The public areas and rooms are very presentable and clean, giving a nice feel to the hotel. However, the hotel lets itself down with service and location issues which, given the room price, makes it poor value.

Pros:- Clean rooms and public areas. Nice decor and good facilities. Good breakfasts and a good quality restaurant, popular with locals and guests. Spa facilities.

Cons:- Has a building under construction next door and a building site across the road. Like previous reviewers, we found the pool too cold, especially as the pool area only gets the sun for 4-5 hours a day. The restaurant plays loud 70/80s disco music on Saturdays and Sundays, which got complaints from hotel guests, but locals liked.

My husband and I have just returned from the Hivernage having spent 5 nights there.

We read the reviews and seemed happy with what people had said so we decided to book. However we ended up writing a letter of feedback to the manager as we felt the hotel had let its self down on its 5 star rating.

We complained on the first night that we only had one bathroom towel and had to wait 1.5 hours before further towels arrived and we could shower. Following nights towels usually arrived around 6pm.

Duing the week we had a flood of water on our balcony. Fortunately my husband managed to find a maitanence guy who tried without much luck to shift the water - he could not so he just left it. The next morning the water had passed away but we were left with dried soil all over our balcony. The cleaners did not both to mop it up in fact they did not mop our balcony the whole of our stay. I also had to remind them that they had not cleaned out my ashtray since our arrival.

We ate at the Hotel on 2 occassions and enjoyed the first meal. However when we returned to the Table du March for a second visit the service was dreadful. We had our starter and our mains arrived together. When we finished our starter the head waiter bought back our mains, which were steaks and a plates of vegtables but they were cold. We complained and the head waiter took our steaks back but not our vegtables - so we ended up with a warm steak and cold vegtables.

The breakfast was good with plenty of choice but it was difficult trying to order pots of tea. Either we ended up with mint tea or asking staff for further pots of tea just fell on deaf ears.

But the best one was our last morning. We had asked for an wake up call the night before we checked out. We asked reception for a 7.30 am wake up call - we never got it at that time - but we did get it at 9.00 am as we were leaving our room with our cases. Thank god we managed to wake ourselves up on time.

Top tips: Eat at the Alizia around the corner very nice Italian. Comptoir resturant also round the corner has good food but we were not into the entertainment. The Sofitel is also a good place to eat but be prepared to put your hand deep down in your pocket. If you want an alcholic drink in your room go to one of the local supermarkets and get some booze - remember to take your passport otherwise you will not be able to make a purchase. Only pay 100 dirhams for the taxi from the airport.

Hivernage hotel is a clean well run hotel about 15/20 min walk from the centre of Marrakesh. The room was clean and spacious and the breakfast excellent. Staff were polite and the reception staff spoke good english. Most other staff spoken basic english and French. The spa is pricey (£12 to use the sauna) although the indoor pool is free to use and very relaxing. We did not use the outdoor pool as it was small, very cold and the sun does go behind the buildings. We did however (on a reviewer's recommendation!) use the Sofitel pool next door which was marvellous. No one seemed to mind as long as you bought a mint tea. Wireless internet access was a bonus. Around the Hivernage there are some good bars and restaurants (Le Comptoir is practically next door). The area is much quieter than within the Medina so much more relaxed vibe. Probably does not have the character of a riad for £94 a night for double room through expedia was good value.

Hivernage is a lovely, serene hotel in a city that needs a peaceful refuge! Service was excellent in every aspect, the rooms were comfortable (if a bit bland), and the amenities were wonderful. The location makes the hotel an easy walk away from the souks and other sights.

There are two restaurants and we ate in the main one on the evening we arrived. It was mediocre and on the high side of cost. But the breakfast buffet was fabulous.

I wish the outdoor pool was heated. My teenagers would have loved it. The indoor pool is heated to jacuzzi type temperature, which was a bit too warm to swim in. We also took advantage of the beauty salon, with very nice results and it was reasonably priced.

When you are inside this hotel, you could be anywhere in the world. If you want a typical Moroccan feel, this is not for you. But if you want to be pampered in a busy city, go for it! This hotel ended up to be slightly less expensive than the riad we stayed in in Fes (we booked thru Expedia).