Hotel Montgueliz

We really enjoyed our three nights here as a couple, despite some of the negative reviews. We booked only two weeks ahead, and for the price and short notice, I can’t imagine finding something better. The street is noisy, but the windows were the best insulated I’ve experienced, and I’m very sensitive to noise. There are two windows set one behind the other. With both closed, and earplugs for me, we slept fine. The room was simple, spotless and had what we needed, including a large balcony. A few things were a bit odd: the shower door had just been replaced and wasn’t fitted until after our first night, and the cupboard around the fridge wouldn’t close because the fridge was too large. The fridge itself closed properly and worked fine. We also enjoyed breakfast. There was bread, fruit, yoghurt, hot drinks and juice at the buffet, plus each guest was served a crêpe, chocolate roll, omelette and other things. Breakfast is normally 8 to 10, but when we asked once for 7:30, they made that possible. We had a towel each and a shower mat, and when our small bottle of shower gel ran out, housekeeping brought another without us asking. Reception would lend us a hairdryer, and the staff gave us helpful Marrakech tips. The rooftop and pool are lovely. We couldn’t use the pool because the weather wasn’t good, but it was beautifully laid out. Thanks for a really nice stay.

Achmad at the desk was really nice and gave good service. The place was clean, though a bit noisy. The cleaners were kind too, and even folded my clothes when I left the bed messy. Thanks, achmad!

I went here to exchange money and was shouted at in Arabic when I asked what the conversion rate was. We then went to the lobby to tell reception, and saw the same older gentleman shouting at the receptionist too. As we walked away, the receptionist said, unfortunately, that he is like this. Apparently he was shouting because he thought we could find out the exchange rate from the paper we get after handing over our cash, instead of asking beforehand.

The only real advantage of this “hotel” is the location. It’s about a 40-minute walk from the main square, with plenty of good restaurants nearby. The rooftop pool is a nice feature, since there isn’t much else at the hotel. The staff didn’t speak English or French, and their attitude wasn’t great, though that might have mattered less if the rest had been okay. Housekeeping was almost nonexistent: the room was sort of cleaned once during our week, and we had to ask reception for towels. There was basically no food in the restaurant, no self-service or communication, just a random dish with no choice. We tried it once and didn’t go back. We expected little from such a cheap place, but it was worse than expected, more like a hostel. Marrakech has many better places at a similar price, so we won’t return.