Palais Namaskar — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

We had booked a year ahead for a family of 12 for my father’s 80th Birthday. Other members of the family had been and stayed more than once over the last2/3years and had had superb food and service, enjoying themselves so much we thought it would be the ideal place to go back to with the entire family. We had a good time and made the most of the hotel. Like someone else has mentioned, our reservation was cancelled because someone had booked a large group booking/wedding so we had to reschedule our flights etc and after some discussion they reallocated some dates before the event and gave a discount to help with the cost we had incurred to reschedule our flights. Sadly our holiday was tarnished by poor service from the off. In particular the bar and restaurant were unbelievably slow. It wasn’t busy but food and drinks took up to 1 1/2hrs to receive at lunch, waiters never took down the order on their note pads, pretending to write it down so when it arrived it really was lucky dip what you received! On the night of the main celebration we started around 7pm and finished around 11:30pm and only ordered one course. They only had one bottle of the wine I ordered in the entire hotel which seemed rather odd. We were due to do a balloon ride one day so we’re up early but due to the wind this was cancelled so we’re decided to have breakfast earlier than usual, breakfast starts at 7am but the place was locked up and none around, we asked reception and they confirmed breakfast was served from 7am to which we said there is no one around, it took 40more mins of sitting around before anyone arrived, no apologies were made so we again cracked on and ordered our lucky dip breakfast! This said generally Staff were pleasant enough but seemed more into watching reels on their phones and eating and drinking inside than paying attention to their guests. This type of culture proceeded for the entire stay and when mentioned to the general manager he did offer our last days lunch on the house and our airport taxis when we left. When going to pay the bill this was however retracted and we were given just two of the meals for free not everyone. The gardening/cleaning staff and maintenance were all excellent, the overall feeling was that the hospitality staff were short on numbers, disinterested and rather unhappy to be working. Whether this is true I’m not sure, it felt issues in management were likely the biggest issue which was also confirmed by their attitude and service when we tried to bring this up. The general feel of the hotel is lovely and the surroundings too, things are a little worn and tired, rooms were large and reasonably well appointed but fixtures and fittings need updating/fixing so they work properly like lights, taps etc.. don’t book this hotel if you want pristine service and modern up to date rooms if that’s your thing book the Oberoi down the road!||The spa was ok, though again the staff were not the most forthcoming, much the same story they just didn’t seem that concerned about the customers and when my wife asked about getting her nails painted the two members of staff contradicted one another saying they do and they don’t so we all got very confused, in the end one nice lady took my wife around the back and showed her the colour options, didn’t offer her a formal appointment but coloured her nails there and then for free. ||It’s a real shame the total has so much to offer but fell short by some way this time which was a big shock after the previous visits. I’m sure with someone decent at the helm and directing staff more locking away the phones and a bit of front of house training they can get this place back on...

The Palais Namaskar has been a true disappointment. What an utter shame that the experience in such a stunningly beautiful property is wrecked by the service of an efficient 3-star hotel.

We reserved 2 Deluxe Rooms each for 3 nights and to be courteous I even emailed the hotel 1 month in advance to inform them that I will be taking some personal photos and immediately they alerted their marketing department as they wanted to charge money.

Curtains were stuck can cannot close in the room - called Guest Services 3 times but no one came. In the end we had to ask a local Moroccan friend to call the hotel main line to explain the situation, before they sent someone to fix the curtains.

The hotel also has significant maintenance issues of wear and tear that have not been tended to e.g. bathroom floor-to-ceiling glass window had a large crack from one end to the other end, threatening to fall apart at any minute.

We booked hotel car for MAD 550 (USD 65) to go to dinner in town. The driver was unable to figure out the address and said he will just drop us off at some clinic nearby the address, and they then can walk. After we called the hotel concierge with clear instructions (in French) of how to arrive at the address, asking specifically to please pass this info on to the driver of the hotel car - the instructions were never passed to the driver- and he got lost.

The worst came on the day we were due to check-out. Towards the end of our photo session, the lady from Marketing (with whom I have exchanged the emails and clearly explained the nature of the photo session) kept running to interrupt us every 10 minutes to tell us and the photographers to hurry up and finish. We were by no means disturbing other hotel guests (in fact the hotel only had a total of 18 guests in the entire hotel that day). Having spent upwards of USD 5,000 at this hotel, how on earth could they behave as if they were doing their guests a favour by letting them take some photos for an hour!?! I could understand if we had just walked into the hotel and started taking photos without spending any money, and not having given any notice - but this was outrageous and a completely disgraceful way to treat guests.

The final straw came when my parents were all packed to check out but were locked inside the room and could not get out, due to a faulty lock system (that the hotel is aware of but hasn't gone around to fixing yet). The hotel personnel eventually had to break open and destroy the lock to let my parents out.

At check out the Front of House Director, Mr Ail Ait Lazrak was very apologetic while we were all sitting there with long faces, settling a hefty room bill while having had a less-than-satisfying hotel stay. He said he wished he had known about the issues prior to our departure but it was also not the guests' job to tell management that the hotel has problems. Despite the apologies no real gestures were made nor any offer of compensation. We left this gorgeous hotel feeling relieved, but also a sense of pity that such a magnificent hotel is being managed so...

Beautifully kept grounds with expansive waters, well kept gardens.

Check in was in a separate building, Nice interior.

In room 108, deluxe room with water front and own jacuzzi. Jacuzzi is really a little circular tube with cold water rather than hot.

Antechamber with coffee machine, office and fridges.

Nice size room with sofa in front of bed then a passage way, half way in to the commode and all the way to large bathroom with big shower area, nice bath tube and airy bathroom. The passage itself is narrow and and issue when doors of clothes cabinet open.

Terrace- nice bit morning sun, large bamboo tree with lots of sparrows nesting there during that evening- they fly back and make a racket in the evening around sun down.

Breakfast good- in doors or outdoors. 4 courses practicallly with fruits plate followed but bread basket and pastries, cheese should have come with this rather than at the end. Next omelette and egg Benedict and finally French toast. Quality overall good. Ripe fruits, good eggs, nice French toast. Cappuccino was good. fresh orange juice. Service was slow and long pause after bread basket/ pastries and cooked food arriving. Issue with sparrows as they pick off food when left unattended including fresh food arriving from kitchen on a silver tray and waiters move away to serve them part by part.

Dinner was good- see different review for restaurant.

Spa- disappointing that you can only use the hammam if you have Hammam treatment and even if you have a massage not for hotel guest. That should really change.

Pool area, is next to breakfast/ lunch dining area with lounge beds. Lots of people with day passes who use it too so rather bustling. Nice and sun all day but the music could be less with base, and softer and a few more choice/variety than the three CD’s that they have. It really ruined the ambience when trying to relax at the pool.

Gym- good, functional, could do with more light in the day.

House keeping removed coffee and tea cups/ glasses to clean and forget to return and require a call to house keeping. And forget to top up coffee capsules, tea bags And bottles of water for the coffee machine. daily bottles of water albeit present on check in day and required some prompting.

Negative: far from town centre and other food. Food Options limited No shuttle service 200 maD for taxi before 7pm and 300 mad after 7pm Limited music selection.

Positives: Quiet,Calming - truly a wonderful place to destress. Breakfast is good/Ala carte rather than buffet. Complimentary drinks by the pool/ lounge...