I booked 4 nights here for me and my girlfriend. I was, needless to say, nervous. I was gambling on the fact that the bad reviews were due to unfair expectations. I found this to be exactly the case.

Our room was clean and comfortable, especially if you like a firm bed. The hotel is not brand new, nor does it look it. There were signs of minor wear and tear on our room (scratched siding in the bathroom comes to mind) but nothing that inhibited our comfort in any way. The room was kept tidy and clean – with nice towels, soap and shampoo restocked daily.

We found the staff friendly and helpful. They don’t pamper you, but it is not a luxury 4 or 5 star hotel, it is a Moroccan 3-star. There is truth to the adage that an African 3-star is not a European 3-star. This seems to me to be sort of obvious, especially when you look at the price – £30 in the UK will get you a 1-star and a shared WC.

As has been noted elsewhere, the hotel is located directly above a huge supermarket, which is very convenient. It is also only a short walk to the old city and about 12 minutes to the main square.

Breakfast was a wonderful selection of croissants and pastries, hot Moroccan crepes with honey and fresh yogurt, bread, cheese, boiled eggs, and unlimited refills of the best orange juice I’ve ever had. This is one area where Ryan Mogador Marrakech blows away European 3 star hotels.

The only negative remark I could make is that the hotel does face a loud and busy intersection. This is not a big problem if the window is closed. I also wouldn't recomend the pool - it is cold (though clean) and often in the shadow of the hotel.

Finally, it's really important to note that no one, least of all cab drivers, has heard of a hotel called “Ryad Mogador Hotel”. There are 5 Ryad Mogadors in the city – this one is known as "Ryad Mogador Marrakech". I also recommend taking the bus from the airport, or if you do take a cab, refuse to pay over 50 dh. We almost paid 200, but wised up.

Over all, Ryad Mogador Marrakech is by no means a luxury or romantic hotel, but that’s not what it is supposed to be. There are plenty of high end riads and resorts in Marrakech; this hotel is a fantastic value for a clean, convenient, comfortable place to stay.

Hi,

I am not usually the type to write about my experiences but feel compelled to tell the world of my hotel experience in Marrakech.

I stayed here with my girlfriend for 1 week, Valentines Week 2008.

The Ryad Mogador Hotel (this was the Ryad Mogador opposite the bus station, apparently there are 5 Ryad Mogadors in Marrackech) is situated in a fantastic location and is a 15 minutes ride to and from the Airport (cost for this should be 200 Dirham).

The Ryad we were in was within a 5 minute walk of the Medina and a 10 minute walk to the New Town. Lucklily for us we had amazing views of the Medina (Old Town), if you can at all specify your room, do try to get one with a view of the Medina rather then a view of the petrol station at the back of the hotel, this makes a huge difference to the holiday experience - trust me on this one!

Rooms - very basic but kept clean, unfortunately the sliding doors (quadruple glazed) that lead out to the balcony did not keep out the sounds of the road outside, this is a very busy road so expect to constantly here cars honking their car horns every minute of every day! There is also a very basic TV service with only 5 channels.

Service - very poor. The reception staff were very unhelpful, really uninterested in helping us. When we wanted to know more about Marrakech they just shrugged their shoulders and didn't want to help. The cleaners wkept the rooms clean and tidy so expect clean towels and a clean room after your days outing in Marrakech. Porters were also unhelpful, it helps to be able to speak French otherwise they just don't bother.

Restaurant - Breakfast was included in our booking and this is very basic - standard pastries (Pan Au Chocolat, Danish, Pancakes, etc. The OJ was disgusting and I wouldn't have fed that to my dead cat! Dinner - very basic Italian menu, this wasn't brilliant but was cheap (and we didn't get food poisioning).

Water - Safe to wash face, to shower and to gargle. Neither of us got ill doing this.

Conveniently situated within the grounds of the hotel is a supermarket, which was cheap and we started all of our days off here buying bottles of water.

Lights in hall ways - switch themselves off every few minutes to save electricity so expect o leave your room in the mornings with the lights off. Light switches are conveninetly located but this is very odd and you'll come out of lifts searching for the hall lights, very odd!

Swimming Pool - the water is kept freezing here. You can imagine this being advantageous when temperatures reach 40 but there was no need to keep the water as cold as it was. This is a small swimming pool so be wary and its not that relaxing to sit and chill by the pool because of the major road that elads past the petrol station at the back.

Be wary of cabs out front as we got ripped off a couple of times by these cab drivers. Its worth walking up the road a bit and getting a cab directly off the main road as they are less likelier (from our experience) to rip you off!

Overall - Great loaction, easy to get to Medina and new town from here. Poor service from staff, you'll need to be wary of.

My rating is 6/10

This hotel is rated as 3 star which it basically is. I found it to be basic but clean. The room was exactly like the pictures I had seen. The pool was at the side of the building and always in the shade so not much use.

Great location. We paid £145.00 for 7 nights B&B for 2 people which is a bargain!!!! The breakfast was average...pastries, croissants, bread etc but the hotel has a supermarket where you can buy everything you need. We were on the 5th (top) floor at the front and had a great view of the city.

Would recommend if you do not need a pool.

Very clean and nice hotel, but the customer service is abosolutely terrible. Very hard to get a taxi from this hotel, we waited 1 hours 1 evening to get a taxi. The Clerk at the desk said he was calling the taxi firm, but we found out the next day that he hadn't called him at all because he didn't like him. We were 5 young girls there and it was late at night and we were very hungry. In the end when we complained to the duty manager he drove us into town himself. Be careful of the man behind the desk name Tariq....he is so unhelpful and laughs at every request of yours.