"Don’t let the outside appearance of this hotel put you off. Once through the gates you enter a place of quiet tranquility in the centre of Marrakesh!
When we arrived we were made welcome by the reception staff and then the TUI rep who gave us all the details we needed.
Our room wasn’t ready until 3pm - we arrived just after midday, but we had full use of all facilities whilst we waited.
We took the opportunity to have a walk round the hotel grounds and I have to say what a joy it was to see that the hotel champions sustainability - growing their own vegetables, fruit and herbs. We were greeted by the resident Peacock and 2 Peahens and 6 chicks, who wander around the grounds freely, again a really lovely experience to see.
There are two swimming pools with sun beds around, and then several garden areas with sun beds as well. For the first week of our stay we were able to get sun beds by the smaller pool, but by the second week the hotel became busier and guests were doing the usual annoying things of getting up at 4am to put their towels down. It didn’t matter to us though as the garden areas were quieter and had less shade so we were happy to use the sun beds there.
All staff were friendly and courteous, doing their best to ensure guests are looked after.
The rooms were adequate, cleaned daily and had good air con, which was needed as the temperature soared into the late 30’s!
The towels were of poor quality though which was a surprise as this is a TUI Blue hotel. We were also slightly disappointed with the location of our room - it seemed to be above the kitchen area or the laundry area - every morning before 6am we were woken by noise sounding like a blender, and then trolleys being pushed around. We didn’t complain or ask to be moved as we had unpacked before we knew about the noise and to be honest we just couldn’t be bothered. It is worth noting that rooms on the same corridor as room 1128 will hear this noise every morning.
Food - this was well prepared with a decent variety and choice, everything was freshly cooked and replenished frequently so there was no waiting for any length of time. Drinks were a bit hit and miss - fizzy drinks weren’t very fizzy and were regularly warm, the hotel may need to invest in a better system for soft drinks. Also water was only available by the cup from the bar, and there was no facility to help yourself to a drink which is quite limiting in an all inclusive hotel.
Entertainment was sporadic, and whilst the team could be seen around the hotel in the day time, they didn’t really promote any activities with guests and the only way to find out what was happening was to keep checking the TUI App. Again, this didn’t really bother us as we aren’t people who join in with loads of activities, but I thought it would be worth mentioning as a “heads up” to anyone who likes to get involved.
Another very small point, is the only TV channels available in English were French News Channel! Whilst we don’t spend lots of time watching TV on holiday, it would have been nice to have an option of an English non news channel to watch whilst getting ready or relaxing following a day in the sun.
Finally, a big shout out to Hamza in the Piano Bar - he was so helpful, attentive and always had a smile on his face, he is a credit to the hotel.
So, all in all we had a fantastic stay at the Medina Gardens and will definitely return here in the future."
