We stayed at Dar Ness for four nights and negotiated a reasonable off-season rate for a room on the second floor, which has its own small terrace area. It's a beautiful quiet place, simply and elegantly furnished - the open fire in the small lounge in the evenings was a lovely cosy touch at this time of year. We found the staff very friendly and efficient and they took the extra trouble to arrange a 6.30am breakfast for our early departure on the last day.

The riad is excellently located up a small alley off a square near the harbour and there are some excellent small shops and boutiques tucked away in the side streets further up this alley (not immediately the direction you might venture in) for a more hassle free shopping experience than the main tourist market.

Really good food seemed a little hard to find in Essaouira, particularly in the tourist orientated restaurants on the aforementioned square - avoid them at all costs. The best we found were the local eateries/cafes off the main market street for fried fish and wonderful meat & veg stews - all for about 15-20 dh. The best restaurant we found for a more leisurely authentic Moroccan dining experience was Restaurant Ferdaous (mentioned in Lonely Planet), which was excellent - strongly recommended.

Dar Ness made our stay in Essaouira a very pleasant and comfortable one.

We slept at Dar Ness only one night. I wish we could stay there longer. The house is lovely decorated and centrally located, right at the main square. It is very quiet though. There is a common living room with a fireplace which was working when we were there. I spent some hours in that room listening to classical music and reading a book, lovely. We had a very big room with all comforts. The staff is very nice and breakfast delicious. Would highly recommend it.

Our room was damp. The atmosphere is completely soulless and cold. Absolutely nothing charming about it at all. But the worst part was that we were asked for a deposit to book our room , yet when we checked out the next morning in a hurry to catch our plane home we were charged in full. Neither my husband nor I remembered but given our error as the customer-in-a-rush you'd hope that the place you were staying in had a) the organisation and b) the honesty to not make you feel like you were part of another Moroccan scam everyone's in on but you. Hotels log what payments they take so sorry i don't believe it was a "mistake" on their part. Just the trick to leave you feeling very sore on your return ....

We have stayed there for a couple of days on our honeymoon... Super place, i will come back. Very comfortable, quiet, with very very friendly stuff. Great location (not far from the bech and just near the square). It has very comfortable beds and quilt. You will sleep very very sweet) Good luck to their business)