Riad & Spa Esprit du Maroc

Rarement vu un Riad aussi grand. Ce Riad est la différence entre un Hotel et un Riad. Très calme, intimiste, le personnel discret. Le lieu est très spacieux. Le Menage est fait parfaitement tous les jours. La hauteur des plafonds des chambres avec sa décoration lui donne un effet de chambres de sultan. Facile d'accès, le quartier autour est très intéressant car beaucoup de commerçant, de restaurant. Sylvie est très accueillante et se soucie tous les jours de votre bien être, tout en étant très discrète. C'est mon 4 éme Riad à Marrakech et celui ci reste de loin mon préféré.

The riad itself is very nice on the inside, the rooms are extremely well-kept, clean and we have rose petals on our arrival. (Although this is romantic my trip was with a friend). The people who serve at the riad, meaning the ones who serve the breakfast and dinner are extremely friendly and nice, speak English and French and are very accommodating. The only two downsides to this place are: one the pool is not heated and is located in a shaded area, so no one can really use it, as the water is freezing cold. Second the location. In order to get to the riad you have to walk through an alley in the medina. For two girls walking alone this is not such a good idea. Be aware that to go in and out of the riad you will always have to go through this "underground" alley. If you are in a group of friends I think it's fine, but for women staying alone I dont recommend it.

My boyfriend and I were kicked out of our room at 1:30 in the morning. Apparently another couple was booked for our room and they were actually registered on the hotel system. This was Hotel.com's mistake, as they didn't pass our details onto the Riad, even though we had already paid. While that may be forgivable, the blonde French lady running the place did not provide us with any assistance. Unfortunately her Riad was full and she was only eager to get back to her own bed. She sent us away in a taxi to another hotel which she claimed "is a big hotel and they'd have space" - when in fact we arrived and the other hotel was completely booked. She didn't have the courtesy to call up to ask in advance. She was in hysterics and only concerned about herself. She didn't even bother to call Hotels.com (which is apparently protocol in events like this). She was extremely unsympathetic and kept saying its not her fault and she can't find us on the system. She literally did not care where we went so long as it was out of her Riad. She even had the nerve to tell us to come back on the 4th to 6th nights of our stay, when she'd have available rooms. She was so self-absorbed and completely unhelpful. For the next several hours we went from hotel to hotel looking for a place to stay. We found out that there was a conference in Marrakech that weekend, explaining why most hotels we went to were booked. She was very unprofessional and lacked basic human decency.

A gem hidden in the back streets of the Madina

We stayed for four nights in total and found the Riad charming at first, all though it was very far from any main roads. Basically we found out that the only way taxi can drop you by or even near the Riad is if they have a permit. This made the journey a bit difficult as you are no always able to use the Riad's taxi service when you're out and about. All though I felt generally safe it was a bit stressful walking back with the labyrinth maze to find the Riad ahead of us. We got lost so many times. It is lovely to be in such old and ancient place but it can get too much. We really enjoyed Jalal and Hakeem's service the workers at the Riad, they were incredibly helpful and there to help at any time, however the owner (french lady) we found unhelpful giving us no tips where to go, where we can take cash out, how to find things, and her english wasn't to good standards. We really were disappointed how she lacked heart and passion for her city and her lack of know-how. Instead she often insisted we eat at the Riad, use the spa (which was not free) and showed annoyance when we said we booked restaurants elsewhere. When we stayed there the Riad was almost empty of guest and she forgot to book our taxi to the airport and instead of apologising told us she works long days and was very tired. This was incredibly unsatisfactory to us and often we felt she lacked humidity and care for us as her guest. We really love the staff but wish we had benefitted a more worthy owner with our stay.