Riad Oriental Glory — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

1.5 and that’s for the cleaning staff. Not really worth our time (see below.) They definitely have better advertising, marketing, and photos than other riads making them appear more easily on the map?

We drove from the desert and arrived to the Medina. Our driver wasn’t able to locate the riad, and requested someone come get us from parking— we drove around multiple times and no one answered the phone even though my driver tried calling 30 mins prior to arrival, then again when we were there. Ok so drive around and we wait, and finally they are able to contact him and someone gets us from the parking area. So we arrived inside the riad around 6pm greeted with tea, as is customary, however; we weren’t taken to our room until past 7:15. I remember this because with tea we were asked if we wanted dinner at 7:30 and we requested 8:30. The entire time we were sitting & waiting, they seemed to be catering to another party, literally a few feet away from us in the courtyard. They never really mentioned to us the room wasn’t ready? So either way we were just left in the dark for check in. Off to a rocky start.

Problems with our room we noticed over the course of the first night: -AC didn’t work, fine we will open windows -Windows (room and bathroom) had curtain rods, but didn’t have curtains (ours only for some reason, which we didn’t realize other rooms had curtains until our last day…) -Copper shower handle conducts heat, but the shower head holder was faulty/ broken = burnt hands or a cold shower.

We brought these issues up on our way to a tour the next morning, but when we got back from our 6 hour tour, the AC still wasn’t working… so for air flow, we were pretty much open to the view of our neighbors if we wanted airflow, or getting hot boxed in for privacy with a faulty AC. This riad was not part of a tour package we had purchased, but we opted to stay here instead of the agency’s choice based on the good reviews—regrettable.

Checkout was a nightmare bringing these issues up again. Mohammed (manager) was called, which he initially seemed helpful he still was kind of defensive when I mentioned x,y,z issues. He offered a consolation of 320 dirham….but was quick to say how he checked the room himself and how they treat all customers equally. Obviously he didn’t check the room? He then continued to wag a finger / slap my wrists via WhatsApp and claimed we were trying to take advantage of the situation. 32 USD discount was not even worth our efforts trying to converse with him. He also asked why we didn’t tell him & he saw us before we checked out. Well he was never introduced to us, and just because i walk past someone wearing a suit doesn’t mean anything as to who you are if no introduction was made. It was the way he started as already kind of guarded, then became more defensive when we mentioned our issues and how we would be posting hour honest reviews. Because our experience was unlike the others. I have screenshots of this super unprofessional WhatsApp conversation which I am tempted to post but will refrain -_-

Pros- -cleaning staff & the woman that did my hamman was super awesome. -helpful via whatsapp (mostly responsive)

Cons- -locations— outskirts of Medina -food is average at best or seemingly catered to westerners. Less traditional. -drinking water only included with dinner? -not communicative to driver when trying to sort pick up/arrival. -see...

Riad Oriental Glory was really great during our 4 day stay in Marrakech. We are fairly seasoned travelers, my partner more so than myself, but this was our first time to the African continent. The Riad sent a driver to pick us up from the airport and given that we got in super late, we were quite glad for that. The first morning hearing the call to prayer was alarming but after that we got used to it, though we're not morning people.

The staff at the Riad were very helpful and friendly. Samir, who I believe is like the head chef, was very friendly, made us some amazing meals, and was super helpful too. Fatima and (sincerest apologies if this is incorrect) Bushka were some of our housekeeping staff and were very professional and kind. Also most of the staff at the Riad were fluent in at least English, French, and Arabic. Samir would switch between those three easily when talking to different guests and staff members. Our driver from the airport also switched between English and Berber as well as others easily. For visitors, it makes the experience very easy, and for me it also is amazingly impressive given that the majority of Americans don't even bother learning anything other than English, which is sad.

Overall Riad Oriental Glory is a total recommend. The only reason I would advise against it, is if you aren't okay with walking 30 minutes to and from the shops, restaurants, and heart...

Having been to Marrakech 9 years ago and stayed in a large hotel, we knew we were looking for the intimacy of a Riad, tucked away discreetly in the medina and we certainly found that in the Riad Assaada! The property has been beautifully and tastefully restored by Marie, the French owner. Throughout the Riad are many beautiful objects of art and tastefully artisan crafted furniture. Our room with ensuite wasn't large but we had a comfortable seating area directly outside the room for our own use, overlooking the central courtyard where a tasty breakfast was served each day. We had an authentic Moroccon meal served to us included in our package on the evening of our arrival. Marie is a wonderful host. Welcoming, helpful and friendly without being intrusive. She even took us to a wholesaler to buy our tagines to take home. They were half the price we would have paid in the souk. Our only regret was that our French and her English were of a standard that we had to resort to a translation app on our iPads. A French dictionary would have helped! We needed the torch we took to find our way back to the Riad at night after venturing out to the wonderful restaurant recommended by Marie. Whilst Marie drew a very detailed map to find our way to the main centre, we would recommend you take a pen and notebook for other routes. A lovely stay and a five star review...