Riad Mandalay

Riad Mandalay boasts an unbeatable location in the heart of Marrakech, steps from the souks, palace, and square. I travelled alone with my son and felt entirely safe! Our stay was a really reasonable price, so wasn’t sure what to expect, but the riad offered comfortable beds and a lovely stay, largely thanks to Iheb's invaluable local knowledge. Breakfast was plentiful with bread, crepes/omelette, jams, and Moroccan tea. The rooftop offered a nice space to meet other guests. Highly recommended for its location and value!

We recently stayed at Riad Mandalay for 4 nights. The Riad itself was clean enough, beds were comfy and the shower was good. It probably could do with a bit of a freshen up but for the money it was worth it and perfectly fine as a base for the trip. The best part of the experience was definitely Iheb, he was super funny and helpful and made our stay really enjoyable!

Except the guy at the front desk who was very friendly, everything else is from worse to absolute horror.

We arrived at 7 PM, the front desk guy was very ok, till we got to the room, where everything was bad..mold everywhere, dirty room, dirty shower(inapropiate for use), dirty sheets, and we only asked for CLEAN sheets, and the “boss” said that there aren’t any…we tried to talk to them that is the only thing that we wanted, excepting the mold everywhere and all around mess…but they didn’t have them…how is it possible!? The manager didn’t want to refund because “it is clean and ok”…maybe, if you are a street bumb…we had to go another place where everything was wonderful. Totally disagree with this place beeing on Booking. I travel a lot and havent’t seen an accomodation like this before. Be careful on what you see vs what you get.

I will start this review off simply. This is not a 4 star hotel as claimed. You can hardly describe it as a hotel, more a hostel. Do not stay here before doing research and reading the bad reviews. This is by far the worst hotel I have ever experienced. We arrived after our flight to this hotel and were immediately concerned. The building in front of us looked nothing like the pictures that were seen online. The interior was old and unkempt. The pool in the middle looked green and miserable. There were no nice flowing plants everywhere, as seen in the photographs. The main 'living room' has no 'bar' or 'games' as described. It had two large tables (one of which appeared to be an old bed frame covered in a cloth) and a mismatch of battered chairs. The walls were cracking and in need of paint. The furniture is old and the whole place was untidy and unclean. I decided to ignore these red flags and give it the benefit of the doubt.. I should have gone with my gut and left then and there. We were ushered into the main room and asked to wait while they checked us in. After what seemed forever we were informed that a mistake had occurred and our booking could not be found. We were told we would need to stay in another hotel for the night, which they would sort for us. We were provided a taxi and taken to another riad. This hotel had no idea who we were but after some time we managed to sort the room. This was a two star hotel and was pretty bad but I was happy to at least have a bed for the night. We arranged with the management of Riad Mandalay to come back the next morning to check in and have breakfast. We returned the next morning and were told our room would not be ready until 14:00. This was not what we were told the day before but it wasn't a major issue. They offered us breakfast and we sat at a small table in the corner, due to the two large tables being taken up by another group. We asked for a breakfast menu but were told there wasn't one. We were provided a basket of bread, a pastry, several bowls of jam and some tea. To be honest the food was fine but not what I expected from a '4 star' hotel. There was no offer of anything further. The seating layout in the room meant that you would be sitting at a table with other people (which is okay for some but not my preference). There were two staff members who we met over the course of our stay here. I did not catch either of their names but I believe they were the managers. One of them was polite and I really can't complain about them. However the other was creepy and rude. He made several strange comments to both my partner and other women. He said she has "pretty eyes" and was "beautiful" on more than one occasion. Some may find this friendly but I found it very strange. I also saw him arguing with another guest, telling them effectively to shut up before walking off. He then came over to us and proceeded to inform us of how much he hated the french. He did not come across as friendly and polite. We were offered a complimentary dinner for the room issues (A win at last!). However we were once again told there was no menu. The food was tagine or tagine. There was no choice. We did not stay long enough to try the dinner but if it was anything like the breakfast, I wouldn't expect much. We headed out for the day, leaving our bags in the main living room as we still did not have a room. We returned at 14:00 and were once again told to wait. The manager informed us the room would be ready in 10 minutes. Well, nearly an hour later we got the keys to our room. The room was by far the worst bit of the experience. It was dilapidated and miserable. The walls were heavily cracking and some were half painted. The only decorations were several paintings that were leant up on a ledge. Two of the four plug sockets (Both near the bed) didn't work. The pillows were stained with unknown fluids. The floor was dirty and covered in dust. There was no TV, kettle or any other basic amenities that would be expected in a 4 star hotel. We did get a bar of soap and a small sachet of shampoo but nothing further. The bathroom was horrible and smelt. The shower was effectively part of the room where a small wall was built and painted over with waterproof paint. The shower head itself was barely attached to the wall and only pointed in one direction. The lighting was dark and dreary. It was nothing like pictured. There was an aircon! (At least they had that..). But it was clearly broken and would make a loud creaking noise constantly while running. So you had to choose between being cool and being able to hear yourself think. You could not have it running at night if you wanted to get to sleep. However the worst part about the room was the windows. In both the main bedroom and the bathroom were a large glass window. These were closed with wooden shutter doors. This is obviously from when the riad was used traditionally and the main living room was once a courtyard. These windows had decorative wooden arches at the top. These could not be closed and were only obscured by a mesh curtain, which was certainly not opaque. This meant that anyone in the main living room could see both into the bedroom and the bathroom if they wanted. I tried to solve this issue by hanging towels over the curtain rails to prevent people from seeing in. The other issue with these windows is that they were not soundproofed at all. We quickly noticed we could hear the TikTok video playing on the manager's phone when he was sitting outside. We were having to whisper to have a conversation and had no privacy at all. On both nights of our stay, we had a loud party of guests come back and sit in the living room. They were laughing and talking until past midnight, meaning we could not sleep. You could clearly hear everything being said as if they were next to you as they were only a few meters away and there was nothing to reduce the sound. I had no issue with them as the people are on holiday and were only using the room as it was meant. The late night party and the aircon meant I hardly got any sleep both nights. I'd also like to mention the location of the hotel. I understand this can't be helped and it is a traditional riad, but it is worth mentioning for people looking to stay here. To get from this hotel to the main street you need to walk approximately 2 minutes down an alleyway. The last stretch of this alley contains a small local market. The market has several meat stalls which were covered in flies. There were animal parts thrown on the floor for cats to eat. There were flies and rodents around. It smelt strongly of rotting flesh. It was only a very short stretch but walking past this every single time you wanted to go out for dinner was a good way to lose your appetite. This was the only way to get to the main street without a detour in the wrong direction. After two nights in this nightmare we decided to pay for a new hotel. We packed our things and got a taxi to another hotel (which funnily enough was only a 3 star but was far better). Overall I cannot say anything positive about this place. The messed up bookings, the delays, the fake online pictures, the room, the management, the food. There were no positives. It is not a 4 star hotel and I have absolutely no idea how it is so highly rated. I would highly recommend not staying here and doing some proper research before you do. I genuinely felt safer outside the hotel than I did inside.

