Villa Maroc

Wonderful hotel. Spotlessly clean, friendly attentive service, great food, fantastic atmosphere with trendy yet friendly fellow guests. After haggling with the staff at the front desk we were given the tower bedroom which looks out over square Orson Welles and has the most fantastic view of a harbour. The views of the sunset from our window were the best I've ever seen in my life and this comes from someone who's travelled extensively! All this for 10% less than the price of a standard room (about £70 B&B for two of us). Absolute... more

from the moment we arrived (after a one night stay in the very over rated villa bagdad!) we fell in love with this place; very friendly staff, cosy log fires in the evening, a stunning plant filled terrace and simple, pretty rooms. The hotel is really spacious with lots of nooks and crannies for relaxing or sunbathing. it also has an unbeatable location and great views of the beach from the roof.

We stayed in villa maroc about 2 weeks ago. We were intially booked to stay for 3 nights but stayed another 4 because we loved it so much. The hotel itself is beautiful with a large tree growing through the central courtyard and lots of birds to feed at breakfast. The food in the evenings was delicious, lovingly prepared (maybe a little under generous on the meat front) You dine in great litttle private alcoves by candlelight and low lighting. If you get one on your own it's very romantic. The staff are natural, unpretentious... more

I have the Hip Hotels Budget book, which admittedly is a couple of years old now, and based on the glowing review in this book, we booked 6 nights at Villa Maroc. On arrival, our room wasn't ready (as many other travellers have found), which we didn't mind too much but the room (a mini suite) was beginning to look a bit shabby around the edges and certainly didn't seem like it was going to be worth the money. The first night's compulsory dinner was definitely the worst meal while we had away. I think this strange custom has come about... more

We have been to Essaouira a number of times. The first time was in 1979 when we went overland in a beat-up combi and stayed on the camp site. Spent just one night at the Beau Rivage hotel which was very basic at that time (I don't know what it's like now). We went back again in 2004 and stayed at the very stylish Dar Liouba. When we decided to go back last year we first considered the Riad Al Madina. I remembered that from '79 as a hippy hang out but it is now very changed. We were put of though after having seen it in package tour brochures... more

After a trawl of the guide books I came across Villa Maroc in an exclusive travel guide. From the look of the pictures and the wonderful flowery description I decided to book the hotel, two rooms, one for me and my wife and another for my parents who were travelling with us through Morocco. We had to take two mini suites as the hotel was almost full and the mention of a Moroccan gastronomic experience left us quite excited about our forthcoming stay. Dinner is compulsory, I am not quite sure why they quote the room price excluding dinner,... more

Thank god that we - for once - did not go by the trip advisor, but relied on recommendations by friends: we spent 3 days/nights at the Villa Maroc and thoroughly enjoyed it: very discreet & warm service, great local food and a very romantic location! On top, we got great advice for touring the country. If international hotel standard is a must for you, then give Villa Maroc a miss. But if you want to feel at home in a Maroccan town house in the middle of Essaouira, where seagulls are louder than street noise, we highly recommend the Villa... more

We had a wonderful stay at Villa Maroc. The room was simple but very tasteful, and opened out onto a lovely flower filled terrace that overlooked the sea. Breakfast was included in the price and was delicious! Although you have to have an evening meal the food was once again outstanding. Evening meals are taken in one of the many candlelit rooms. Indeed, they were turning away people who wanted to eat there. This is one of the most stylish hotels we have ever stayed in.

We originally booked into Villa Maroc for 2 nights as part of a 3 day trip to Essaouira. We booked a mini-suite as thought it might be worth the extra as I had heard the rooms were small. We were in room 21 which we were really disappointed with. The rooms were very basic and our bathroom had a seriously foisty/damp smell and wasn't very clean. We mentioned this to the staff who showed us a suite that was available which wasn't much better to be honest and we were going to have to pay an even higher rate (1200 dirhams) so we checked out... more

After reading many positive articles on Villa Maroc, but no tripadvisor reviews, my fiancee and I were quite excited to be staying there for a portion of our honeymoon. Unfortunately, it ranks as one of the worst lodging experiences that I have had. Mick Jagger and other celebrities have stayed there, and I can only hope that their experiences were more positive. From the minute we arrived, the staff was extremely unfriendly and unhelpful. They bedgrudingly agreed to help us cart the luggage from our taxi, as cars are not allowed close... more