Djemaa El Fna Hotel Cecil Marrakech — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

Below is the message we sent to the hotel after we spent the worst night we had in Marokko in this hotel. We were given a room that was housing bedbugs and the receptionist knew about this! Instead of telling us he yelled at us and denied compensation. We are still waiting for an answer. I normally don´t write reports on tripadvisor, but this experience is worth sharing. ||||Dear Sir or Madame,||||from 26.09. to 29.09.2018 and again from 06. to 07.10.2018 we stayed at your hotel in Marrakech. While our first stay was quiet pleasant, the last night at your hotel was one of the worst we had due to the bedbugs in the room and first and foremost due to the unfriendly, uncooperative and angry receptionist that was on duty for the nightshift. He denied to tell me his name when I asked, but I am sure you can find out.||||I called during the day to reserve a room and made it quiet clear to your very friendly receptionist (german-speaking) who was on duty during the day (06.10.2018) that we did not want to stay in a room on the groundfloor since we found it too dark. He assured us we would get a room on the first or second floor. We arrived and got room Nr. 35 which was on the second floor, very big and nice. When we came back in the evening around 11 o´clock we were told that we would have to change the room. We asked for the reason but did not get an explanation. Then the receptionist of the nightshift arrived and we were told (in english at that time) that very early the next morning something needed to be repaired in the room and this was why we had to change to a room on the ground floor or a room with to single beds which we did not want. Since we had to leave at 6.30 o´clock the next morning anyway and did not believe that (in a hotel with people sleeping!) something needed to be repaired before 6.30 o´clock we did not buy that story and again asked for explanation. We did not get on. Instead the receptionist of the nightshift yelled at me "then go to sleep" and threw the keys to me.||||So we went to sleep but soon had to find out the the whole bed was full of bedbugs! We took pictures, I still have the bits everywhere. We went down to the reception and the receptionist told us THAT HE KNEW about the bugs and did not tell us! He tried to put the blame to us since we did not want to change the room!||||We decided to sleep on the small bed in the same room and the next morning asked the same guy for the money back. If you are a hotel this is the least you can do if you send your clients to sleep in a bed with bedbugs! He pretended that he could not speak english anymore! Since our plane was going we had to leave.||||Having bedbugs in a hotel is one thing. It can happen, you can talk about it and the least you can do is offer your clients a compensation! But knowing about the bedbugs, not telling your clients, let them go to sleep in the bed, yell at them and even pretend not to understand them anymore is the worst behaviour that we have ever experiencend in a hotel or even hostel or else. You should definitely think about whether you have the adequate staff in your hotel!||||We still expect a compensation and explanation for what happened that night! I will probably send this message more than one time since I do not know who will read it first and I await an answer of the owner...

Stayed in this hotel for 5 nights in April 2019. First and foremost, the hotel is right outside of Jemaa el-Fna marketplace which is very central localisation in Marrakech. It can be pretty loud up until midnight or so, however most attractions are in relatively close walking distance with shops, pharmacy and restaurants right outside the door. There is a Carrefour supermarket around ~20 min walk away where you can buy more western foods and everything else you might need for your travel (including booze).

Secondly, the rooms and toilets were surprisingly clean with a nice shower and fresh bed sheets. Not a lot of wardrobe space to organise your clothes and toiletries, but this was a non-issue for me.

The breakfasts were tasty, fresh and consisted of baguettes, jam, marmalade, butter, hard-boiled eggs, chocolate croissant, coffee and occasionally fresh orange juice. Nothing spectacular, but definitely good enough for the price and to keep you going until lunch time.

The staff are friendly and helpful. They have a brochure of excursions at the front desk that you can book through them. They will also recommend you attractions, shops and goods where you won't get completely ripped off for example places to buy Argan Oil, saffron etc. They will also call a taxi for you and even let you print out your boarding card for your return flight. (you need your boarding pass to be printed out on paper when you leave Morocco) .

The only thing I would knock off half a point for is WiFi. It's fast when it's there, but unfortunately it wasn't very reliable. I'm not sure if they had some technical difficulties when I was there or this is how it always is. Not a massive issue for myself, but worth mentioning.

Would recommend this place to a...

A group of 4 British friends really enjoyed staying for 7 days at the Hotel Cecil which was great value in November 2014 booked via Hostelbookers. Breakfast on the roof terrace was surprisingly good, bread, jam, an egg, orange juice and coffee. We had two ensuite twin bed rooms on the top floor, just under the terrace. This is Africa so don't expect luxury at this price but it was all clean and comfortable with friendly and helpful staff. You can bring your own beer and wine in from the Carrefour supermarket and drink it up on the roof, the breakfast kitchen fridge can be used in the evening to chill beer. We can't usually afford accommodation as close to the main sights when we travel, this hotel entrance is on a narrow alley a few steps from the famous Djemaa El Fna square with entertainment and lots of places to eat but alcohol is only sold in the most expensive bars and restaurants. The square and the old city has a magical atmosphere, be great if the snake charmer's drums stopped...