Riad Rockech — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

This was my first time visiting Morocco. I went with my wife and 11 year old son. The Riad is situated close to Menara Airport. Before I got there I noticed the check in time was until 9pm. As I was due to arrive at about 6.30pm I was concerned about what could happen if the flight was delayed. The hotel said it could pick me up for 160DH (£13). Luckily I saw the airport transfer on Booking.com for £14 return. I have noticed others have reported this attempt to extract extra money from people. ||We arrived well in time and despite the very slow service at the airport taking an hour we found the MRC Travel driver easily. Our driver Hamza wasn't there but the person there phoned and got someone to transfer us after about a 15 minute wait. We used that time to take photographs around the airport. The Riad is only about 4 miles from the airport so it was only a short drive though it was a bit difficult for the driver to find. The Riad is close to a lot of local food places and a lot of tourist attractions. So in that sense it is in a good place. However it is not accessible by road.||He left us as close as he could saying we would have to walk down some dark winding dirt paths to get there.|Walking to the Riad with suitcases wasn't easy especially when you didn't know where you were going. The graffiti written walls and uneven paths full of rubble looked very uninviting. The people sitting on their steps in the dark were a bit intimidating and I was fearful that someone would attack and rob us. We were just around the corner of the Riad when we met a man who asked us where we were going. We told him, Riad Rockech. He took us around the corner to the entrance and started asking for €20 (200 MAD). Shocked we told him to do one. We met him a few times during our stay and each time he asked for the money we "owed". ||We met the owner Iqram who was busy|attending to some other guests. We had to wait by the entrance until she was ready. No real seating was available while waiting. There are decorative pieces by the entrance but nothing a person can sit on so I sat on a large plant pot. She took photos of our passports and asked for the city tax of €2.50 per night per person (525 MAD). You had to pay in cash as there were no card payment facilities.||The room itself was basic. There is no air conditioning just a floor fan which was okay when directly in front of you but not the greatest when trying to cover two beds. The beds themselves were adequate and firm. There is no fridge in the room and the wardrobe was wholly inadequate with no place to hang clothes. We lived out of suitcases. A safe is provided for you to put valuables. The toilet worked but it didn't flush well. The shower worked but the holder was broken so you had to hold the shower with one hand. Shampoo and body wash was provided which was good and 3 rough towels which felt like they were 2 years old. The room itself was cleanish with it being cleaned daily though there were ants in the shower. What was good was the extension leads provided with plenty of electrical outlets.||Thankfully we met a lovely Spanish family who also checked in on the same day. If you read this Xenia, Moy, Iker, Joana and Nahia we love you guys. Without you this holiday wouldn't have been the same. We went out in a big group everywhere until we got our bearings around the place and could venture out by ourselves. There's no way we would have gone to half the places we went without your company. ||The staff at the place are lovely Iqram, Fatiha and Nawal were very welcoming and always greeted us with a smile and were very helpful. Although the lack of a bin in my room wasn't addressed when we asked her about the lack of a fridge she said it was fine to use the one in the kitchen as well as all the other things like the microwave, washing machine, kettle etc. This took care of our main requirements. We would place two 1.5L bottles of water in the freezer and let it melt throughout the day on our journeys. As people have stated the breakfast is large and at €5 (50 DH) per person is okay but expensive when you can buy a large Tortilla for 12 DH locally which will feed three people. The advert for the Riad said 'Breakfast Included' but when you paid it wasn't in the confirmation email. We were told breakfast wasn't included and had to pay €15 per day but we were told by Xenia that it was included free for them. I found this out late in the holiday and it left a bad taste in my mouth that we had been swindled. Also the description on Booking.com says there is a restaurant and mini market in the place when there isn't. ||The WiFi in the place is very good and I was able to stream football and WhatsApp call on my phone though it is a bit patchy on the roof. The roof terrace is not exactly nice to look at with old furniture and a lack of light. The stairwell leading up is a bit dangerous as well so watch your step especially coming down. The bannister midway is also loose. Saying that the terrace is nice and cool with plenty of seating and a large swing. So it is quite pleasant to sit there with a cup of coffee in the cool breeze.||We enjoyed our stay at the Riad Rockech mainly because of the people we met there and the lovely staff. It does need some work done to improve its standards. Some lighting on the terrace, better wardrobes, bin in rooms, stairs to terrace, seating in waiting area. Accepting card payments. Because of its hidden location it needs better signage on the roads leading to it. I'm not sure if anything can be done to light up that intimidating pathway. There needs to be a bigger sign outside the actual Riad. Despite this review sounding harsh it was not meant to be and it is merely to inform others of what to expect at the Riad Rockech. I did not like some of their underhand tactics to extract more money from customers. The staff were very nice to us and even let us store our bags after check out as our flight was in the evening. Iqram even gave us a front door key to get in as another guest had moved into the room. I am not sure how much the staff are involved in the shadier side. I think we were supposed to be ignorant to these scams. I find it sad that people can lack honesty for a bit of money. Personally I could never do that knowing one day I'll meet my maker and know I'll have to answer to him. Hopefully you can take this criticism on board and improve both your facilities and...

