Kenzi Menara Palace — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

I can highly recommend the Menara Palace, especially if you’re looking for a relaxing break which doesn’t come with the noise and bustle of the city centre. Pulling up at the entrance, even relatively late in the evening, everything was naturally taken care of and the friendly reception desk completed proceedings quickly.

I had the delight of being allocated a top third floor room with a pool view. The interior of all the corridors is a minimalistic style but very pretty, broken up with open air plantation sections.

The room was very impressive and I certainly recommend paying the slight extra for a pool view. It was so spacious, complete with sofa and arm chain, desk, massive bed and lots of storage space along with wardrobe, in a separate section of the room. Lots of lighting options which could be controlled from the bed, along with electric sockets at both sides of the bed added to the comfort levels. There were tea and coffee facilities as well as a mini bar. The huge french doors and window opened up to a spacious balcony with table and chairs. Outdoor lights made this space useable late at night too. The thick curtains were very effective at blocking out the light in the mornings.

The bathroom was equally as spacious as the main room, with two sinks, a separate large bath and shower cubicle as well as a toilet and bidet in another room. Towels and gowns were present although I couldn’t find any slippers. The toiletries came in small bottles but were kept restocked well and the shower had decent power as well as getting hot quickly. What was a shame was that there was no guide to the hotel facilities within the room. An overview of the dining options, how the pool worked, entertainment in the evening etc was all missing which resulting in making the most of my stay harder. The TV was also rather difficult to use and temperamental, requiring a channel change to restore a frozen picture regularly. Most frustrating though was the wifi which didn’t work very well at all. The rest of the hotel wasn’t as bad, so I assume the room was maybe on the edges of the signal.

There’s a lot of range in the breakfast buffet - traditional meats and fruits, hot dishes, pastries and a range of fruit juices were all present. There’s also a counter with freshly made sweet items should you need a morning sugar fix. No dishes made to order were available which I could see and hot drinks are also self service. There’s plenty of seating both inside and outside which is nice and the staff were good at clearing plates etc. Service ends promptly at 10:30.

The main selling point for this hotel is it’s outdoor pool.There’s actually two pools with a smaller one which is heated in the cooler months. There’s loads of sun loungers around the pool, a decent number of cabanas for at least two people as well as beanbags on the grass and a number of tables surrounding. Towels are provided from a hut alongside the DJ which plays non obtrusive music in the afternoon. The huge pool has steps down at the top and a shallow section at the opposite end, next to the restaurant / bar. Its a shame they don’t offer service to the sun beds and, to be honest, the service from the bar itself is a little slow, but overall everyone was friendly and the food available is good for lunch with reasonable prices. It was all served quickly and presented well.

There’s three main restaurants in the hotel and I had the pleasure of trying two for dinner during my visit. The first, specialising in Italian food, was pretty quite on the Tuesday evening but the staff were friendly and the food served in good time. The Moroccan restaurant the following night was much better! An authentic setting with low sofas and live traditional ude music gave a fantastic experience. There was a good range on the menu and my starter, although not as I expected, was delicious and filling in itself. The traditional tagine main was one of a few options but didn’t disappoint. A really enjoyable...

The hotel is very far from everything, so a taxi is required to get to restaurants or any activity. In terms of location, it gets one star!!!! The property is beautiful and well-decorated. Despite its potential as a 24-hour facility, the gym could have been better. It was dirty and poorly maintained, with no fresh towels, empty tissue boxes, or stocked-up water. The gym floor had noticeable dust, especially when the sun was shining in the day. The equipment, though functional, could use some oiling and maintenance, and the garbage bins were full. As I write this review, I sit in my hotel room on our last evening. The wind is blowing strongly outside, and even though the windows are closed, the wind penetrates the room and blows the curtains. I could hear a baby crying in the room next door, which was annoying if you come on holiday to rest. You can hear everything from the next-door rooms. The bathroom rail for hanging towels is broken. The toilet wasn't flushing in the previous room, and the mattress cover needed to be longer. Since the mattress protection cover is more like a duvet, it was uncomfortable to sleep on. The sheet covering the mattress is not suitable as it cannot be tucked neatly - so you might end up with the sheet moving through the night. The pillows are enormous. They are not for sleeping on. I asked the reception desk for smaller pillows, and this was never fulfilled. When booking, we asked for a double bed, but they gave us a room with two singles put together, which made our first night uncomfortable. We booked a sauna and had to pay for a 30-minute time slot. These things should be included in the stay. It needs to be clarified when making the booking. When we went to the sauna, the receptionist took us there and left. She came into the sauna an hour later, telling us that we were overtime. I didn't have my watch on, and it felt like we had done something wrong with how the receptionist communicated with us. When we went to pay, I said I needed to collect my wallet from my room as I didn't bring it to the sauna. The lady told me my partner needed to stay while I got my wallet. That was the final straw. I was staying in a 5-star hotel, and they didn't trust me to go and get my wallet. I was angry at her attitude and the hotel's lack of responsibility for not informing us that our time was up in the sauna. Breakfast is not good at all. The food is not labelled, and it stays on the hot plates and gets very dry and nothing is special.The toast machine needs to be fixed. Lunch at this restaurant it's the same. Some dishes needed to be more varied and less dry. The tagines were delicious, but how many would you like to eat? If you venture into Marrakech, you'll find much better quality food for way less, and I am talking excellent food! One waiter at the hotel stood out from everyone: Safieddine. He was kind, friendly, attentive, and just a joy to see him every day. I think the hotel staff could learn from Safieddine's attention to detail. From uncomfortable beds, excessive noise and a lack of attention to detail, to poor breakfast options, my stay was not what I expected - given the reviews I had read before booking online.I experienced this when I asked for a new room because the toilet was not functioning and the two single beds were uncomfortable, it felt like they were burdened by there reaction. No apology "we are dso sorry for this inconvinience". During check-out, I informed the staff that we didn't use anything from the mini-bar. However, I found it unacceptable that they made us wait until someone checked before believing us. The focus on building client relationships was not a priorioty as far as I am concerned! In Morocco you get a sense that people on the streets are hussling to survive and I love that capacity when people just do what they need to do to survive. I got this energy also from the personel - The hotel is designed to make money on every extra...

