Riad Africa

bellissimo riad tipico all interno della medina ma comodo per spostarsi in tranquillita in ogni parte della città di Marrakesh. colazione semplice ma di qualità con crêpes fresche fatte al momento ed ottime marmellata . piscinetta molto carina ma piccola e freddina con usanza più estetica che funzionale.

Pro: The Riad is closed to Place des Ferblantiers where is day trip pick up point of many companies and you can catch a taxi easily. Walking distance to Main square, Jemaa el-Fnaa and some sightseeing spots. There is aircon, hair dryer, bathrobe, fridge, security-safe, kettle. Coffee/ tea, box tissue, body wash and hand soap, shampoo, but no conditioner had been provided. Breakfast was adequate even it wasn’t ready by 8am. Cons: It may be the luck of bed room allocation?? Dark room even lights are on. Mouldy smells and actual mould in bathroom both shower booth and ceiling. Awful draining system in shower booth. Water raised to ankle every time showered and remaining at least 10mins after shower. Even complained to reception, nothing changed. Towels must be shared with their spa. It smelled of oxidised oil. No bed linen changed for 4days. Inconvenient spots of electric outlets and you have to take one of lights off, so staying in dark while charging. Unable to use wifi in the room, which is many people commented.

We visited as part of a three centre holiday. The location, accommodation and facilities were superb. We loved the authenticity of the place and that we really felt on holiday in Africa with amazingly friendly local staff looking after us. Beautiful breakfasts on the roof terrace with breads made by the chefs and a great selection of choices. Riad Africa is only just over 5 minutes walk from the famous town square and within the city walls. Close by we found a great live jazz restaurant, henna cafe and lots of small shops. We used a guide recommended by the Riad who was fantastic guiding us through the souk to see the real workers making products in the back streets and for a great lunch. We would have no hesitation in recommending Riad Africa if you want a comfortable, great value authentic stay in Marrakesh.

My partner and I wanted to visit an authentic Riad in the heart of the Medina, and Riad Africa didn’t disappoint. The hotel is ideally located only a 5 minute walk from the main square and numerous restaurants situated nearby. The staff are very helpful, polite, always smiling and welcoming to guests. We upgraded to a superior room and glad we did, the room was a typical Moroccan style room, tastefully decorated with dark panelling. I am pleased we booked this room as the standard room is relatively small. The breakfast I thought was really nice, good selection of pastries, fresh orange juice, Moroccan style tagine with eggs and peppers which was lovely and a selection of pancakes, so something for everyone. I would certainly recommend this hotel, well situated and staff were excellent 👍🏻

Just back from a week at this Riad . Potential to be fabulous but sadly not. Nothing like it states on their site. We paid for half board but the food was so poor we couldnt eat it so ate out after the second night. Thankfully lots of great eating places close by. We were still charged for water and coffees though on top of what we paid for half board. Staff in the kitchen area were all lovely but had no idea about food hygiene. Breakfast was an experience. Everything covered in bees ..never seen anything like it and it was all week ! Also little birds helping themselves and walking all over the food. Plugs out of walls, fridge not pluged in due to plug out of wall . Was fixed when reported to be fair. Lamps didnt work. We didnt appreciate the manager telling us to tip his staff before leaving. This isnt required , being told, not the tipping especially after having to eat out each day and being charged for water and odd coffee we had. Only 1 mug in our room for 2. No bath robes . Grubby white towels . Riad itself was clean but due update in decor as looks shabby in main area. A manager not so defensive in his attitude would have been nice. My sister was told off by him for not saying she only wanted an omlette on our first night by 6pm as she couldnt eat anything on the only menu we were ever offered due to an allergy. Ermm we are paying for this its not free !! Marrakesh you were amazing . Riad Africa not so x

Redouan (Barack Obama‘s brother) and Hind, the chef showed us how to make a chicken tagine, briouate (a Moroccan samosa) some delicious bread. But what was so good was that we were a couple on our own and Redouan’s english was perfect so there was no kind of just staring at each other. We went to the market to buy the olives, coriander and some of the other spices and hind showed us at a perfect speed how to make the tagine with the spices and onion etc… Would highly recommend the class. There are so many classes to chose from but rest assured this was a lovely experience of genuinely kind Moroccan people.

The roads to the Riad were concerning very run down. Upon arriving Riad looked ok. We were offered mint tea and biscuits whilst checking in. The stairs to our room were very steep, narrow and lacked appropriate hand rails in places. Could be concerning for elderly people. Our room looked nothing like the staged photos on the website. It was dark even with the light on. TV wasn’t tuned in so unusable. The safe didn’t work. Dodgy plug sockets which weren’t fixed to the walls so came out and sparked at times. The bathroom was concerning overall lack of cleanliness. When we arrived the shower didn’t work and neither did the tap. The toilet moved as not fixed. When the water was working it filled the tray which over ran and took literally hours to drain. Towels were of poor quality and discolored. On the plus side there was a kettle and fridge in our room and these worked. I read the breakfast menu and was looking forward to trying it. Upon arriving on the rooftop I noticed that everything apart from the cereal was uncovered. Bees were crawling over the honey, jam, cakes etc. Not very appetizing so only ate the cereal. The next day some of the items were covered but still not the cakes. Unfortunately the acoustics meant that all sound was amplified, so noisy guests talking and moving around frequently woke us sometimes in the middle of the night. I booked the cooking experience which was rather disappointing. We were just taken across the road to a supermarket then an actual market where we purchased coriander and parsley. The chickens were slaughtered for you and prepared, the smell was awful and very offputing. No mint tea ceremony or bread making as advertised on the webpage. I had been really looking forward to that. We prepared a tagine and dessert which was tasty. Booked another excursion to meet the Berbers. Had a private taxi to the Kasbah Africa in the Atlas Mountains, who weren’t even expecting us. Had to wait 90 minutes for our guide. The ‘easy walking trail’ was hard going and dangerous at times. Arrived at a house and offered mint tea and nuts but again no bread making as once again promised. We were able to have a very late lunch and swim. Having paid £144 for this experience I do not feel it was worth it.

This was one of the few places I stayed in Morocco that I really cannot recommend at all. I met a group there after staying two days in another Riyadh down the street. My impression was that they had not planned well and did not have rooms for us even though we have booked months in advance. The staff was quite rude and my room very musty. The morning to say was mediocre.

The Riad is in a excellent location, with a lot of attractions within 10 minute walk. The staff are friendly and helpful, with lots of suggestions re places to visit. Our room was very dark needing the lights on all day. Our TV didn’t work which didn’t bother us, but I had seen on a previous review someone had a similar problem so housekeeping needs to check. Very little storage, the main safe broken and a very small safe in its place. The staircases are very dark and could do with better handrails. All in all it just needs a bit of tlc. Breakfast a bit hit and miss but my husband loved the breakfast tagine. We would consider staying here again if we return to Marrakech again.