Riad belko - Hostel

Pls don’t book this riad. This is the worst place I’ve stayed at in all of my travels. So, I booked this riad a month ago and messaged the property thru travelocity that I would like to request for an airport pick up. The property replied and confirmed. My flight arrived at 12midnight and I was looking for the sign from the drivers waiting at the arrival area and couldn’t find my name. Thank God there’s wifi even outside the airport so i called the property via whatsapp. The guy who answered said he forgot and that I should just take the taxi. Really? They confirmed and they forgot? Very irresponsible. And of course i got ripped off by the taxi drivers especially it’s almost 1am. Then I arrived in the riad and the guy took me to a mixed dormitory room together with 2 muslim women and 1 guy. Btw, I think they work there coz I didn’t see any luggages or bags. I told the guy that I booked for a double room with double bed and private bathroom and he said that there’s a problem with that room. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!

SOME of the problems we had here: 1. Wrong directions. They have two properties. One is a hostel and the other is a Riad with private rooms. When I called, they gave directions to their hostel, even though my reservation was for a private room. After being very tired out from a long flight, we had to drag our suitcases around the medina to get to the other location. 2. Bathroom condition. The sink in our private bathroom was almost totally clogged. It would drain very slowly, so if you used it for more than a few seconds, it would overflow and flood the bathroom. Also, the shower head would not stay in its holder--you would have to hold the shower head in your hand in order to take a shower. Also, the flimsy toilet seat broke. 3. Room service fail. We asked for dinner on the roof. Chicken Tajine. It was served late, taking over an hour to be prepared. Served without bread, and the portion was very small, barely enough for two people. 4. No Breakfast. We were told breakfast would be served at 8 am. We went downstairs at 8:20 am and found a young man sleeping. No breakfast and the lights were off. We had to venture out in the cold morning and search around until we find a bakery that was open. 5. The room was very small and could barely fit two people and their luggage. The beds were not comfortable. We were so upset by the experience that we left early, forfeiting one night that we had prepaid for.

We stayed at Riad Belko almost two years ago and had a positive experience which my review of that stay will evidence. However we have just returned from a 4 night stay at Belko and I am very sorry to say that the standards have gone very downhill. There was no sheet for the bed, when I asked for a sheet it was stated that we were expected to sleep under a blanket without clean sheets. We got sheets but really! Our room was not cleaned or bin emptied in 5 days. Breakfast was very basic and on the last day they had run out of most things, even milk for our coffee. Staff were generally just unprofessional, one lady was ill and sleeping on the sofas in the communal guest lounge area, the staff team were very different to before, whilst I appreciate that they are probably paid a meager salary they were mostly indifferent. I am still waiting for my change from the payment I made to cover the city taxes! I would most certainly not stay here again and would not recommend Riad Belko to anyone else, there are many places to stay in Marrakech so take your pick, but avoid this place.

I had serious problems with the Riad Belko that ruined our stay in Marrakech. Having made two reservations of a total of 3 days, finally we never stayer at the hotel. First, we arrived at the riad around 8:00 pm where they told us that they did not have any rooms available since they had overbooked the hotel, which not only happened with our reservation, but also with two other bookings. All were sent to different hotels / hostels, without any associated compensation. That same day they assured me that for the second reservation there would be no problem and that they had everything confirmed and booked to move us from one hotel to another. Having arrived the day, at 22:30 hrs they told us that there was no room again, as they had again exceeded the capacity of the hotel and that this time they did not have any hotel with availability that could receive us. Also, we were told that none of the 3 nights we booked was paid, so they they did not acknowledge our 2 reservations. We spent 1.5 hour trying to get a solution, it was already midnight and we needed an urgent solution, finding ourselves totally adrift in the middle of the night. I showed them the confirmation of the two reservations I had received from hotels.com where it clearly stated that everything was fully paid. We chose this hotel because of the good recommendations, but it was a very bad decision. A very stressful situation that ruined our stay in the city.

Wonderful staff. Friendly guests. Great breakfasts. Cozy atmosphere. Thanks Mourad and Sofiane.