Riad Aladdin

We been here for 4 nights and honestly, we've found it just perfect. Its in the best location, just 200m from souks, markets etc and it's so quiet. The staff are lovely and always happy to help. Breakfast it simple. Breads, yoghurt, fruit etc with jams, honey. They also offer massage and sauna etc although we didn't have time to try this out. We stayed in room 17, this is on the top floor, below the sun terrace It was very clean and staff were there daily to clean, tidy the room. The riad itself is beautifully kept. We flew with easyjet and whilst this was one of the cheapest on our search, it's fabulous 👌 If you are coming to Marrakech please stay here, it's next to Palace, restaurant's etc. Please be mindful in the souks if you are visiting for first time, the locals will try and send you around in circles to get you lost so you spend more money! Recommend, Kosybar, Dar Esselam and Palace cafe el badi

Staff: Very warm welcome (we were greeted with tea) and the staff are generally friendly. They stored waters for us in the fridge, very kindly, and accommodated us when we asked to eat breakfast inside. They also kindly printed our boarding passes for our return flight. However, just prior to check out, we were informed there was a nearly 600 dirhams city fee to pay and they tried to charge us for water we didn't have. As we were not informed of this in advance (either by our booking agent or the riad), we said we'd only be able to pay the fee once we'd returned home as we'd spend what we had. This, coupled with refusing to pay for water we didn't buy from the riad, led to one of the cleaning ladies becoming quite forceful and angry with us. We offered all the money we had and to pay the rest once we returned home, but she was unsatisfied. In the end, she quite angrily told us to go without paying the city fee. Had we been informed at the start of our stay, the fee wouldn't have been an issue English-speaking staff are sometimes hard to find in the riad. There are two gentlemen who speak English very well but you have to catch them in passing as reception is rarely manned (which was also a concern because keys to rooms are left displayed in the unmanned reception area). Maintenance: We had two maintenance problems. Firstly, the lock on our room did not work, such that anyone could walk in. I asked staff repeatedly to remedy this because I had valuables inside the room but the promises the repair it never materialised. As a result, I had to carry some of my valuables with me every time I left the hotel until I found a padlock to lock them in the wardrobe. For me, this is the main reason I'll never return. A secure room is a minimum standard and they knowingly refused to meet it. It ruined my experience because I had the constant worry our passports or valuables would go missing - and worse, our travel insurance protection against theft would be void because the room was not secured. It also meant that any noise in the night woke me. The lock issue was not resolved during our 10 day stay. On the bright side, the riad cannot be entered without the staff letting you in the door, so the potential for intrusion was minimized by that (the downside of that is that you can hear the riad doorbell from your room at all hours). Secondly, we had an issue with our toilet not flushing properly. In the first instance, this was resolved promptly, but the problem soon re-emerged and took three days to be resolved. During the interim, the toilet was flushable but was heavily trickling. We were a little more annoyed at this lack of urgent maintenance given the riad was doing non-urgent maintenance (such as painting) nearly constantly. Food: We opted for breakfast only. It was a traditional Marrakech breakfast (Msemmen and the like). The food itself was OK. We didn't miss it at all when we skipped breakfast for the excursions or to eat it elsewhere bu