Hotel Diwane is ideally located. It is situated in Guilese ( new town). It is 40mts walking distance from Jamaal El Fna square which is the centre of old town. The souk is just opposite to the square. Hotel is clean. Staff are friendly and good. Airport bus (no: 19) driver stopped very close to the hotel. Hop on / off bus starts very close to the hotel. We booked for Atlas tour (Orika Valley) from a tour shop very close to the hotel Diwane (next to Hotel Renaissance opposite Hotel Diwane). Breakfast was good although it is the same menu every morning. 4 or 5 varities of croissants, fresh egg (omlett or hard boiled or fried) etc etc. We took half board. So we had dinner at the hotel for the 4 nights that we stayed there. The firt night was very disappointing. Food wasn't as delicious or spicy as i had expected. Most of the menu consisted of variety of salads. I had slight tummy cramps that night. The next night onwards i stuck to hot food and i was alright. Cous cous was served every day with one or two meat dish and one fish dish and a variety of vegetable curries, soup etc. I was expecting to be served Khoubous or variety of bread. But didn't get any of that during our stay. All in all, i would rate evening dinner as 5 or 6 out of 10. But staff were very good. There was no label next to the dishes, so you are unsure if you are eating meat, fish or vegetable! Although you have booked half board, when you go for dinner, you have to pay for the drinks. I didn't expect this. A glass of orange juice is 20dhs, half litre bottle of water is 10dhs ( compared to price in the shop opposite to the hotel viz, 6dhs for 1 litre bottle and 4 dhs for orange juice in the shop at the souk). We enjoyed Marrakech, the hotel, the weather and the people.

so, we stay here 4 days.The hotels is clean, big balcon, beautiful and clean pool, the room is quite big, but not so modern,the bathroom is clean. Every day they are changing our sheets, and towels. The food is ok,we have half board, 3 dishes of meet and so on. For Maroc is 4 star, for europen is mote that 3. We like the hotel, and the position is very good. Take bus 19 from the airport and take bus 1 fot Jemaa el Fna place. No drinks at restaurant but in the front is a small store who sell alchoolic. I will stay here again.

Stayed at the Diwane for 3 nights January 2012. Staff gave excellent service. Very welcoming and nothing too much trouble. Breakfast was excellent, good choice and fresh. Had dinner on one night, great service, good food and very good prices. Room was cleaned every day. Hotel was very nice throughout nicely decorated. Pool and pool area very clean. Pool was quite cold due I expect to time of year, but plenty of towels and good service. Hotel situated in the new part of town, plenty of shops, restaurants and bqrs around. Within walking distance of main square and souks ( about 20 - 25 mins). Was quite a nice walk and it was nice to be staying a little away from the mayhem of the old town.