I chose Riad Rockesh based on location, price, pictures (from another site) and reviews (from another site). I did like the location well away from the craziness of the souk. However, this place seemed that it had a rustic charm but it is not charming and pretty much in disrepair. They also seem to be involved in their own form of taxi scam which is well known about in Marrakech. I booked my airport transfer through them for which they charged me 160 dh, well above the price of a regular taxi service. The main problem was that I had to wait for over an hour and only after I contacted them did someone come to pick me up. Then the owner insisted (via email) that I was waiting in the wrong place. I wasn't. I was waiting at the same place everyone else from every flight waits for pick up, there is only one place to wait. Worse still the owner kept arguing about it and for what? I never asked for money back or for anything but he couldn't let it go, so odd. Five days later when I was set to leave the Riad employee offered to get a taxi for me to the airport only to find out that he was trying to get the same service at 160 dh! I declined and got a regular taxi on the street for 100dh and if I had felt like bargaining I'm sure I could have gotten it lower.wom All of that said, the truth is the courtyard is pleasant, the rooms are worn down, old scratchy linens, towels that are at least five years old, stiff matress, the roof top area is sad and the bathrooms are dank. The man and woman who work there are both lovely but that's it. They have several other places so make sure you check them out thoroughly if you're thinking about staying there and do not use their...

Riad très calme, situé au sud de la Médina, proche ( 10 minutes max à pied) du Palais Royale, des tombeaux saadiens, du palais de la Bahia, du palais el-Badi (Marrakech du rire, hôpital des cigognes), de la place des Ferblantiers  et des marchands d'épices du Mellah ( le quartier juif), du palais Dar Si Said  et du musée Tiskiwin, mais surtout à moins de 20 minutes à pied de la place Jemaa-el-Fna et de la Mosquée  de la Koutoubia ( si vous aimez le tumulte de la foule et les animations : calèches, danse et musique traditionnelles, souks, etc).

Abdou nous a accueilli avec le sourire et un thé à la menthe, malgré l'heure tardive ( 1h30 du matin dû aux documents Covid à remplir avant de présenter le passeport). Abdou et Khadija ont été adorables avec nous. Ils parlent tous deux français, anglais et espagnol, et se rendent toujours disponibles pour parler de leur ville et répondre à nos attentes  (ventilateur, eau fraîche, papier toilette supplémentaire, etc). Le prix de la chambre est vraiment très correcte par rapport à l'emplacement, à la propreté, aux prestations et au petit déjeuner compris, qui est suffisant pour tenir jusqu'à l'heure du déjeuner (14h/15h)( en Europe vous n'aurez aucun établissement de ce standing et petit-déjeuner compris à ce prix : 120 euros pour 3 personnes/ 4 nuits, taxes de séjour comprises).

Dans la rue de la Casbah, il est très facile de trouver un taxi pour un prix correcte ( moins de 5 minutes d'attente et pour 3 personnes, entre 50 et 70 dirhams) qui vous amène au Jardin Majorelle/Musée Yves Saint Laurent ou à la Médersa Ali Ben Youssef. C'est bien pratique, même si Marrakech se fait facilement à pied (pas se dénivelé), quand il fait trop chaud en juillet et surtout en août (après 15 minutes de marche entre Jardin Majorelle et Bab  Doukkala, alors qu'on habite dans le sud-ouest de la France (Toulouse) et que nous sommes de bons marcheurs), on était déshydraté et notre rythme de marche était vraiment au plus bas. Pour revenir, il suffit de demander à  être déposé à la Mosquée de la Casbah, c'est plus pratique pour les taxis pour repartir, le riad n'est qu'à 5 minutes et vous profitez de la ballade pour vous approvisionner en eau et nourriture chez les commerçants du coin qui sont tous très gentils. Dans les ruelles menant au riad, on se sent en sécurité et les habitants vous saluent.

Petite suggestion : si vous voulez que les habitants de la médina vous montrent un minimum de respect, à nous aussi occidentaux de montrer un certain respect en terme de tenue vestimentaire ( jupe ou robe couvrant les genoux, sans décolleté plongeant et les épaules couvertes). Pour les non musulmans ( comme moi), il faut savoir qu'il y a des haut-parleurs dans toute la Médina, qui annoncent les prières, à 5h, à midi, à 18h et 23h ( je ne suis pas sûr si c'est 17h ou 18h ).

Je remercie encore Abdou et Khadija qui ont contribué à ce que ce séjour soit inoubliable par leur...