we stayed here for 2 nights and then fought to get out money back to stay somewhere else for the third night. It was a cramped dorm with 1 bathroom to share so it was always full and difficult to actually wash in the morning. things went missing from my bag - small things, nothing hugely important, but still things went missing to the point where i started carrying my valuables with me during the day which was not ideal.

We did not trust the lady who ran the place. she was not friendly unless it was to try and sell very expensive trips to the desert. Be careful if you choose to stay here - it is not that expensive but in future we would rather pay a little more. Marrakech is wonderful though.

A low quality youth hostel rather than a riad. Place to be avoided specially in the winter. No heating at all, although it was freezing in the room. I saw a traveller sleeping dressed with her coat and wool cap on.

On the web it shows there are rooms of more than 6 people, never saying you can be sleeping with 15 people (room upstairs). Price is the same for sharing than for a double room. No invoice provided.

Only one bath and one shower for 25 people, paper and soap missing most days (I stayed 3 nights). No place to leave clothes, only 2 hangers. Shower with a scary light bulb inside going out the ceiling. Plugs looked unsafe, with cables going out on the side.

Beds were cots rahter than beds, less than 80cmts width. Sheets unclean, hairs left.

The owner, Ireally unwelcoming and cold. She looked rather bad tempered. No customer care at all. Ladies serving breakfast really helpful and nice, also the boy at the reception.

Breakfast does not include coffee, they charge extra 13 dirhams for one (rather European standard), the price for the same coffee being 10 dirhams at Café de France. It shows the place is a business to make money on the expense of backpackers and workers.

Not coming back again,

riad medina azahara is a traditional moroccan guesthouse very close to the main square: on arrival we were greeted v ery warmly by moroccan staff and drank tea whilst our room was prepared. however after a fantastic start to our holiday the owner of the riad demanded we pay immediately for the room even though we had yet to change currency into dirhams. she was not sympathetic to this at all. we had booked a room advertised on the website but it was not the same room even though we were assured by the owner that it was. the room was ok but had no windows or views as promised. a real shame. for that reason we do not recommend this riad despite the kindliness of the moroccan staff. it is a shame the same cannot be said of the owner.

The fact that the owners ask for payment in cash and give no receipts suggests that this is a clandestine business which pays no tax - not such a great thing in a country like Morocco if only the property owners are making a killing out of tourism and there's no improvement in social welfare of the population. People should be more conscious of this and demand receipts - we did after we'd handed over the cash but were told that this wasn't "normal" in Morocco.
The staff were certainly friendly but we were charged an extra euro per person per day to have our breakfast on the roof terrace - probably the staff making a little extra on the side.
The rooms are nicely decorated but we had the misfortune to get the only one which has a bathroom with no form of ventilation so the room felt damp all the time - we were there in March.