We were greeted by a driver and a hostess at the airport who whisked us off to a VIP area at the airport while they got our luggage and passports stamped. We were escorted outside to take a car to the hotel but the driver was late. We stood around for about 5 minutes. We took a luxury car to the hotel. They offered some cold towels and snacks in the car which was nice. Upon entering the hotel, we were greeted with tea. They remembered that my husband does not like mint so they offered him different tea which was nice. However, we were not given the option to sit down and it seemed very hurried. It was hard to drink hot tea so quickly.
The room was very nice. It was spacious and it had its own entrance like a private villa or riad. We had a nice fountain and sitting area outside. The bed was comfortable and the bathroom/shower area was spacious. We were provided with one free bottle of wine. Don't be afraid to try the local Moroccan wine, it is very good.
I had arranged several tours 2 months in advance. The next day, we were met by a tour guide and a driver who took us around Marrakech. All was going well until we were taken to a carpet store. We told the tour guide that we did not want to purchase anything but the store owner was very aggressive and told us to sit down while several workers started rolling out carpets. We were bewildered. The tour guide was no where to be found as we sat and were shown tons of carpets. The store owner insisted that they were already renumerated by the government and that the money spent would go towards the women and children making the carpets. We finally gave in and purchased the smallest carpet available which was $600.00 US.
We had told our tour guide before we left the hotel that we didnt want to shop. But he continued to take us to silver shops where he knew the owners. It seemed that the tour guide knew many shop people. As the previous poster from hong kong mentioned, it felt as we were being "HAD." It wasn't a good experience and it left a very bad taste in our mouths.
The next day, the concierge approached us before we could find him (in order to mention the previous day's bad experience). He started to tell us that we should use the hotel safe for our valuables. This was strange since I had our passports and expensive items already stored in the safe. I told him that all of our valuables were in the safe. I then told him about our uncomfortable experience on tour the previous day. We told him that we were fine with buying a rug if it went towards the women and children. He told us that he would check with the tour guide to ensure that it was a government run store and get back to us.
The next day, I approached the concierge because he had not gotten back to us. I asked him if the store was government run. He nodded and said yes and then quickly changed the subject.
This bad experience took away from the beauty of this hotel. The concierge talked down to us about putting our valuables in the safe although we already had. He did not get back to us on whether or not the shop was government run. What does this tell us? It tells us that he is trying to portray himself as being caring by telling us to take care of our valuables but in the meantime, he is misleading us to shops where we buy overpriced rugs so he can get part of his 'CUT."
Upon checking out, we were given baggage tags for our luggage. My husband had his first and last name written on his tag. I had my first and middle name written only. This demonstrates that my husband is called by his family name but I am not given the same respect.
All in all, it was an unpleasant experience. We are well-travelled people who were put in an uncomfortable, unsafe, position in a strange country by a shady concierge and his cohorts. Too bad since it is a beautiful hotel.

Amanjena is a terrific choice in Marrakech. Some points that stand out:

- The hotel is an oasis from the ‘hustle’ of the Medina, and only a short car ride away. The property is beautiful and tasteful – with a large pool area, enjoyable outdoors/indoors drinks space and a gorgeous restaurant. The villas are beautiful, in particular the private patio area.
- The food is delicious. We saved the Aman restaurant for our last night, and it was better than all the other ‘recommended’ restaurants that we tried outside the hotel.
- The excursions are great. We took part in several well-planned excursions – our favorite was the helicopter ride to the Sahara, well planned and stunningly beautiful.

I like to note that we experienced both slightly questionable service and truly outstanding, above the ‘call of duty’ service at Amanjena. Due to the latter, I must say that overall, we were really pleased with our experience at Amanjena. Let me describe as follows:

The only caveat to our trip is that we constantly felt like we were being ‘had’ in Marrakech. We clearly didn’t negotiate cheaply enough for the items that we purchased in their souk (despite negotiating). If the shop says that they are going to deliver the items to your home, they actually may be just delivering them to your airport.

