Palace Jena Hotel & Spa

“Not bad if your expectations are realistic”

Pro's: Helpful friendly staff (reception [esp. Ahmed, who repeatedly went beyond the call of duty], restaurant & bar, housekeeping, front door, & driver). A quaint hotel in individual Moroccan style (ie, not an anonymous chain). Good value (booked via Travelrepublic website). Breakfast not nearly… more

Pro's: Helpful friendly staff (reception [esp. Ahmed, who repeatedly went beyond the call of duty], restaurant & bar, housekeeping, front door, & driver). A quaint hotel in individual Moroccan style (ie, not an anonymous chain). Good value (booked via Travelrepublic website). Breakfast not nearly as bad as some of the reviews suggest: lots of types of freshly baked bread (baguette, crepe, croissant, pain au chocolate, something like chapati, & something else like crumpet), with a heated tray to re-heat as you like; jams & oils; apples & grapes; olives, tomatoes & cucumber; several cheeses, ham, yoghurt (several varieties), lovely freshly squeezed orange juice, mint tea, coffee, hot milk), so surely all but the fussiest people could find something they could eat? A very tasty restaurant for lunch/dinner (nicest meal we had in Morocco). Comfortable clean beds. Heated bathroom floor. Awesome views of the snow-clad Atlas mountains from some areas & some upstairs rooms. Nice pool area. Free shuttle bus to Marrakech centre at 10:30 & back at 18:30; at other times costs only €10 (whereas public taxi costs €15). Airport pick-up/drop-off (€15) cheaper than i could find elsewhere (& the driver patiently waited 3.5 hrs for us to get past the queue at airport immigration!). Only 15 min's drive from airport & 10-15 min's drive from city-centre. A small supermarket (drinks & snacks) in petrol station (so can pay by credit card) only about 5 min's walk. Good wifi at reception area. Overall, i think pretty good indeed by North African standards. Con's: Very slow to respond to our pre-arrival email queries. Need a taxi to get anywhere (10-15 min's drive from city-centre), & road too busy to be able to enjoy a walk anywhere nearby. On a noisy main road (not heard at pool or in rooms at back of hotel, but i'm guessing rooms at front would be noisy). Woken briefly several times each night by cats howling, dogs barking, & call to prayer. Breakfast area quite cold in the morning, unless you were lucky enough to get 1 of the 2 tables near the patio-heater. Outdoor swimming pool quite small & water not heated. Indoor spa pool costs extra, but water didn't appear to be heated either (after dipping our fingers in, we didn't dare get in properly). Poor wifi at outdoor pool area & in bedrooms (despite apparently getting it fixed). Carpets in room a bit dusty. Quite a few ants around wardrobe in room (probably hard to avoid in the climate). No safe-box in room. Seemed reluctant to take a credit-card: they much preferred cash for everything. I can't recommend the only providers of the 2-day tour to the desert that the hotel advertised (the reality wasn't quite as promised, but perhaps that's the case for other companies too, judging by some of the reviews?)

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“Nice Hotel -- not enough services”

We stayed here for a week -- last few days of April and first few days of May. The hotel was clean and the rooms were spacious. The pool was nice but not heated so cold! There were very little services i.e. restaurant was only one set meal in the evening (around 160-200 MAD) which we found expens… more

We stayed here for a week -- last few days of April and first few days of May. The hotel was clean and the rooms were spacious. The pool was nice but not heated so cold! There were very little services i.e. restaurant was only one set meal in the evening (around 160-200 MAD) which we found expensive and virtually no choice. To be fair the hotel had changed management in March and they were probably just starting to set things up. There was also a spa and you could also have a massage but again very expensive compared to other places in Marrakech. To do anything you had to take a taxi, the hotel was helpful in finding you one but you always had to negotiate which became very tiresome. Approx 100 MAD for a ride into Marrakech town. There was a free ride with the hotel once in the morning around 10.30. That was possible but the return was too complicated. There is absolutely nothing around the hotel to do so you do need to organise activities, the wifi was not very reliable and slow. We did manage to find a local restaurant 1.3km away which was reaonsably priced because it is also where the locals go (around 80 MAD per head). The breakfasts at the hotel were fine (fresh orange juice, croissants, chocolate rolls, bread, eggs, fruit, pancakes, coffee etc) this was fortunately included in the price of the stay. All in all if you want to be able to do things and not just stay in the hotel you need to be closer to the town BUT it was peaceful and quiet. I am sure they will improve the restaurant side once they get themselves sorted out. They did try hard to please.

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