More than perfect. Our trip to Marrakech would not have been a success had we stay elsewhere. I was told by a friend who had travelled Morocco extensively to stay in a Riad within the Medina, he was right. I would never have imagined being able to experience such a different culture first hand to the extent we did. We found the listing for Riad Samarkand on many luxury travel sites, as well as on Trip Advisor, so we felt confident in booking the whole Riad (5 rooms) for our group for our week business trip in Marrakech. From the arrival at the airport ,when a driver was waiting for us, to the final good-bye when we left at 5:30 am and Cyril, the manager, accompanied us to the car, we were all treated like Royalty by the many staff members. Each staff member is professional, dressed in uniform (Caftan) and very helpful and pleasant. Each room is very spacious (very high ceilings and large windows as well) and beautifully furnished with typical Moroccan furnishings. The Riad has been restored to its original splendor with all modern conveniences (including WIFI that we all used as most of us were on business and had our laptops) all the while keeping its stunning architectural details (too many to list - but do notice the ingenious ancient hardware on the room doors that allows you to choose the size of the opening). There are also many common areas indoors (living rooms, sitting areas, dining room) and outdoors, including 3 terraces on the roof that we much enjoyed. The layout proved to be most perfect as everyone had their own privacy all the while being able to find common areas for sub-groups to meet and discuss without bothering or restricting those who needed to work or wanted to relax. Breakfast varies from day to day and includes local breads, pastries and jams, yogurt, home made fruit salad, freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, hot milk, etc and is served at the hour you request. You can pretty much ask for whatever you need. Drinks , hot and cold, as well as snacks are available throughout the day and at reasonable prices. We organized lunch for our clients twice at the Riad. Both times the Riad's cook (who has a beautiful singing voice by the way) made a light and tasty typical meal with a fresh salad and a beautiful piece of fresh poached glazed fruit for dessert ( pear the first day, white peach the second ). One night we hosted a diner at the Riad including local wines. All our guest much appreciated the opportunity to visit a Riad and the break from the hustle and bustle of the convention's main venue which was the Sofitel. I used the pool nearly every day. A perfect lap pool size. Those of us who used it brought the measure of the pool home hoping to fit a similar one in our back yards. The garden is beautifully maintained and is home to many birds. The staff even put fresh roses in the water fountain. Cyril, the manager was on hand throughout our stay and arranged all our needs from booking a driver and giving him detailed instructions where to bring us on our day off outside Marrakech, to making diner reservations and hair appointments. We will all truly miss this beautiful Riad and the excellent service. I really cannot imagine finding a better place to stay, it was magical. We had the opportunity to visit the many 5 star hotels in Marrakech as most of the other delegates were staying in them. They are fine but most are modern constructions and have been done quite economically. If you have a bit of a sense of adventure and want to get a feel for the culture and way of life in Marracheck, I recommend that you stay in the Medina in a Riad, Actually I srongly recommend you stay in the prestine Riad Samarkand.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
