I often "switch off" when I see what appears to be a long and bad review and quickly go to the next 5 star review because I only want to read "good". You will note by my other reviews over the years I am not, an habitual moaner. If a hotel or restaurant is great, it gets said..... conversely, if it's bad, it also gets said in an effort to advise others to avoid our mistakes. This hotel was one of our pretty rare mistakes. This is the 7th time we have been to Marrakech and seven appears to have been our unlucky number on this trip. We have stayed at La Mamounia, Palmeraie Palace and a GREAT Riad, Dar Donab, all Deluxe properties. Unfortunately they were fully booked for half term and we chose “Palace” Es Saaid on the strength of TripAdvsor reviews. This time, and unusually, we were silly enough not to have actually READ the reviews but relied on how many 5 stars reviews we saw. Upon our having ACTUALLY read themafter the event, we sincerely are at a complete loss as to quite why this relatively average property (compared to the Deluxe properties we stay at worldwide) has received, more than its fair share than it ought of decent reviews. The Palace Es Saadi is a "quiet and relaxing place"....... so long as you keep the double-glazed balcony doors closed so you can't hear the CONSTANT hum of traffic from the nearby main road which you can resoundingly hear by the pool area. This is a family run hotel with NO management structure[ that you would expect from a Deluxe hotel group and we certainly saw no sign of day-today involvement. We felt there to be an innate sadness to this hotel that we have not experienced in a purported Deluxe property before. We found there to be either false or no smiles from staff) and sincerely the worst karma we have experienced. We felt that the staff acted as though they were "scared" of the owner. From the very first 'next morning" we were literally counting the days of our to return to London. The concierge[Unknown] desk we found particularly unhelpful. There is NO structure whatsoever for complaints. (again, we are sincerely not a typical complaining couple) other than to the owner directly. We paid full price through Amex Platinum (who subbed it to Classic Collection Holidays) for an Executive suite (a massive 70 sq. metres (750 sq ft) of poorly designed room of which a third of the space was corridor with very poor WIFI facility) We requested a bed (before our trip) for our 5 year old but were told that she had to sleep on the small sofa in the room..... NOT even a proper sofa bed. We told them we wanted a proper single bed as supplied by other hotels of a similar and lesser standard. They eventually did supply a bed but "....only as "a favour just for you" (verbatim). The Front Office Manager and Deputy both tried to get us to "upgrade our room" (already one of the highest category) at a "special price of a further 2000 MD " (UK£165 per night) ....we normally charge an extra 5000 per night") so we could gain extra space for our daughter. (We had booked for 8 nights costing circa UK£4950 (excluding BMI Club Class) The Front Office Manager "accused" us of having booked through Expedia (it would appear that this is the ultimate sin) and then latter apologising for her mistake. It got to the stage where, for the very first time in 30 odd years of being an Amex member, we telephoned Amex UK to try to sort out this ridiculous situation. Incidentally, the hotel on our arrival had only 36 persons staying there so one might have thought that every effort for a full paying guest might have been "de riguer". The restaurant staff (other than the Signature Restaurant) speak the very poorest of English resulting in a totally frustrating experience full of misunderstanding and wrong orders for the 10% (certainly during our internment) of English speaking clientele. The main dining room/breakfast room a poorly designed, depressing and sincerely soulless public "airport lounge". The F&B “Manager” had an unenviable job and had been in his post for nearly six months. He didn’t sound particularly confident that he was going to be there in another 6 months. The kitchen staff were continually shouting at each other. The service around the pool area was poor. One waiter, (literally) delivering food around the pool. One day our lunch was delivered "stone cold" with the waiter blaming the 25 metre walk to where we were sitting! Food OK (ish) The two pools (neither young child or "poor swimmer" friendly (1.4 metres min depth) so if you're short even an adult can't touch the floor and have their head above the water. Holes and cracks ( See image...an accident waiting to happen) around the pool. Incidentally, on 3 of our 8 days here, the hotel "ran out" of the good quality pool towels by 09:30 only to replace them with cheap and threadbare towels that they use in the "5 Star" (see more below) sister hotel. There's a large taxi rank outside the hotel (about 90 second walk down hotel driveway. When you order a taxi one might reasonably expect there to be a "flashing light" system to alert the "next in line" taxi. Not here! The doorman walks to the taxi rank and "handpicks" (I’ll let the reader guess the euphemism".....) your taxi. We understand that the churn rate (turnaround) of "senior" staff is very high. The "3 star guests" staying next door in the sister hotel (Es Saadi Hote.....advertised as 5 star but sincerely 3.5 star max when we inspected it to see if it were any better than the "Palace") used the pool facilities of the "Palace". (Call us snobs but if Iwe are paying top dollar then I don't expect the pool area to be overrun by the 2/3 star guests next door paying half the price or less). The Casino next door is owned by the same family I understand and we popped in to check it out and, in the main, there were fruit machines in a thick cigarette smoke environment and yoy come out stinking. The Main Square is a 10/12 minute taxi ride....not a 15 minute walk as suggested in literature. Finally, lest I be accused of being totally unfair in my review, the owner has a sublime collection of Moroccan 20th Century Art which can be viewed on each floor, and, at the time of our visit, was on exhibition.

The palace is an absolutely beautiful hotel. It is the nicest place I have ever stayed. Putting just another 5 star next to this hotel is not giving it enough credit. They did not cut one corner on this place. I just love it here they have a butler at your call and they make up your room twice a day. I honestly could go on and on. Bottom line everything is incredible. Anyone that could think of one bad thing to say about this place is crazy. It's pricey you get what you pay for.

Perhaps one of the most depressing and disorganised hotels we have stayed at. The service, at best, was three-star and at worst two-star. The staff did not speak English of an acceptable standard of even a four-star property making it very difficult to communicate. Often no towels by pool. Food at breakfast was very acceptable but more often than not shambolic and understaffed service. The training at this hotel needs desparate attention. Certainly some of the reviews I have read seem "suspect" and certainly do not reflect my experience. (For the avoidance of doubt, we stayed at the Es Saadi Palace and not the Hotel of a similar name next door) Certainly,the few English speaking families we met were unanimous in their agreement that they would not return.

Stayed in Es Saadi Palace corner suite- room beautiful, not as large as in photos but really lovely. Staff charming, welcoming and helpful. Food good, slightly limited menu so better for a short trip. Limited children's menu but staff happily adapted dishes from normal menu. Very good stay. Took meals at original hotel, make sure you know which accommodation you are booking. Original hotel oridnary but with a retro charm. Spa treatment wonderful. All in all very good if a bit pricey.