big mistake not doing more research. it looks nothing like the photos. shabby. rundown. cannot recommend. moved after one night.

Ahhhh… Marrakech….As my good friend Forest Gump once said…"Life is like a box of chocolate… you never know what's inside until you take a bite." Now the way I see it… Marrakech as a city is like a big box of chocolate - each brown building being a piece of candy.… It's only when you get inside these structures that you really see what you get. You either get grand structures full of nice tile and art or…. as in our case… you bite into a piece of mold and dirt in Riad Zinoun.

Don't get me wrong, the wait staff (2 people) are very nice. When my wife first told me that breakfast was complimentary, I thought… sweet, we don't need to bother with it. That is until the fourth day of the same bread, and reclaimed butter and jam from the days before. Now there is a lot of poverty in the town, so I was grateful for having a piece of bread to make my morning. However, it just got ridiculous that I would have an argument with my wife just to have a decent omelet in the morning. She obviously did not want to be rude, but… try it sometimes… bread and butter and jam… again… and again…and again. San Quentin.. Alcatraz.. We didn't even make it past two days of eating tangines while in Morrocco. Sheesh.

Did I mention the mold? Don't want to forget that.

The beds are somewhat springy, and at least the sheets are changed every other day. The cubicles they call rooms have no locks on them, so bring locks to shore up your luggage. Very important - Bring your earplugs as you can definitely hear other guests snore and flush. The showers are not clean and you can see green on the walls. Nuff Said.

Laundry - Riad Zinoun does have a laundry service… If you have the time to explore the Riad and walk to the outside terrace at the top, you might see your sexy lingerie line drying there…. collecting dirt as the afternoon winds kick up. They charge 20 Euros for this little service.

One Day Excursions - Don't do it. They charge 60 Euros per person to take you to several tourist traps. I can do that by just walking to the main square.

What bothered me most was that as we explored other riads in the vicinity, we found that they were charging half the price and they looked much better. Or we could have stayed in a swanky one a block from the city square for the same price. Lesson learned.

If you like the Motel 6 atmosphere, I would definitely look into booking a few days at this riad. But if this boy was ever invited back, the first thoughts in my mind would be "Run Forrest!!!… Run!!!"

Well, what can I say other than I wouldn't recommend this Riad to even my worst enemy!

Lets start with our room (Patchouli):

Mouldy walls & severe damp (see attached pictures).

Dirty - old, dried mud remained on numerous areas of the floor & a dead cockroach in the bathroom was not swept-up for 3 days. Both of these would have been clearly visible to the 'cleaner' - they were not in concealed areas.

Freezing cold - the only form of heating was a useless plug-in radiator. Showering had to be carefully timed - as there was frequently a shortage of hot water.

Smelly - if the bath plug was not in place, the drains made the whole room smell.

Unsecure - the rooms cannot be locked & the doors were left wide open each day by the cleaner.

The Riad as a whole is very tired & in need of renovation. The roof terrace in particular requires attention, as it is in desperate need of having the cushions cleaned/replaced - as they were all badly stained & smelt.

Price-wise, I believe this Riad is outrageously priced considering the standard of accommodation.

The positives to this Riad are it's location (although there are many others to chose from in the vicinity) & the friendly / helpful employees.

What can I say, except don't do it!

On the positive side, the staff were friendly. Jouad in particular spoke very good English and was very polite and accommodating. It also enjoyed a good location close to the square.

The negatives were that the place was drab, not particularly clean, freezing cold and a bit depressing! The breakfasts were adequate (bread, butter, jam, fresh squeezed juice and tea/coffee), and were taken in the courtyard. The ground floor rooms could be very noisy and none of the rooms locked.

Basically it was very overpriced for what it was, and you could find something of the same standard much cheaper and still close to the square.

I would not stay there again.