As I had stayed in Essaouira on three previous occasions, I was quite happy this time not to choose a hotel located within the resort’s atmospheric medina where standards can be quite variable. I plumped instead for the safer option of a chain hotel where you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get.
I’ve always been impressed with the Ibis brand which offers clean, modern, well-equipped rooms at an affordable price. And I have no complaints about my room in Essaouira which included a very comfortable queen-size bed with crisp linen; plus a self-contained shower unit and satellite television.
It was in the public areas that the hotel let itself down. Despite being up and running for three years, the place felt dead; as if it had only opened its doors the previous week. With the notable exception of Hussein who worked on reception and was always smiley and friendly and seemed passionate about welcoming and helping guests, most of the other staff came across as surly and unmotivated. It’s amazing what impact an individual member of staff can have in influencing your perception of a hotel and whether you enjoy your stay or not. Hussein was excellent and some of his colleagues would do well to take a leaf out of his book. A typical example would be the young man overseeing breakfast on one of the mornings I was there. I was the only guest in the dining room and yet he offered no greeting and ignored me the whole time I was there except when I got up to leave. He then came rushing after me to ask for my room number as if that was so much more important than making a guest feel welcome. Breakfast was available for a supplement of 59 dirhams (roughly UK£5) which doesn’t sound a lot but is quite expensive compared with what is available at cafes in the medina. At dinner, the hotel faces the same problem: its menu is overpriced compared with external restaurants which are also generally livelier. The hotel dining room looked empty most of the time I was there.
The biggest disadvantage of the Ibis for many potential guests will be its location at the far end of town, alongside a not fully made-up road (although that looked as if it was about to change.) One also needs to be somewhat sceptical of the claim on the hotel’s website that it’s located a 20-minute walk from the tourist heart of Essaouira – focused on its bustling harbour and medina. One imagines the hotel’s management hasn’t physically walked the route themselves. I did, on eight occasions, and would argue you need to allow half-an-hour. Or it’s a 5-7 minute taxi ride with an official fare of just seven dirhams (less than 60 pence in UK money). However, taxis into town can be quite difficult to hail on the street – particularly at night.