Riad Samir Privilege Boutique Hotel & Spa

"Poor experience. The location is ok but noisy and run down. The Riad itself did not live up to expectations. The photographs online make it look better than it is. Scruffy furniture in the communal areas do not lend for relaxation. Only 3 sun loungers which are left uncovered so are wet to sit on. Plastic flowers and foliage on roof terrace. Rooms very poor size and quality. Needs upgrading . No wardrobe / storage space so had to live out of suitcase for a week. Noisy rooms. Staff start talking loudly and moving furniture around very early. Showers appalling, sometimes the water would stop mid shower . Fixtures and fittings poor in bathroom. Breakfast consists of dried bread, piece of cake , fried cold pancake, plain yoghurt, lukewarm warm coffee . Service for breakfast very slow (30mins wait for cold coffee). We gave up on breakfast and ate out after day 2. All in all it’s more of a backpackers style riad for a one night stay more than a weeks holiday . Hostel more than hotel . Would not recommend. Not value for money."

"Rooms: basic is the best way of describing the room. An open wardrobe is provided but no hangers for clothes. We asked for some but were told that none were available. Living out of a suitcase for a week is not good. Be prepared for no real privacy within the room as sounds travel very easily with people outside sounding like they are in the room with you. Shower: I have added pictures for this. Cracked, uncoated plaster. Ingrained dirt with years of grime. Rawl plug holes and missing plaster where rails and fittings have been moved but no repair done. The riad has 40 rooms so showering when someone else is will be common. Expect the water to just stop in these circumstances or, at best, reduce to a cold trickle. There are no seals on the shower screen so the water will completely cover the floor of the room too. Just being in there felt unclean. The toilet lid didn’t stay up so it was against my back when sitting. The basin was old mosaic tiles well beyond their lifespan. A strong methane smell was present on many occasions. The roof terrace does not invite sun lounging. Too small and cramped to be comfortable. The ground floor pool is tiny with green mould developing over each day despite a morning clean. Don’t bother to take swimwear for a cooling dip as it is not an inviting environment. Breakfast is a bread roll and a small pancake accompanied by a tiny cake and plain yoghurt. The addition one day of a 4cm square of cold tuna pizza was laughable. Coffee is poor and lukewarm. Book your taxi independently as the riad adds their own fee on top. Also book trips independently (we used Get Your Guide) which was much cheaper than offered by the riad. Communal areas are small with seating for two groups only. Overall this was a stay to forget. When booking we only saw 4 and 5 star reviews which seems to imply some bias in the algorithm."

"We booked a transfer via the travel agent but it would have been a lot cheaper getting a local taxi from the airport (about £25) The welcome at the Riad was good, however they did try to sell us trips before we'd been given our room keys and told when breakfast times were. We were shown around the riad. The rooms are very basic, and functional but you get what you pay for. It is in an excellent position for getting into the main square and souks, about a 5-10 minute walk. The reception staff were so helpful advising us on prices that we should pay for things and where to find the best prices. Breakfast was a Berber breakfast which involves bread and pastries. It was quiet apart from the regular call to prayer, but you'd get that through out Marrakech. Unfortunately there wasn't anywhere really that you could sit in an evening apart from a small area by the downstairs pool. There are 3 pools but they are basically dipping pools, not big enough to swim in. Overall we enjoyed our stay here, we just needed a base from which we could explore and this fitted the brief perfectly. There is too much to do in Marrakech to stay in the hotel all the time."