This could be a great hotel....but the first impressions are badly let down by the reality. This is the first time we genuinely feel we have been mis-sold a hotel experience. This is NOT a 4-5 Star hotel.

Most of our observations are simple to fix…..and have been highlighted by previous guests. There are basic failures here which the management are either unaware of (insufficient oversight?) or are choosing to ignore.

• Check-in is advertised from 2pm. We arrived ahead of this so no problem with the initial wait as our room wasn’t ready…..but we kept being sent away “for another 15 minutes” and eventually weren’t checked in until after 3.15pm, over 75 minutes late. Not a great start to the holiday.

• This was our first wedding anniversary, and my wife had (unknown to me at the time) arranged for the “honeymoon treatment” in our room. i.e. Flower petals on the bed, etc. This wasn’t done…..but 20 minutes after we’d arrived in our room a maid knocked and then started sprinkling petals on the bed right in front of us. Not a major issue but somewhat spoils the surprise!

• The room was fine in many respects…..but clearly starting to show its age and a number of issues clearly being ignored by the staff…..shower hose leaking everywhere (easy fix….I tightened it!), toilet flush panel falling off the wall, etc.

• The swimming pool environment was great…..can’t fault it. BUT if you’re not there early, they run out of towels! 3 out of 4 days we had to wait for towels as they were being recycled (washed and dried). This is sold as a 4-5 star hotel and they are running out of towels on a daily basis. The management are aware of this from previous feedback. All the staff are aware this is a daily problem. Simple fix……buy another 100 towels!

• Broken chairs and sunbeds....but the staff don't care!

• The poolside bar / café…..okay for drinks, but the food is very poor quality.

• The food in the main restaurant could be great……and undoubtedly it is a good standard when it leaves the kitchen. But half of it is stone cold or luke warm! o Food in the “food warmers” is simply not being kept warm, we think this is because the water trays underneath aren’t being kept topped up! Previous guests have complained about the same thing, and this should be a simple fix, but is clearly ignored. o On one evening I selected the “carvery”. The meat was fine (on a hot tray and under a heat lamp)….but the vegetables were completely cold, on plates with no attempt to keep them warm. o When I commented and asked if there was any hot vegetables I was pointed to a microwave…….the first 4-5 star hotel where I’ve had to reheat my own food!

• If you arrive at breakfast after 0930 you are greeted by all the empty tables being dirty, and no attempt to clean and relay them. And then if you ask for a table for 2 the staff look at you like you’re an idiot…..there are plenty of tables empty! So you sit at an empty table and wait for them to clean up around you……and then you have to chase for cutlery. And then you have to chase for more cutlery because they’ve only laid half of it!!

• We tried the Italian restaurant. Probably the best food of our 3 nights eating in the hotel. But still there is no attention to detail……they will serve you with bread and butter but no plates. No problem, I’ll just use my mobile phone as a side-plate and spill everything over the table!

There were positives….the pool environment is great, and amongst the largely disinterested staff there is the occasional star who wants to give warm and genuine customer service (e.g. Khadija in the Italian restaurant). But as experienced and regular travellers (for both work and pleasure) this is the first time we have genuinely felt we have been mis-sold in terms of the star rating of a hotel. And as mentioned above, most of these are simple fixes, which suggests that the management are ignoring the feedback, not out observing the operation, or...