Riad Mandana & Spa

The riad was great. The sleeping conditions and breakfast were great. There are 2 pools, one interior and another exterior on a rooftop. They were great to cool off on the hotter days. Everyone in the Riad was very welcoming, very friendly, and very helpful, especially Oussama, which we interacted the most with.

The staff were very personably and kind, it was quiet. Roof top area was pleasant and bright.

Room a little small with poor storage. Breakfast was much the same each day but nice enough.

1. Location (most important): The location itself is central. 2. Cleanliness: everything is very clean, and the riad looks freshly painted and nicely renovated. 3. Staff: perfect. They even help carry your luggage to the taxis, which are a couple of minutes away. 4. The rooftop is very nice with lot of sofas and chairs. Clean and pleasant.

1. Location (most important): The riad is located in a dirty alley with waste and stray cats around. During the daytime it is fine, but at night it doesn’t feel very pleasant, although no incidents occurred. But is true to almost all riads. The location itself is central, but cars cannot stop directly at the hotel, so you have to walk a couple of minutes to reach taxis or other vehicles. 2. No windows and fresh air: In a riad, the windows typically open only to internal spaces, so the rooms do not get much fresh air. There is constant heat and high humidity in the room. There is air conditioning, but it only helps to a certain extent. 3. Wi-fi signal is very poor in the room.

The architecture was really beautiful, and the two pools were visually pleasing but impractical. The manager was really lovely, although we had a language barrier he really was fantastic and you can tell he's a lovely person who is trying to do the best for the customer at all times. The new staff member was also very warm. The other two staff members annoyed me a bit, they were mostly very polite but their attitudes were inconsistent and exhausting.

The owner forced me to pay extra for a room without mould/damp, which really annoyed me. I'd booked the basic standard double (104 I think) and there was substantial water ingress which had turned to damp/mould. It's took repeated conversations to get this taken seriously - I had not flown to Morocco from England to celebrate my 40th birthday in a mouldy and unsafe environment for £500!! I was moved to a larger room and told this was the only alternative and that I had to pay an additional €100, which I begrudgingly agreed to. I later realised I'd been had, as I was among a small number of other guests and apart from us the Riad was unbooked- so why force me to pay more for a room - surely you could have put me in a like for like room and honour my original reservation. I had a massage at the riad - the massage therapist was not appropriately trained and failed to check contraindications or do a consultation prior to the massage. The room was freezing cold, someone walked into the room mid way, and the door was loudly slammed shut. At the end of the massage the therapist left the room without saying a word - I wasn't sure if the massage was over or if she was just nipping out. There's wasn't a clock and no cues had been given. It's was an awful massage - the worst I've had. I am also an ex sports massage therapist and have had many massages from trainees in the past, and this massage therapist was by far the worst. The terrace was advertised as open for breakfast and dinners - but when I got to the riad this was apparently not the case. They did however make an exception for me for the entirety of my stay, but this wasn't communicated with all staff members and caused awkward and stressful repeated conversations. The riad was also advertised as serving alcohol - this was also incorrect. But they did allow us to share our own bottle of champagne on the roof terrace on our last night.