Even Amanjena’s excursion manager was not entirely straightforward, which left quite a bad taste with us. We opted for their most expensive option of chartering our own helicopter to the Sahara (I think it was Eur7,000 or so). While we were at the desert, the manager said that he wanted to ‘comp’ us by lending us the jeep to view a group of camels, something that we didn’t ask for but said, ‘ok, what the heck, sounds like a bonus.’ In reality, what he really did was ‘comp’ the other group by lending them our helicopter (significantly reducing their trip time, heightening their excursion experience and a bonus worth a quite a bit of money) … something that we wouldn’t mind if he asked us outright, except that we ended up having to endure a bumpy desert jeep ride, saw a couple of camels hanging out (we've been at safari's so this couldn't have blown us away) and waited for a long time for our helicopter to make this extra trip and come back to pick us up. We just wish he could have been ‘straight’ with us and not ‘spin’ the offer.

However, in a separate incident, the hotel management was very impressive. I mentioned above that our shipment arrived only at our airport and I simply refused to pay for this substantial, unexpected and undisclosed fee to deliver the items to our home. After much back & forth with the shop, I asked Amenjena to step in (well, they did arrange the guide who brought us to this shop) and they were able to help correspond with the shop on our behalf and gave us assurances that we would be compensated for the extra charges incurred in delivering the furniture to our home. They followed up closely until the reimbursement was completed. I must appreciate them for their attentive support well after we left the hotel.

I had booked a four night stay for my wife and I in the first week of August @ Amanjena. Now this hotel is a little out of everyone's ball park when it comes to pricing but I placed some faith in the saying that "you get what you paid for" and decided to take the risk based on the positive reviews I had read and pictures I had seen........and it was well worth it.

Arrived at Marrakech Airport and was greeted by a bell boy and his driver in a luxurious ML Mercedes, complete with cold towels, water and a variety of snacks. A short drive later and we were at the resort where we were greeted by the manager himself and then shown our villa.

I had originally booked a Pavillion villa and was expecting an upgrade to the Pavillion Bassin room as this was part of the package I had booked through my operator. This would mean no private swimming pool in our villa and walking across the hotel to have a swim in their main pool. However, we were told at check-in we actually had been upgraded to a Pavillion Piscine villa which quite simply was out of this world - this extra feature in our villa really made our trip.

The bedroom and bathroom area itself is brilliant but the private patio and pool really did add that bit of class. On the package I booked which was full board, all meals were included and we could either dine at the restaurant or in our villa at no extra cost. Therefore, the majority of the meals we had were inside the villa, either inside the living area or outside on our private patio. All you have to do is call the butler to come and bring the food and then once again when you are finished. Effortless and there is no detail spared when eating in your villa.

My wife and I ventured out into town for half a day and had the hotel organise a private tour of the city with a reputable tour guide which was also extremely well done. Again a little pricey but we saw a lot of European tourists getting hassled and bothered by locals in the city whilst we were not. To be honest, it was quite hot and we were quite relieved to make it back to the hotel after our tour.

The one slight let down on the hotel is the massage/treatment room which I felt did not match the standard of the rest of the hotel. They were quite small but the quality of the treatments we had were nonetheless very good.

Amanjena truly is 7* luxury at its very best and it is no surprise that so many Hollywood stars, footballers and celebs have stayed here due to not only the service and luxury but also the privacy you receive........after all, there is no need to leave the villa at all and if you decide to venture out, you will hardly ever see another hotel guest!
The food, service and ambiance was top class and having been lucky to stay in some great hotels over the years, I doubt I will ever stay in another hotel that will be able to match Amanjena. Yes it is pricey but it was 100% worth it and we both look forward to revisiting Amanjena in a few years and other Aman resorts.

If you are thinking about booking it, do it..........you will not be disappointed!

Had the good fortune to visit Marrakesh and Amanjena in June. Loved every bit of Amanjena - the villa was perfect, lots of lovely touches and beautiful architecture. Spent our days by the pool with frequent visits to the pool restaurant for lovely fresh food. Sunset and evening on the lawn lounging with cocktails overlooking the central pool was like a dream come true! Take me back!!!!