La Parenthese de Marrakech

The hosts at La Parentheses made our summer trip really special. They were so helpful and lovely, cooked delicious food, and arranged taxis into central Marrakech, which wasn’t far away. They’d even bought our food and drinks before we arrived, so we had nothing to sort out. There’s plenty to do at the villa too: a lovely pool, table tennis, volleyball, and board games. The photos are accurate, it really is just as amazing in person. I’d recommend it for a holiday with a big group of friends or family.

Just 20 minutes outside Marrakech, this hidden gem is a perfect place to relax, sleep like a princess, and eat delicious local fresh food. Ludovic is a wonderful host. We’ll come back!

It’s a nice space in a beautiful setting, but I struggle to square my experience at La Parenthese with the reviews from other guests. I’ve rarely been treated with such disdain by an owner and management team. The trouble began when we told management we no longer wanted to pay the $17 fee per person for dinner for the four youngest children in our group, ages 4, 7, 7, and 7. They weren’t eating the food, so we switched to making them pasta and salads. After that, the amount and quality of the food served to the adults dropped dramatically, and dinner stopped being enjoyable. The team seemed so worried we might take food from our plates for the kids that they simply didn’t serve enough, never mind making decent meals. We weren’t doing that. The tagines were good for the adults, at least during the first few days, but the little kids don’t have the palate to appreciate them. For nine paying adults, they’d often put out only three or four small Moroccan breads, each about a one-person portion. One night they served French fries with dry, unpleasant roast chicken. It seemed they’d taken the presumably juicier dark meat for the staff. There were perhaps enough fries for one person at a normal bistro, split among nine adults, so everyone got a few. The children were already asleep. I was shocked. I probably wouldn’t be writing this if the food and service hadn’t deteriorated over the last 48 hours. When we raised the issue, the manager said he was “following orders from the owner.” Maybe you’ll have a good time, as other reviewers did, if you pay all the extra fees and don’t question the owners. It is a nice space.

We loved staying here. The owners are lovely, the offers are very fair, and you really have to try the marvelous food. Thank you so much Valerie, Lyonel & Hussein !!!