fabulous and if you're vegetarian there's great variety.
We didn't get to visit the Moroccan restaurant and didn't use the childcare facilities
The grounds were immaculate and v pleasant to walk around with various places to sit with a book in peace. Even though nearly at capacity, the hotel didn't feel crowded at all.
The pool areas were v pleasant and clean. We used the heated pool as the main pool was too cold at the time of year, although there were children using the water slides. There are wonderful enclosed loungers around the pool areas. People do tend to 'reserve' these with towels, but we never failed to find a free one.
We used the Spa throughout the week. It's a v relaxing and tranquil place to escape to, and staff were v attentive. Treatments were authentic and reasonably priced compared to UK and other local Spas. The gym works out at 200MAD per week and the pool 100MAD per one hour visit. I guess that it so that the pool doesn't become a cheap overspill from the outdoor pools if the weather isn't so great.
The pool bar does hot and cold drinks throughout the day. It stocks only local beers and spirits (as described on the package) The terrace is a pleasant place to end the day as the sun sets.
Throughout the day there's an 'entertainment programme'. We were a little apprehensive about this as it's not our usual style, but it was great and not too intrusive. The team are v enthusiastic, good fun and there is plenty to do if you want to join in.
Later afternoon, cakes and pancakes are served. This wasn't always pleasant as cakes were totally covered in wasps within minutes of being served, although the pancakes are great. Staff try their best by making make-shift wasp traps, but the hotel really needs to invest in a few electronic insect killers for the service areas (including pool bar) and this would be sorted.
There's an hourly free shuttle to the Medina - this needs to be booked the night before if you want the 09:00 or 10:00 shuttle, but its v efficient. Even if you miss it, taxis are outside and only 100MAD return. Some of the taxis are v dodgy, so a tip is to pick a safe and modern looking taxi from the rank on your first day (even if this isn't at the front of the queue, and if there isn't one, go have a coffee and return later) and then ask for the driver's card and stick with this for other trips during your stay. Drivers will put together a trip to main sites, city tours or up into the mountains (though best get a 4x4 taxi) for much less than the booked tours, especially if you use the same driver.
The main let down for us was in the evenings. There's only one main bar, and smoking is allowed inside (non smoking in all other areas of the hotel) By early evening the bar disappeared behind a fog of burning Gauloises and Gitanes and was quite an unpleasant place to be or even enter for a moment if you're a non-smoker. It meant we couldn't enjoy the entertainment or drinks in an evening within the hotel. It's a shame, as there's heaters (although not turned on) and seating outside, so it would be easy to enforce a non-smoking policy inside and keep everyone happy. That said, the bar could be v pleasant, is modern, clean, plenty of seating and the cocktails are great, the hotel just need to clear the smog.
We paid about 50% of the advertised and rack rate, so we felt we had good value. As other reviewers have said, maybe this isn't 5* compared to European standards, and it can't compare to some of the boutique hotels or riads in Marrakech which are fab for a romantic stay or short break. However it is a v good quality, large modern hotel in a good location with excellent facilities and a great base
Room Tip: we'd probably avoid rooms at the front of the hotel (there's some building work across the r...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.