La Mamounia

am writing to record my complaint about my check-in today, 4 October.

My stay is one night at the single rate (4 October) and three nights at the double rate (5–7 October), with a friend joining tomorrow. At check-in, I was asked to pay the entire stay, including my friend's share. I offered to pay tonight in full and my portion of the remaining nights, with my friend settling her share on arrival. Whatever your payment policy, there were simple ways to handle this, such as a pre-authorisation on my card or resolving it when my friend arrived.

Instead, I was kept at the front desk until 5:00 pm, without access to my room or my belongings and with my phone battery running out, despite having already paid your hotel approximately USD 4,500 plus deposit cash EUR 800. I had just arrived from a five-hour flight from Istanbul and was exhausted, yet during all those hours I was not offered so much as a glass of water. There was no attempt whatsoever to make me comfortable or to treat me as a guest. No policy justifies keeping a guest waiting for hours in this way.

At 5:00 pm the manager offered to let me go up to my room as if it were a favour, after hours in which no one had taken that initiative. I found this even more disrespectful and declined. I entered my room only after my friend had made her payment.

This level of rudeness is unacceptable and far below world standards for a luxury hotel. I will not stay with you again on any future visit to Marrakech, and I will not recommend your hotel to anyone.

Thank you for beginning my Marrakech experience this way. It is something I will never forget.

Standard was low by Marrakesh standards. On arrival, I instantly failed on the dress code (my fault as I wasn't wearing leather sandals), so I had to purchase new shoes from the gift shop (they take yr plastic flip flaps and safely locker them up). The restaurant was hard to find within the Hotel itself..no signs and we had to ask several times. It was along walk in new shoes that didn't fit correctly. The welcome was warm, but limited ambience, and we were seated. We chose the 'taster menu', which we do all around the world but this one was only average and we were disappointed in the quality of the food (fish was over cooked etc). The wine list prices were shockingly high....one expects to pay 3 times over purchase price, but not 10! It really was a surprise. I think the trick is to order by the glass, then it's more releasable? The waiting staff weren't great. When we asked what the dishes were, one waiter kept saying 'he didn't know'. It was probably his joke, but it wasn't funny. And in another instance, the staff failed to bring us cutlery, and another occasion no serving spoons came and we had to hail a member of the team to get some. When the pudding was served and we asked what each piece was, the waiter actually poked the food! He was aware, but didn't acknowledge it. We were so surprised, gobsmacked, that we didn't say a word, we simply left that piece. We were quite disappointed by this point and kind of ready to leave. Also, they have the most beautiful cats at this restaurant, so if you have a cat allergy...you will be affected. My partner started to wheeze a bit and had some breathing issues. The cats are everywhere and rub up against the chairs etc..it was a struggle by the end of the night for him. In a nutshell, I wouldn't recommand this venue. If you do go, check the dress code as they are serious about no plastic sandals, order wine by the glass as they seemed generous in other peoples glasses, and DO NOT attend if you have a cat allergy.

One of the 3 best 5 star hotels I have stayed at