Riad Picolina

We booked two nights and arrived earlier than expected, so our room wasn’t ready yet. A friendly woman welcomed us with tea and Moroccan cookies while we waited. The room was lovely, clean, and comfortable, and the Riad was very quiet. The man who helped us was kind and served a wonderful traditional Moroccan breakfast. My wife and I are very grateful for the service. Barrak’allah ou fikoum.

The staff were polite and attentive, and the food was good, but this place wasn’t worth what we paid. We chose it for our final two nights hoping for a luxury riad, and it didn’t feel that way. The rooms and the Riad were much smaller than the photos suggested. There was very little privacy in our room. The old wooden doors and windows let every sound from the main hall through, including keyboard typing and guests walking past, so we had to keep our voices low. The bathroom was awkward too, with no door, and shower water ran out onto the floor. We could also hear the woman cleaning in the hall talking on her phone for most of the morning, which was really annoying from our room. There are definitely more comfortable, prettier riads for a much better price.

The Wi-Fi kept dropping, so it wasn’t very reliable. The shower pressure was modest, though not awful. Breakfast each morning was included: usually a pancake, bread, cake and condiments, plus orange juice and a choice of mint tea or coffee. We liked eating on the quiet rooftop. Our room was on the second floor overlooking the lobby, but it stayed quiet both day and night, even with other guests around. It had a roomy bed for two, air conditioning, and a hallway leading to the toilet and shower. The host was friendly and very helpful. The place is quaint and affordable, tucked down an alley about a three-minute walk from a main street. It’s fairly central, around ten minutes on foot to the main tourist areas and another five to ten to Jemaa el-Fna. I’d stay again and recommend it. Buying a SIM card at the airport is a good idea if you need reliable internet.

We paid 92€ for one night in the luxe room on the first floor. The shower had very weak water pressure, and the Wi-Fi kept disconnecting every five minutes. Breakfast was included, but we’d had better at cheaper places in Morocco. At the very least, those breakfasts had scrambled eggs and fruit.