The Borjs is a wonderful gem, retaining all the traditional features that you would expect from a classic Moroccan Riad, while containing all the comforts that western life expects, including great bathrooms, wonderful beds and airconditioning.
Situated centrally in the Kasbah, close to the Royal Palace and within easy walking distance of all the main sites, it also offers wonderful tranquility from the buzzle outside. In fact - you would not know that there is an outside world once inside.
What really completes the Borjs is the people there. The staff will be some of the gentlest and most helpful people that you will ever met, always greating you with a smile, while taking great pride in who they are and happy to assist in all ways with kindness and humour.

The Borjs and its people will without a doubt be one of your most endearing memories of Marrakech.

Great place lovely room we had a suite on the first floor which was beautiful, lovely huge 4 poster bed seperate bathroom with a shower and bath. Pool area was lovely, we didnt go in the pool as it was in the shade so not warm enough, due to the time of year but the sun beds were in the sun for a couple of hours. Food was lovely we are there 1 night and breakfast was good. The only complaint which is why I gice an overall 3 was the hotel allowed a film crew to stay and they should have closed the hotel to other guests because they took over everywhere, even the restaurant, not allowing the other guests of the hotel to eat in the main area we were all sat in the side areas so could not see the traditional musicians and they even told them to turn down their singing and instruments so they could talk!! There was a seperate conference room they could have made them use if thats what they wanted to do! They were constantly talking loudly, mobiles ringing all the time and generally noisy, which is not what we went to the Riad for, in fact the riad actually stated in its brochure that this sort of behaviour was not acceptable. It is a place to get away from work and mobiles so we were very disapointed. We would not have expected the hotel to turn away this big business but they should have insisted they hire the whole riad. One morning they were shouting and mobiles ringing at 5.30am !!! Just ignorant and a complete lack of care for other people. A great shame as the day before they arrived it was a perfect oasis of tranquility.

Chef Hosain assisted by Maryam shared their spotlessly clean hotel kitchen with us for a morning. The class was partly hands-on, partly demo, with recipes & detailed instruction (in English) being provided. We made Chicken Pastilla, 7-Vegetable Couscous & Cornes de Gazelle (dainty almond pastries) & were shown the finer points of making mint tea. A lot of the weighing & preparing of ingredients had been done in advance for us AND we didn't have to wash up - just eat the delicious meal we'd cooked!
We booked on the internet before we left the UK & at the same time chose which of the 3 menus on offer we'd like to cook.The cost was 400Drh each (half payable in advance) the rest after we'd eaten the meal which was beautifully served to us at a table beside the swimming pool.
We weren't staying at the hotel but it looked very attractive with several lovely courtyards. All the staff we met were exceptionally friendly & smiling, & spoke good English.

It's in good area which has many features you'd get in a hotel but with the charm of a riad.

Sadly, my room was very small - however, it was adequate for my needs. The bathroom was made more than just functional thanks to a sink unit made from a beautiful piece of marble. Water pressure and temperature were perfect - unusual for riads, in my experience. The courtyard was pretty and the swimming pool and bar made it have a boutique hotel feel - most riads will not have these facilities. My room also had a mini bar and breakfast cold be brought to the room.

The place had really friendly staff, all of whom spoke good levels of English. They were a good example of how decent staff can make a good place great.

Breakfast was fine, not amazing but good for the price. I ate once at the restaurant - decent, if limited, menu options. However, the food was delicious - have the chocolate dessert - it is staggeringly good and you are on holiday..

I can see why many people, especially those new to Marrakech would love the place. An orange tree grows by the pool - those in the room on the first floor could probably reach out and pick them off the tree. The courtyard is airy and surrounded by lounges, ideal for chilling out.

My room was able to pick up the wifi in the communal area - to me, wifi is as important in hotels as water and electricity, so hopefully this will be hotel-wide soon.

The location is fine - about 15 mins to the centre, but there is a kiosk just outside selling water and snacks if you need some essentials. One slight disappointment was to be told that there was a car park when i was emailing the hotel before my trip, only to find that this meant the street. It's a tiny narrow street and leaving it there is a risk due to the commotion you get in every Marrakech street. I was told by one of the locals that he would deliberately damage my car because I was parking it outside the hotel, rather than at the end of the street where there was one of the hundreds of parking attendants you see in the town. I don't know if the car was damaged because it had so many dints and scratches anyway (the guy from Avis said to me 'everywhere' when we looked round the car for scratches and dints when I picked it up).

There is a noticeboard in the hotel which shows it under construction five years ago. To see the pile of rubble and a donkey where there is now a swimming pool and sun loungers shows what an achievement this place is. People who have had the vision to make places like this have transformed Marrakech and restored many riads to their former glory.