As soon as we stepped into this hotel, I fell inlove with all the nooks and crannies (even though I wasn't entirely sure I'd find my way out again!!), the pretty white-washed walls & brightly coloured glass. The room (superior room) was incredibly spacious - simple, clean & gave us some inspiration about our own bedroom's layout!

I'm not sure what other reviewers had expected of the food, but as our last stay of a 2 week/4centre holiday, we were delighted with the creative & different dishes on offer (much as I love couscous & chicken tagines...). There was 1 dish we meant to get the recipe for - a frozen fromage fais/mousse type of thing, served with fresh strawberries & banana...yum! & the lentil tride was scrummy too. The apperatif/wine list was quite exciting & very reasonably priced considering all the spirits are imported.

Our overall impression of the hotel was that it was very relaxed - you knew that food would get served & rooms would get cleaned but there was never any pressure.

We were on our honeymoon & had booked through Best of Morocco, so we had hoped for a room upgrade but it depended on availability and they were fully booked - no bother though, as they gave us a room in a quiet corner and they gave us a hammam treatment for 2, which was an experience!

Would recommend the hotel & the town to anyone!

At the time of this review being writen there are already 177 reviews of Villa Maroc, it's been around for a while and much has already been said.

In our case it was a three night stay during a long trip throughout Morocco. This was one of the most pleasant and fun places to stay.

Meeting other interesting travelers was a real bonus here, the dinners are long and relaxed and allow you to meet others if you choose, you can also chose private areas to dine.

The room was very comfortable and we loved the inner courtyard view, peaceful and quiet, yes, we like birds.

Location is superb, convenient and yet out of the hustle and bustle-really not much of that in this town anyway, if you want hectic head on over to Marrakech!

We loved Essaoiura, and look forward to stay again.

We stayed at the Villa Maroc for a night on a trip around Morocco. It was our favorite place by far. We loved the Villa Maroc for several reasons: the view from the rooftop was spectacular, the staff were courteous and accomodating, the evening meal was an event to remember, and our room was perfect. We were lucky enough to be placed in a rooftop room that opened up onto the rooftop garden and patio. This was nice because we could watch either the bustle of the square below us or look out onto the peace of the water in the other direction. Guests from all parts of the hotel do have access to the rooftop area.

The Villa Maroc is centrally located in Essaouira. It is an easy walk to the beach, the fish market, the souks and pretty much anywhere else. It still manages to preserve a feeling of peacefulness despite being in the central area.

One of our favorite moments was enjoying a delicious European breakfast on the rooftop in the morning. Their dinner was also excellent, couples were seated at private tables in different rooms. The food was fantastic, and it was a unique experience. Also, it was nice to visit a Riad that served drinks throughout the day that you could take to your room, the lounge areas or wherever.

The Villa Maroc is a place to relax and take a moment away from the business of Morocco. If you are looking for private telephones, televisions in rooms, etc. this is not the place for you. For us, we enjoyed playing Scrabble on the rooftop and just relaxing in the Riad while enjoying the spectacular view from the rooftop and eating delicious food.

We will return to the Villa Maroc for longer next time.

On the last 2 days of our visit to Essaouira my wife and I eat at the Les Alizes and the renowned Hotel Villa Maroc. Both have high reputations. Alizes is a small buzzing restaurant with about 10 tables in an intimate dining room.
To us it was very special in its atmosphere, food, not to mention a very reasonable
price. In fact it is a must – don’t miss out!

At Hotel Villa Maroc my beef tagine, while very tasty indeed, was mostly peas and not much meat - fortunately I like peas! Perhaps the kitchen was unable to cope with the large (bus?) party that arrived soon after us. There are no excuses though since you must book the previous day and choose your menu. Overall the Villa Maroc quality was high, with some notable exceptions (the pear crumble – the one desert on offer - was very undercooked indeed and thus not at all nice)

As might be expected the price at Maroc was about twice that at Alizes. The food was not as good and the atmosphere very different indeed – the grandeur versus the intimate. Coincidentally we had exactly the same wine in both places – a Bonassia cabernet sauvignon – really excellent.

In summary both Maroc and Alizes justify their high reputations, but with some real differences. Hotel Villa Maroc is living on its reputation and unless you want to visit a very large riad with very impressive surroundings, then give it a miss.
Go to Alizes, but be warned, go early to get a table!