Lets start with the negatives:
The Diwane Hotel is definitely not a four star hotel. It is a 3* at the most and the reasons for this are;
1. The rooms are very much what you'd expect from a 3* hotel although they are very clean, they are also very dated & in need of a coat of paint to brighten them up. But who cares, when your in Marrakech the last thing you'll be doing is staying in your room.
2. The breakfast buffet is very very basic & unless you like eggs & are really in to pastries you'll go hungry. I would recommend taking a little bit of extra cash & eating out in one of the cafes/restaurants that are a stones throw away from the hotel.
3. The pool; if you go in January as we did do not expect a pleasant swimming experience as the pool is freezing & in a very shady area of the hotel. However, come summer time I can see the pool area being a nice little place to sit & chill out.
Also, please note that prayer is announced through giant & very loud speakers that can be heard across the city so, expect an early rise & shine at some point unless you're a very very deep sleeper. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so loud & when you're minding your own business in the land of nod it can come as a bit of a shock to the system if you don't know what it is at first.
Now the positives: The hotel is by far the best in terms of it's positioning to central Marrakech than any other hotel as, it is slightly off of & away from the busy main strip yet just a few steps around the corner when you're ready to brave the Moroccan driving madness (I'll explain in detail later).
The tour bus is located right outside the hotel & is the first stop on a tour of the entire inner & outer city of Marrakech & is most definitely worth the money. Me & hubby went for 2 days & bought a 48 hour hop on hop off ticket for 170 dirham per person (£12 each). This is by far cheaper than a taxi (& much safer than being on foot) & will take you all over Marrakech including the Koutoubia mosque & the famous Place Jemaa El Fna souk where, you'll get to see the real Morocco, haggle with the locals & buy some really cheap goodies. Hubby bartered his way to a real bargain & brought a real leather briefcase/satchel for 230 dirham =£17(usually you'd pay about £50 for it in the UK). It's also a great place to buy various types of fabrics, spices, teas etc for a really good price if you haggle. Never ever pay the first price offered; the traders expect & enjoy being haggled with. Start off as low as half the asking price but pay no more than a third of the original price. Unlike some other countries we've visited where market traders will follow you up the street & try to drag you into their shops, the nice thing about Marrakech is that if you don't want to haggle or buy from a trader as long as you are polite in saying 'no', they will leave you alone. The bus tour is guided with free headphones & the bus itself is safe, well maintained & modern with an open top (very much like a London tour bus) & is split in to 2 tours of the inner town & outer town.
The inner town tour of Marrakech (the historic tour) takes you to the above named places as well as other sites/destinations of significance & if you want to stop off along the route, no matter where you stop you'll also be close or within a short walk to a cafe/restaurant where you can pick up a meal, drinks for a very reasonable price. In fact, Marrakech is one of the only holidays we've been on where we actually came back with money.
The outer part of the tour (the Oasis tour) is a nice bus ride taking you out to the palm groves & alongside the Gueliz mountains (not to be mistaken for the atlas mountains which are much bigger & best viewed on the historic tour) but too be honest it was our least favourite of the two tours & there are very few if any, places to eat or drink along the way & although the palm groves are nice, once you've seen one palm tree its safe to say you've seen them all.
The City; Marrakech is very very manic!!!! Be warned!!!! It appears that when it comes to driving it's he who dares wins!!! You'll find that cars share the roads with horses, horse & carts, donkeys, push bikes, motorised scooters, stray cats, stray dogs & very confident pedestrians who are just happy to weave in & out of the very busy traffic. It is certainly an eye opener & in the end you'll find that the best way to cross the roads is just to shut your eyes, pray, make a mad dash & hope for the best! If you don't have high blood pressure you certainly will by the time you get home. If you've got very young children keep them close or in a buggy if you're doing a lot of walking as cars, scooters etc come at you from all angles.
Restaurants to visit: for a taste of authentic Morocco from the Diwane hotel turn left then left again & on the right side of the road you'll find Al Fassia. Excellent food, nice autgentic Moroccan atmos, slightly more expensive than the other restaurants we went to but, well worth the few extra pennies for the experience & food.
Complexe Solaris Restaurant/bar: left out of the hotel & straight across the road, 5 mins walk on the corner on your left. A lovely restaurant with free internet access that do wonderful food & the best teas. Try The Al Menthe (mint tea) Vervaine tea & Jasmine....all tasty.
Elite Restaurant/Cafe; very modern, at the new end of the same road close to the main shops such as La Senza, Mango, etc. They offer delicious milk shakes & deserts & very reasonable in price.
Pasteries: this is an amazing shop!!! It is a few doors down next to the Diwane hotel itself & right opposite the tour bus stop. It looks expensive from the outside but go in & pick up a selection box full of Moroccan pastries, you think its going to cost you the earth but for a full box of these lovely dainty treats we paid £1.25. (Stick that shop in the heart of London & you'd expect to pay £7-8 pound perhaps more). A real bargain.
Overall, for our first visit to Marrakech we both had a wonderful time & I am so glad I chose to go here for my 30th birthday as I shall never forget it & hope one day to return for a milk shake & chicken Tagine.