Hotel Ibis di Marrakech

What a gem of a property in the Accor catalog of accommodation and hospitality! I am a senior, solo, single traveler, and Ibis rooms are just fine with me! The Wi-Fi could be a little bit better, but that's the problem with the vendor and the Internet service Provider, not the Ibis. Although this Ibis would be within their rights to demand better service- in 2023, with 100+ rooms. I came directly from an Ibis in Lisbon, which had fewer items for breakfast, and no Chef for evening dinner! The breakfast is a wonderful mix of Moroccan, Arabic, French foods, but also American/English. Scrambled eggs are made without dairy, and I brought my own gluten-free bread from Carrefour to be sure. While they do have a container of Honey, I bring my own, as I don't like touching containers and spoons touched by other customers... another customer absconded with my honey yesterday, and one of the wait staff had to retrieve it! Three languages are spoken here: Moroccan, Arabic, French, and plenty of English. Any word that is too specific can be translated on any of the web translation sources. Like when I needed to explain that DHL was bringing a package with my gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that Carrefour does not stock! There's been some shuffling of the wait staff in the last few days, but besides being new, quiet, and shy, they are all talented and all understand hospitality. The evening dinner is attended to by the top echelon of the hotel staff and everything is more than fine – which in my case means a very plain and simple American taste. Since I don't carry currency, the evening food bill goes on my room tab. Breakfast was part of the booking in the first place, but I don't fully understand what ”half-board” means, if that means evening dinner, so I will be inquiring about that. Being next-door to the train station means it's a three minute walk to excellent sight seeing and people watching. And McDonald's of you so care, and at least two mobile phone SIM shops. Carrefour is a 10 minute walk, and there is a shopping mall which is about a 20 minute walk which I will be visiting for recreation purposes and window shopping, to get a feel for the retail culture of this city. And people watching! I did read about the potable water situation on a Moroccan tourism page. This Ibis has plenty of bottled water, so just ask- at Reception and of course in the Restaurant.  I also read about cash versus credit card. The three places that I have spent money at have all accepted cards. It is currently Ramadan, but this Ibis respects International tourists' needs and wants. No disruption of service- and the staff seem to be very happy to be celebrating the holiday. My room had two minor maintenance issues, which were resolved quickly. The garden is beautiful and peaceful, and well manicured. I have stayed with other brand name chain hotels in the US and Europe. There is nothing in this historic building that is outdated, or in need of renovation. The most important

The TV didn't work and it was from the nineties anyway. The room could do with some refurbishment especially in the bathroom. The room wasn't very clean and we had to wipe down some of the surfaces ourselves including in the bathroom. We initially got a room facing the motorway and we might as well have been sleeping outside due to the noise. We asked to be moved to a non smoking room - BIG MISTAKE - Yes we were moved but not only were we moved to another smoking permitted room, but the room was facing the pool. I've never been bitten by so many mosquitoes in my life. I've had to seek medical attention following my holiday. The reality of the room became clearer in the morning. There were marks of dead mosquitoes everywhere implying that previous guests had spent time getting rid of mosquitoes just to get some sleep. The toilet flushing unit wasn't working properly. I would not recommend this hotel and other reviews about insufficient serving spoons in the dining room and the poor level of cleanliness are true.