We arrived at Riad Nabila in the night-time fresh off a train journey from Casablanca. Our taxi was accompanied by scores of young boys on the street as our driver asked for directions to find the hotel in a narrow alley. After we managed to extricate ourselves from the young boys, we were greeted by Kareem and were very pleasantly surprised by the calmness and beauty of the interior of Riad Nabila. The reception area overlooks the courtyard with a lovely pool in the center surrounded by trees, a couple of lounging rooms and the dining room. Our room on the second floor was tastefully decorated with lovely furnishings and lamps. The room was impeccably cleaned everyday. Breakfast was decent and served in the lovely dining room. Caveat: a request for a second portion of bread at breakfast was surprisingly turned down. :) The location of the riad is a little inconvenient. It will take anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour to get to/from Jemaa El Fna depending on time of day and how well mis-directed you are on that day. :) Service at the hotel was generally very good, with one exception. On the night before we were scheduled to leave, we asked the hotel to call us a taxi for 7:30 A.M. the next morning to take us to the bus station. The taxi never arrived and the hotel staff seemed unable/unwilling to call us an alternate taxi to help us make our scheduled bus. So, we spent another couple of hours at the hotel, walked 20 minutes and found a taxi to take us to catch a later bus.

after reading reviews hours and hours on various riads , we decided to bite the bullet and go for Riad Nabila, it was a decision of which we have NO regrets.
- it looks as good as the photos , its peaceful calm and tranquil after the hussle and bussle of the medina .
- all rooms are a good size we stayed in the corail room and were not disappointed, the rooms have an old town morrocan charm about them , no mini toileteries ,hairdryer ,tv or coffee machines but we would stay here over a five star hotel anytime..(bathrooms are not open planned !)
- staff are friendly , helpful but as we found across marrakech english is not widely spoken , mainly Arabic and french which was not a problem for us.
- staff are very accomodating and made us omelettes and chai for us for the lovely breakfast , although not on the menu. Did not try the food served at the Riad which needs to be booked in advance.
- intially we worried about the location of the Riad due to the distance to the jama al fana , it does take approximately 15 mins walk provided you dont get lost, the madina can be a maze but that is part of the fun , a mini taxi can be taken to jama for around 25 dirhams , prices do shoot up in the evening and be prepared to haggle if you dont fancy the walk.
- had no issues with beggars as mentioned in previous post , there are some elderly/invalid people who sit near the mosque on route to the jama , were not harassed and when ever we had the chance we dropped a few coins .
final point - after reading many reviews you may fall in the false belief that everyone is trying to rip you off , but as many a time we found many wonderful morrocons who's sole intention was to help us out without any strings attached.

I would recommend the riad nabila to anyone who wants a holiday in Marrakech without any of the hassles and shoddy service associated with the tourist traps. If you have ever stayed in a riad before you will automatically know that the nabila is somewhere the owners obviously take great personal pride in. I booked through luxury-riads.com because they offered a free night if you booked for 3 nights and a free airport transfer, but I really would have no objection to paying the full price for this place, it is simply worlds apart from the riads near the markets. This is not to say the markets are miles away, for two –five euros (depending on your haggling skills) you can get right in the middle of the souk complete with donkeys and hooded men!

We stayed here for a couple nights after several nights at their sister riad, riad lapis-lazuli, just down the street. Both of these properties are well-run, immaculately decorated and well kept. On top of that, the staff at both riads are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to make you feel at home. The location is just north of the "square" (Djemaa el Fna) and is a quieter section of Marrakech. There is a taxi stand just down the street with a rate of about US$2.50 to take a private taxi right to Djemaa el Fna. Don't stay in a tourist trap...stay in a place where the owners take pride in their business. Riad Nabila is highly recommended.