Jaal Riad Resort

We have just returned from the Jaal Riad and we couldn't be happier. We only booked in for bed and breakfast as we like to be out exploring. The hotel is gorgeous, yes if you look closely enough there are problems here and there. I would say the main area is outside the dining area beneath the olive trees a lot of floor tiles are loose or sunken and need resetting. The breakfast was varied enough as to not be repetitive. We did have a drink from the pool bar which we found very expensive £16 or 200 Dirham for a cocktail and an alcohol free beer. Our room was a ground floor garden room and was gorgeous. A great outdoor seating area. Point to note you will only get the sun up to about 2pm on this side of the hotel. The room was kept spotlessly clean. What makes the hotel is what makes Marrakesh 'THE PEOPLE.' The Morrocan people are lovely and very genuine. The team at the hotel could not do enough for us from our arrival to our departure they were attentive knowledge and genuinely helpful. There is a shopping centre a short stroll away from the hotel if you need any essentials, turn left out of the main gates turn left again at the Oasis and keep going. There are all the Western eateries in here KFC, Domino's and Burger King etc. On floor - 1 is a Supermarket on the far left as you enter is an offlicense. P. S if travelling to and from the square in Marrakesh the cab fare is 50 Dirham, cabbies will try and charge you double. Stick to your guns say 50, they will take you anyway. Tip as you would at home. Enjoy your holiday.

Definite not a 5* hotel, at best it’s 3* plus. Hotel is nice and authentic and very pretty, rooms are large. The pool is the best thing about this place but if you haven’t got a sunbed by 7am forget it, we paid to use the indoor pool our first day as we couldn’t get a bed around the main pool, however it’s expensive as is everything that they charge extra for £32 for the 2 of us. Very limited drinks included in the AI package and between £8 and £10 per single shot of anything decent that they consider top shelf. AI yellow bands are definitely looked at as 2nd class citizens, the fact that we have paid extra already seems to be forgotten. The mini fridge in the room contains absolutely nothing, you get 2 small bottles of warm water left on the table each day. A kettle in the room but no coffee, Staff in general are disinterested and some especially in the buffet restaurant make you feel like an inconvenience if you ask for something like a coffee cup. The buffet restaurant serves the same repetitive food for lunch and dinner every day. Tables are often not cleared and if they are they are only partially set up again, hence why cutlery and cups glasses are missing. Staff don’t welcome you or offer to sit you at a table, no one offers you a drink when you sit down, you have to try and get their attention. Things improved when the big boss was around, you could tell the difference in the service level. I actually got sick after my first meal in the hotel so spent my first night vomiting. Only one bar is open at a time so after breakfast you can’t get anything to drink not even a coffee until the pool bar opens at 11am. That is the only bar until 6pm when the pool bar closes and the main bar opens. This hotel has the potential to be so much better with a few changes to the things above. I’ve stayed in lots of hotels around the world not all AI but I have received better service and standards from some rated much lower than this one. I take reviews with a pinch of salt and always try to be fair and make up my own mind but in this case I genuinely can’t understand how this hotel has so many 5* reviews. With all that said I still enjoyed my stay and would go back to Marrakesh just not this hotel.

Just returned from this hotel as a couple and it didn't really disappoint (as a hotel) however there were a few things that were lacking for us as a couple in their 30s.

The entertainment guy was great trying to drum up as much excitement as possible throughout the day but it severely lacked in the evenings, lack of music throughout the evening and ambience really did show with the amount of people who were sat outside the bar on an evening.

Food was highly repetitive with more or less the same meals every evening, which is exciting for day 1 and 2 as its nice but not ideal when you are getting to the back end of the holiday, if you like tagine you're in for a treat, food really did lack any kind of spice or flavour if I am honest. Breakfasts were a real low point and the wasps around the pool bar and birds attacking the outside snack bar wasn't ideal either. Serious lack of snacks throughout the day which should really be a given with all inclusive hotels. Didn't bother with the two additional restaurants on site as the Moroccan restaurant served exactly the same as the main, lot of supplementation in these restaurants

Room was spot on, garden view, not an ideal balcony but room great nonetheless, however I am actually unsure if sheets were changed as all i can remember is them making the beds and changing the towels, no tidy of the room.

Hotel was clean and yes there was noise from the planes being in the flight path of the airport however it wasn't much of an issue at all. Gym space was great, pool was great, lot of sunbeds available.

Just by looking there was definitely favouritism within the hotel unsure if this was for guests of a certain nationality or those who tipped well but it was evident

Also the alcohol was 100% watered down, same tatty spirits bottle behind the bar always suspiciously full throughout the day. Cocktails looked naff in plastic cups, some people had cocktail glasses with fruit, others didn't was definitely dependent on the staff

I wouldn't return personally however I can see why people like this hotel and return.

(polite staff throughout the trip)