Only there 3 nights. But 1st night, told no room for us. (Booked family room) Moved us to a different riad & although staff & breakfast lovely the rooms were apart and much more inferior. Tiny, cramped, noisy. Rooms apart and stuff in each case so had to keep to & fro to get stuff. Also another walk away in the dark evening to new riad with all cases. Cudnt unpack as had to move back the following afternoon….so disturbed our full day. Really disappointing start. Why did this happen. It was confirmed and we had booked in January. Riad cudnt understand why we were upset. We were offered an eve meal in riad but wanted to be out in atmosphere of busy streets. Once in Mandalay though it was otherwise perfect. Just wish we’d had all 3 nights there instead of 2. Felt let down & very disturbed 1st night. Never a move to a better place is it. So over paid our 1st night. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

See above

Near center

Disorganized management

The place was vile !!! The worst place I have ever stayed . The location was creepy and the overwhelming smell of excrement was u believable. Left a day early as felt unsafe and vulnerable due to the location and the visible dirt and years of dust was disgusting

I honestly can't understand why there are any decent reviews here, this place is absolutely disgusting! Before you even get there you have to make your way through smelly streets crowded and nearly run over by mopeds! It may have been charming when it opened but the hygiene now is appalling, the so called pool was green in colour, stagnant and clearly never used. The room we were given had a double and two singles, a bathroom covered in damp on the ceiling, barely any water pressure and the water kept coming back up in the bath leaving a foul smell. We were given towels that were about 20 years old and no way of drying them as the rooms were cold. The bedding was ancient and the mattress very hard, my friend slept in a single bed and came out with flea bites! We managed one night and checked out and went somewhere else, strongly advise DO NOT BOOK here! The only decent person was the poor maid who did all the hard work, served breakfast and cleaned the rooms whilst the men sat around all day, if they got off their bums and did some maintenance they could turn it around and make it charming again!

Upon arrival we were greeted by very kind and friendly staff members who shown us to the room. The Riad was very unique and beautiful, but not 4 stars. The room itself was standard, a bed a bathroom and some drawers - the basic essentials. For the price paid I don’t think I can fault the place. I think a lot of the reviews forget it isn’t a first world nation, nor very expensive to stay here which influences quality of the build and funds for upkeep. The bed was comfy, the room functioned and the location was ideal for the old town area and close proximity to the airport. The breakfast was a continental, bread, roti, and toppings/sauces. Again, for the price of the accommodation, it cannot be heavily faulted in my opinion.