Riad Taghazoute — Hotel in Marrakesh Prefecture

The price point is amazing. It's roughly 50 U.S. dollars per night, taxes included. I thought the rooftop breakfast on the terrace was included, but they said it was extra. My knees were a bit sore, so no big deal. Instead of walking up two flights of stairs, I dined at homestyle, dirt cheap paces on the main road just footsteps away. The location is impossible to find, but they send a person out to help you and once you've walked the narrow pedestrian passage, then the even tinier little alley another direction, you will never get lost. The front desk folks are very kind and they try hard. One person speaks very good English. The other is trying and was super polite about telling me he wasn't keeping up with everything (I'm a fast talker who uses slang) I was saying, but the other fellow would be better at English. It was good to have English speakers at such a small and unique place. The room was beautiful. Fairly large for the price. The bathroom was plenty large and the flush toilet worked great, despite what must be old plumbing. The shower was hit and miss, with one night being ice cold (despite running 5 minutes as advised, to let the warm kick on), one night turning ice cold about 2 minutes into shower, a pair of tepid temps tops and the other 5 nights being warm to hot like I like it. The room has beautiful old wooden features. One electrical socket was half hanging out of the wall, but I charged my phone and camera batteries every night and never got shocked and never burned up my electronics. The bed was large and super comfortable. Best bed I've ever had for an exotic world city, at such a low price point. There was a small bed in the room, so another person could stay with you and then you'd be paying only 25 bucks per night. There was a nice desk, a TV over it, a little couch, table and armoire. The AC/heater worked fabulously. Fresh towels were delivered.||||The room had no safe, so I was concerned about my passport, camera and spare cash. I was assured there are cameras everywhere and the riad is so safe that many people leave their keys at the front desk each morning (within easy reach of other guests or whoever else walks in from the Medina. I really became concerned when I realized I could not lock the room properly. It is a very old (and beautiful) double door. You have to secure the one door with sliding levers so you can lock the other with the key. The second day, I bumped into the secured door...and that's all it took to move the levers -- the room door swung open without my even needing to turn the key. So I carried my cameras, extra cash and passport with me everywhere -- not ideal, but safer than risking it...once I realized any thief could subtly jostle the door enough to release the levers at will. I confess, I did not bring this up to the staff during my stay. The other catch is noise. Marrakech is a noisy place. The street just a few paces from the riad was super noisy -- it's sort of part of the charm of being near the main square in the ancient Medina. But there were lots of shop keepers and others talking in the little alley outside the riad. Also, was one floor above the check in area, right on the stair case. That meant even sounds from the desk person jabbering with neighborhood friends, plus other guests climbing the stairs -- were perfectly loud and clear to me. I cranked up the fan on the AC -- not enough. Plugged in my white noise machine -- still tossed and turned. Finally, I found my industrial grade ear plugs. That and realizing the old Medina is not a quiet place till maybe 2 a.m. or later (I'm an early to bed, 10 p.m. guy) and just dealing with the local atmosphere -- finally made things tranquil. Some sound proofing would...

Riad Taghazoute and Hussin the guesthouse manager absolutely made our stay in Marrakech, from the moment we arrived and throughout he was simply helpful.||Upon booking the Riad, Hussin emailed me directly to confirm and advise directions as the Riad is somewhat tricky to find the first time around and to offer an airport transfer, however we were coming from the train station from Casablanca so he advised regarding the small taxis and how much to pay - no more than 20-30 dirham!!||Once arriving at the Riad, it was quaint and clean, we were shown to our rooms and given a tour, taken upstairs to the roof top for a welcome tea and brief orientation on the important things to see and directions and the use of a map.||The Riad itself has a few levels with 2 rooms each floor so only a few guests and booked the entire time of our stay. Breakfast is included with coffee, tea, juice, crepe and croissant.||Hussin spoke fluent English and helped us arrange our travel plans around Marrakech working with us on our goals with minimal time. He referred us to a reputable motorbike hire company and also a tour company out to Zagora. Not a problem with either of these!||In summary, great location, great room,...

The two guys taking turns at the reception were friendly and made us feel welcome. Our room was on the first floor, which looked a bit murky on the first evening - no natural light and the windows are just a few tinted glasses. However, the room was nice enough for sleeping. In February the temperatures outside really fall even down to +5C. Even though the room claims to have heating, it is just the air conditioner. If you turn the "heat" on in the conditioner, it just brings moisture into the room. There were really thick and warm blankets, so we slept fine. However, the room wasn't comfortable enough to hang out in.||The breakfast is really nice and they serve it on the terrace. Wifi service is horrible downstairs in the room, but on the terrace it was good enough. Basically the internet was horrible anywhere in Morocco, if compared with Finnish connections, but we managed and after all - it was a holiday!||||I would recommend this riad, but I'm guessing it is more comfortable closer to...