Riad Rifandalus

We spent one night at Riad Rifandalus. The room was very clean, with a great view of the town, and the staff were lovely, friendly, and helpful. It’s right in the heart of town. I highly recommend staying there.

The location right in the market was a real plus, and the employees were very friendly, especially Mr Anuar at reception. I was satisfied with the accommodation, though the missing window curtains let in distracting early morning sunlight. The Wi-Fi wasn’t good.

The sewage smell was the last straw, after cigarette smoke had come into our room. The evening maintenance worker denied the smoke, then it stopped after I brought it up, and he accused me of being racist against Arabs. My wife is Arab, I speak fluent Arabic, and I’ve lived for a significant time across the Arabic-speaking world, so I confronted him with that. He then told me to pray upon the prophet, which is the linguistic equivalent of “may God have mercy on you.” Getting there and checking in were a mess too. We couldn’t reach anyone to help us find the place, and when we finally did, she couldn’t give directions. Someone on the street eventually helped us, but nobody was there to check us in when we arrived. There was no hot water for washing our children. When it finally worked, it only came out in dribbles, and the worker was dismissive when I asked for help. I’ve stayed all over the world, even in tiny hostels in backstreets of small Jordanian villages, and this was easily the worst and most shameless place I’ve ever stayed. I’d recommend finding somewhere else, especially with children.

The quaint atmosphere and good heat pump were nice, and the bathroom was cleanish. But the bed base had no mattress, and the sheets had holes, though there were no bedbugs. We got a grumpy welcome and no help carrying luggage up four flights of stairs.