Mnar Castle — Hotel in caïdat de Malloussa

I stayed at the Mnar Castle for 6 weeks last October to November 2019. I thought it was lovely at first but after such a lengthy stay I observed some issues which would discourage me from staying there again. ||First, the hotel is in the middle of nowhere. There is one single restaurant across a busy road and a dining room in the hotel. neither one serves alcohol. There IS a shuttle, but there are limitations to where it will take you, only to a couple of places and getting them to pick you up is a challenge, you must phone the hotel to make arrangements and often they are not very organized.||||Secondly, the Hotel is crawling with young families. If you have three or four children yourself I guess you might appreciate that, but if you are a sophisticated couple or single you could be irritated by all the noisy families everywhere. The breakfast room, which serves a large buffet, (no sneeze glass, just buffet tables) is very nice but the young children touch all the food. Inevitably there will be screaming babies in there and some even ride scooters around the room, or race around the tables or lots of crying and shouting. If you are looking for a good nights sleep, be aware that a screaming baby might keep you up to the wee small hours. ||Thirdly, No soundproofing in any of the rooms. I knew whenever any of my neighbors was using the toilet at 4 am and I knew precisely what they were doing. Yikes!||Fourthly, Do not ask the women at the front desk for suggestions on where to go in Tangier because they only know what is on the property. Horse riding, dune buggy riding and the odd bus tour. If you ask them about anything authentic they will send you to overpriced tourist spots. That's because they don't explore Tangier properly themselves. I had an episode with another Canadian couple on a trip to Chefchouen, the blue city. The girl at the desk booked us on a private car which was several times more expensive than the one we understood her to be booking us on. I paid the difference, but the other couple didn't pay and checked out early. The trip was a little spoiled for them. If you want info on what to see in Tangier, use the Internet and then ask the locals. ||||Fifthly. Do not under any circumstances bring valuables with you to this hotel. There are no room safes and not even a main safe where you can store passports, cash, camera equipment, jewelry or watches. I had a pair of Chanel earrings stolen by someone entering my suite, possible a chambermaid? when I was out. I did tell one of the front desk girls about it and she was horrified promising me if I could remember the day it happened, the maid would be promptly fired. But I didn't want anybody to be fired so I didn't say.||||Sixthly. Although the main shuttle driver, who by the way spoke not a word of English or French, just Arabic was a pleasant and accommodating sort, the driver that filled in on his day off came on to me several times which I found disrespectful. I didn't say anything at the time because he had a wife and family to support but if you are a woman travelling alone, stay to the middle or back of the bus when he is driving. ||||On a more positive note, I found the young gentleman who looked after the horse riding program incredibly helpful when I had a problem with a Microsoft word program on my laptop. I cannot say anything else but thanks a million you saved the day for me. ||||The hotel is clean, beds are comfortable, maid service is thorough, grounds are pretty, but I believe it's better to stay near the center of the city where the action is and where you have choices. The lack of good English spoken at Mnar Castle also makes things...

For Moroccan standards, this is a top-tier accommodation. Check-in was great and our two bedroom apartment was beautiful for the most part. Lots of open windows, a balcony and a rooftop really made it feel like a luxury stay. Things I particularly enjoyed: Large windows that opened up around the apartment and the automatic shutters that open and close were quite cool Full kitchen was lovely (some instant coffee or tea bags would have been appreciated though since the accommodation is far from stores) Pool was lovely Breakfast was better than any other I have had in Morocco and felt more in-line with an all-inclusive stay at a medium range resort Staff were very friendly and accommodating Buggy excursion to the cliffs near the water was beautiful

However, some things really need improvement. I will list them in the order that I find most important: Washrooms in the restaurant/breakfast area never had soap, even after I specifically asked for soap, it was again empty the following day. There were also gross (looked like poo or snot) on the side of the tissue rolls and I generally felt gross after leaving the washroom there. I hope the staff have soap in their washroom? I guess it's important to consider Moroccan standards, though. The toilet in our apartment was about a foot away from the glass for the shower, so I had to go to the bathroom on my tip-toes (at 6 feet tall, I did not fit). This was a major drawback for me. The faucet in our apartment bathroom sink was not secured down and would wobble in all directions when you tried to turn it on and off, which was annoying but not experience-breaking. Room service was often slow and of the four times we ordered, twice the order was wrong (pizza came instead of pasta, for example)

All said, it is a wonderful place to stay. I highly recommend it if you're looking for...

I admit when I saw the price of this hotel, I was scared. The reviews were great, but I could not reconcile such good reviews for such a reasonable price, but I took a chance and I am sooooooo glad I did!! This hotel provided excellent customer service from the moment I checked in until I departed. The front desk staff, lead by Gazelle, was able to coordinate day trips and provided information on locations within Tangier that I wanted to visit. The hotel itself offers a variety of activities for a fee for both adults and children which are discussed with guests upon check-in. The apartment I had faced the Mediterranean Sea and I could open all of the windows enclosing the living room area and literally be surrounded by the cool sea breeze.

The hotel is a few miles from the city center, but there is a free shuttle to various locations in town. You arrange for the shuttle about 30 minutes before you wish to leave and it departs at the top of the hour.

Breakfast is included in the charge, but lunch and dinner are not. The food prices are very reasonable in my opinion. The food was tasty - especially the lemon tart!! The kitchen and housekeeping staff were very attentive and, though I was limited in my ability to communicate with them due to not speaking Arabic or Spanish and having limited French skills, I found they were very patient and tried to understand my broken French.

This was my first time in Tangier and it was beastly trying to get there from Malawi (3 planes and a 2-hour train ride), but it was SO worth it! I very much look forward to...