Riad Gaya

The hotel is quite difficult to find, but once you find it it's nice enough. The hotel (riad) has a lot of potential, but the staff seemed constantly surprised about having guests. Our arrival was a cause for confusion, as well as ordering an early (7.30) breakfast for the first morning. There was no breakfast waiting for us, and no staff to be found. The next morning there were other guests eating breakfast, but when we asked if we could eat too there was none to be had. For the third (and last) morning we ordered breakfast in advance for 9 o'clock, and, luckily, we ended up having a very nice breakfast at 9 o'clock. All in all, the room was nice, the hotel was nice, the location a bit inconvenient (close to the souks, though!), and the staff very friendly but a bit disoriented.

It's a real struggle to find this place and you WILL be accompanied by "faux guides" who will rush you for money whether you want them or not. The Raid is basic but that's reflected in the price. Unfortunately, the attitude of the management seems to be that guests are there to work around rather than to be made comfortable. We went away for just one night to the mountains and came back to find that the whole of the ground floor had been taken up, leaving the place a dirty, cement filled building site with exposed pipes, buckets and bags of cement everywhere which we had to walk across to get to our room. When I remonstrated with Imaad, the manager, he was rude and dismissive and argued with me, claiming that he had told us the work was going to happen (he hadn't), that works of this kind were perfectly normal in Morocco even with guests staying (they aren't) and that he'd put us into an upstairs family room when we first arrived as "a gift" to us. It turned out that he'd had to move our room as the one we'd originally booked had no running water! I really didn't regard this as a gift! We left 2 days early having paid for a week in advance and we are still in dispute about reimbursement for those two days.

Låg damm runt hela rummet, obytta lakan, trasig toalettsits, och ingen värme på rummet. Jag åkte hit i januari så det var sex grader kallt, med ett täcke tjockt som ett lakan och ingen värmekälla så lyckades jag bara sova ett par timmar på hela natten.. Rekomenderar inte denna Riad!!

Although the service was good, the room I stayed in could use an upgrade. I was told I was staying in the economy room, which does not have an in-room toilet nor television. Other than that, the managers were there when you needed them. They helped me organize my tour to the Sahara and local attractions. The hotel is about a 10 minute walk to the big square. However be sure you know where you are going. Some of the locals will "act" as if they are helping you with directions but will charge you for their services once you arrive.