Riad Les Deux Mondes is good value and we would imagine especially enjoyable if you have a car or the inclination to drive one. The pool area is charming provided you have no designs on tanning your back - a feat rendered impossible by the shape of the scratchy blue sunbeds. However, the food and the transport were the weak points of what was otherwise a reasonable hotel experience.

The food menu was at first glance unremarkable. However, once you have discounted the third of the options that the cook refused to make and the poor renditions of standard European fare you are left with the bland and wholly unimpressive tagine. This must be ordered at least an hour in advance and before 8.30. The ritual of ordering is an interesting one. We stood by the counter and asked one of the young men whether we could have a particular meal, he would relay this request to the cook by shouting across the room to where she would be lying on a sofa watching television and she would, for the most part, shout back in arabic that no, this wouldn't be possible. Eventually we would arrive at a combination satisfactory to the cook and that would be it.

When finally we were ready to eat our meal we were a little surprised to find that the music accompanying our supper would be the soundtrack of the second half of the arabic thriller which the cook and other members of staff enjoyed in the evenings and reasonably late into the night as they recline on the sofas ostensibly for guest use. Disturb the cook at your peril.

We didn't have a car so foolishly thought we would get to and from Essaouira by taxi. The hotel insisted that we use Omar the taxi driver on the grounds that no other taxi would stray down the aggressively bumpy track to the riad. The taxi cost 150MAD a go. Not only was this more than the entire cost of the trip from Marrakech and back but, entertainingly, Omar didn't grasp the difference between a taxi and a bus service. On each of the journeys we made we found that we would be dropping some other moroccan friend of Omar's somewhere loosely on route. At one point, on our final trip to the bus station, one of the members of hotel staff wasn't quite ready so, despite the fact that we were in the car ready to go and were about to drive out of the gates, Omar stopped and we waited a few minutes for the young man to collect his belongings. Our combined french wasn't sophisticated enough to express our disbelief.

Aside from the miserable food and the travel issues we had a good time. With a car and a means of escaping to some restaurants it might have been wonderful.

This hotel is amazing but what really makes it is the staff. We were there during ramadan and even though the staff were fasting they could not have been more accomodating. Simo is so funny and kept us entertained throughout our stay. Fatiha is the best cook ever and we ate like kings but Hassan made my holiday because he is just such an unassuming man but he told us all about the history of morocco and made us feel so welcome. We are planning a return trip because we miss them so much. We stayed in Marraceck for 3 days before we came to Essaouira but the four days we spent at this hotel were definitely the highlight of our holiday. We will definitely be coming back

Place: cool
Staff: more than cool
I would say just this: if you have to stay in Essaouira this is the right place to be:
strategic position
calm and relaxing place in the countryside
good food

We spent a week in this ryad and we were delighted. Jofre treat us really well, he was all the time looking after us and helping with everything he could.
The rest of the staff were really friendly too.
About the ryad, it couldn't be better! Great pool, fantastic clean and comfortable rooms(with no need of A/C. At night it's cold in Essaouira, even in summer!) great common areas with tv, terraze, couch..
If you decide to come here you won't be wrong!