RYAD LES CIGOGNES

The impression I had upon entering the riad was magnificent, and I was sincerely convinced I would have a wonderful time. The location near the Jewish quarter is interesting, the service staff very kind and the overall atmosphere is charming. There were several minor disservices, which I would have left on the back burner, but the experience totally changed because of one extremely unpleasant incident, and handled even worse by the management.

No one thinks everything can be perfect in a hotel (my family runs a 5-star hotel in Rome, Italy): the waiters can be irritably slow and inadequate (and so they were in the breakfast), a dish can come out badly from the restaurant kitchen (and so it was during our dinner in Dar Les Cigognes), ants and other critters can get into the rooms (and so it was in the bathroom of the nice room), the air conditioning can be terribly noisy (and it was) but it is the kind of response you give to any problem that makes a management professional or not.

We had 2 connecting rooms, one for us, one for our daughters. The doors to our respective rooms at night were left open for control, since outside each double room the riad has beautiful Moroccan-style wooden doors. During the night, someone managed to slip the hook of the wooden door and enter our room. I personally noticed this by waking up to a loud noise and calling my daughters' names as I thought they were up. In the dark, everything seemed to be all right and I went back to sleep. When we woke up in the morning, we discovered that the bag left on the armchair was open with the bills prominently displayed. At the count, about €400 and 1,000 dirhams were missing. I carefully avoid dwelling on this what it means for the safety of the guests (including 2 little girls), but I want to focus on the response we received to our quiet complaint the next morning. Nothing.

I mean, a few polite words, a willingness to call the police, and much disbelief, as if to signify that the owner's thinking was that we had made it all up. We chose not to call the police, because we know well how it works in these cases (unfortunately also in Italy): so many questions, a lost day (out of 4 days of vacation would have meant adding more problems to a problem) the impossibility (in the absence of cameras) of being able to do anything else.

Neither my wife nor I lost our patience or raised our voices (although perhaps we would have needed to), nor did we ask with compensation of any kind. We relied on the sensitivity of the property, which usually in such cases, in the impossibility of ascertaining the theft, nevertheless should show "closeness," "regret," even where it did not believe a word of what was reported. Those who run a hotel know very well how to frame their customers: there are professional complainers, as well as people who invent nonexistent inefficiencies or have made an art of petty scams.

But we were inexplicably treated as impostors. The owner decided not to show up the next day, the day of checkout, nor had she given instructions to send us a fruit basket, an apology note, pay for our airport transfer, or give us a small discount on the rate.

Nothing would have compensated for the unpleasant feeling of insecurity and the amount taken away, but it would have made us feel like guests at least understood and pampered as a management worthy of the name should do.

Patience, it will not be 500€ less that will spoil the beauty of our memories of Marrakech, but the 1-star review you deserve all of it, and the other guests should also know that this is the consideration you have of a decent family with children, who had preferred to rely on your professionalism instead of insistently asking for compensation. Getting it wrong.

Ah, of course I expect an apology from management the day some other guest complains of room theft by the same procedure. Because it will happen.

endroit exeptionnel calme juste le bruit des cigognes très agréables.a deux pas du centre très facile d'accès.petit déjeuner copieux les chambres très confortables.

Accueil irréprochable
Dejeuner copieux et savoureux
Les chambres sont toutes plus belles et originales les unes que les autres.
Riad avec piscine à 5 minutes à pied de la place jema el f'na, ... que demander de plus!! Et en plus ce n'est pas pour rien qu'il porte ce nom : on peut en effet admirer de nombreuses cigognes qui ont fait leur nid tout pres