8/10 Good
Luann R., Germany
2 Muh., 2018
Almost Perfect
Our family of four had a nice 8-night stay at this riad, centrally located in the Medina. Ahmed was a friendly, smiling presence, who was always available for our questions. Each morning he prepared for us, at 9:00 (early for Moroccans), a large breakfast that included fresh-squeezed orange juice and strong coffee. Breakfast is heavy on bread and sweets, without eggs or cheese, however, so if you're picky it might not suit you. Moroccan mattresses seem to be very hard, which was fine for two of us, but the other two complained a bit. The cool evenings are handled by heaters in the main rooms. We loved the sunny terrace, and would have spent more time there if we weren't so busy doing other things.
I really want to give this riad 5 stars, but one incident with Ahmed's business partner, Omar, slightly marred our experience. Omar was there to greet us when we arrived, and his fluent German made it easy for us to communicate, as Ahmed doesn't seem to speak much English. Omar quickly learned our names and used them, which made a nice first impression, and he offered to show us around the next day for a couple of hours if we wanted. We quickly accepted and he got us on foot at 11:00. The 2 hours, full of info and helpful advice, stretched to 3+, and by 2:30 we were tired and hungry. Although we passed several restaurants that looked appealing, Omar said he knew a place he could recommend. After several more minutes of walking, our daughter in particular was tired and starving, and stopped in front of a menu that she said looked good. Omar came over and said it was "too expensive" (without knowing anything about our budget), and when she said it seemed fine, he said the food wasn't "authentic." It was several more minutes before we reached the restaurant Omar took us to, where he was greeted by several of the staff, who clearly knew him. He then left us for our meal, which was fine. During lunch, my daughter noticed that another family was also steered to a table by their guide, who then left. It was obvious that Omar had something to gain from taking us there, which wouldn't have been so bad if our daughter hadn't been in obvious distress, which he chose to ignore. That left a bad feeling. Ironically, it was Omar who had told us, the previous evening, to "trust no one."
For that reason, I can't give a perfect score to the experience, although the riad itself and Ahmed's solicitous presence were lovely.
Luann R.
Stayed 8 nights in Dec 2017