Valeria Madina Club Resort

"I don’t normally write reviews but feel I have to on this occasion. We travelled end July/August, probably not the best time as the weather was too hot for us. We were in three parties on separate bookings: three adults, two adults and one adult with two small children. We arrived late around midnight and I don’t think they were expecting us. The night manager did his best but managed to allocate the wrong rooms. When it was time to take us to our rooms, he found the buggies chained so he had to loosen a link with a knife! By this time we had been waiting about an hour and my grandson (3) was very upset. He made four journeys, first our friends in Riad 6, then my daughter and children in Riad 8, then my husband and I in Riad 7, and then finally my adult daughter. We were all so disappointed with our rooms … ours for three adults was awful … two single beds and one sofa bed that was obviously for children and rock hard. My poor daughter didn’t sleep. We asked to have our rooms sorted the next day at reception but the reply was come back tomorrow at 10 am. Another awful night for my daughter who couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sleep either worrying about 14 nights in this room so I contacted EasyJet about our problems. They replied that they would investigate and it should be sorted the next day. At reception the next day we met the Customer Services Manager Hicham, who was such a lovely man and very helpful. He arranged for us to be moved to Riad 2 which was closer to the facilities and my daughter and grandchildren were moved next door. They were staying for one week and we spent most of our time with them in the lovely children’s pool with the arches. To summarise: The hotel was far too crowded, due to school holidays and the weather was uncomfortably hot (our fault for choosing Morocco in the summer). The food was okay the first week but became repetitive. The dining room was always so busy and it was sometimes difficult to find a table. There were also too many flies and birds in the dining room. We didn’t use any other pools as they were always so busy and noisy, and the water in the main pool looked quite green. We did find an adults only pool which looked more like what you would expect at a four star hotel but we didn’t use this as it was a little further to walk for my husband and an additional cost to use the sun beds! There is also a quieter pool by the water slides but this was too far for my husband to walk. Our two friends decided to leave after one week although they had booked for two due to the heat and their dissatisfaction generally with the hotel. My daughter and I went to Carrefour on a few occasions and used the hotel taxis (200 MD each way). We tried to book Uber which is cheaper but the driver was not permitted to drive to the main entrance. Our housekeeper was wonderful and kept our room very clean. We had a slight problem with ants initially but she sorted this for us. My daughter had a medical problem the day before we were due to leave and Hicham arranged for a nurse to come to the room (very nice gentleman but I can’t remember his name). They took care of my daughter and arranged for her to see a doctor, fortunately she was okay to fly the next day. When we were waiting for our transfer to the airport, we were once again muddled with our friends who had left a week earlier and after much persuasion and help from our wonderful Hicham, the driver agreed to take us to the airport. All more stress!! We liked the hotel apart from the crowds and heat. I’m sure it would be very nice out of season. We didn’t join in with any of the entertainment, which seemed very good, and most of the other guests seemed to enjoy themselves. It is a French hotel so only French was spoken by the entertainment team. Our grandchildren went to the kids club twice and the two ladies in charge were very kind and took care of the children very well. Overall, the hotel could be nice as it was well laid out and the gardens are nice although I’m sure they struggled to keep everything green and growing in the heat. The staff are lovely and work so hard. I would like to give a special mention to Hicham who helped us so much and genuinely felt bad about the problems we had. He was so kind and such a wonderful person. Most of the other guests seemed to enjoy themselves but this hotel was not for us so we won’t be returning."

"Rooms are dated but clean. Ground floor rooms have very little balcony’s so can’t really sit on them. No facilities for making tea and coffee. But fridges and safe are provided. Staff are mostly friendly and helpful entertainment is ok mostly in French though. Music by main pool can be extremely loud at times. We struggled with the food but the main restaurant is kept clean. Main pool is lovely although no where enough sunbeds A lot to do outside of hotel but I would use the Macdonalds on the beach late at night we had local kids trying to take the food out of our hands they seem to operate in large gangs all in their mid teens and they don’t take no for an answer"

"Very disappointing – hotel is badly run down and nowhere near the standard expected Unfortunately, our experience at this hotel was extremely disappointing. The hotel is completely run down and, in my opinion, needs serious investment and much better management. The WiFi is absolutely rubbish and barely usable. The water park was also a huge disappointment — there were only four inflatable rings available for the water slides, which is nowhere near enough for the number of guests using the park. On top of that, you are charged for drinks at the water park, despite staying at the hotel. Food and drink service throughout the hotel was just as frustrating. The Coke was constantly flat, and there were regularly no plates or glasses available. You shouldn’t have to keep waiting around or searching for basic things like a plate or a glass while you’re on holiday. The hotel also seems badly understaffed, particularly around the bars. This leads to long waits and poor service. Unfortunately, we also found a number of the hotel staff to be rude and unhelpful rather than welcoming. One of the strangest things was how guests seemed to be separated based on language/nationality, with different groups kept apart and even being told not to get involved with other groups. It created a really uncomfortable atmosphere and isn’t something I’ve experienced at other resorts. Overall, the hotel feels badly managed, understaffed and neglected. There are some very basic standards that simply aren’t being met. A holiday is something families spend a lot of money on and look forward to, so it’s incredibly disappointing when the reality is so far below what you expected. Based on our experience, I would not recommend this hotel and certainly wouldn’t return unless there were major improvements. The staff around the pool were absolutely lovely."