Dar Les Cigognes Hotel

, Marrakech, Morocco
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Dar Les Cigognes Hotel

, Marrakech
4 star

Rooms: 11

108, rue de Berima - Marrakech - 40 000 - Morocco Hotel Website | | +212 (0)24 38 27 40
192 Traveller

Reviews - Dar Les Cigognes Hotel

10/10
Lap of luxury that won't break the bank
Submitted by: Michael in 17/09/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Adventurer
I stayed in a "riad" hotel, which is a traditional house, converted to a kind of luxurious B&B, with lot's of hotel quality services. Dar Les Cigognes is a truly beautiful place to stay, an architectural masterpiece, renovated by one of Morocco's most famous architects. It is located next to the Badi Palace and is only a short walk from the Djema El Fna, and is really in the heart of all the main touristic sites, Saadi tombs, Bahia Palace, are all no more than a 10 minute walk. I was travelling solo, and it is kind of a romantic place, with lot's of mood lighting, so when I come back, I will have to bring that special someone.
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Historical Traveller Reviews of Dar Les Cigognes Hotel

We Loved Dar Les Cigognes

from A TripAdvisor Member
My wife and I came for our second time to Marrakesh and have to say that this hotel just gets better and better. Last time we had to split our stay at another place, and only had two nights at Dar Les Cigognes, but this time we were able to book our whole stay there.

The new manager Olaf really goes out of his way to make you feel welcome, and his exotically stylish dress sense just adds to the experience. Samir, the concierge cum receptionist is a fixer extraordinaire, successfully chasing down a bag that was lost in Casablanca as we transferred through. It isn't jsut them though, all the staff really looked after us, from their smiles, to our tea, to directions, and unusual dietary requirements!

It was cold, cold, cold while we were there, but with a nice roaring fire in the room, we were nice and toasty, and really loved it. The hotel is physically stunning and incredibly well-located. The attention to design detail is great, not pretentious like at those design hotels. It is clearly a labor of love from the owners, who are a gas and a half.

Since we had come last, they had installed wifi which worked fairly well (they say they are getting more powerful antennas), and they have put phones in the rooms. The phones are great as you used to have to go to reception if you wanted room service, or just to have a beer on the terrace, but now you can just call.

We've stayed at other places in Marrakesh, and travelled a lot, and we still think that for the money, this is as good as it gets. We were picked up at the airport by a chauffeur, very nice. Apparently, though we didn't, you can book him for trips and things. But the car is nice, 4wd thing.

One other comment said it best, the place feels like a house, and that is the best thing about it. There are plenty of staff around if you need something, and are always willing to do things if you ask, but are also not hovering around and pestering you all the time like you find at "5-star resorts"

The whole ryad thing is cool, and Dar Les Cigognes has struck a beautiful balance between house, b&b, and boutique hotel. We will definitely be back.

Failed to live up to billing

from kris70
Apparently went in the high season. Very overpriced for a hotel with no proper heating in winter.More than one client had problems with water leaking into the room when it rained.It is not warm in Marrakech in winter and the hotel should be better equiped to deal with this. Rooms with fires that were lite much to0 late in day & then failed to stay alight!

Towels disappear in morning and don't reappear until the evening, if at all, so some of our party had no towels at all at times.

B'fast cake & pancakes every day, very boring!!

Staff helpful when asked to get a taxi etc

My recommendation no good in winter time. Might be better when warmer but then no pool.

Rooms have no natural light either.

Not as good as it should be

from GibbsM
The Riad is beautiful. And, as others have said, the staff are generally very helpful. The location is good and the roof terrace is a lovely place to spend a relaxing evening watching the sunset.

However this is an expensive hotel by Marrakech standards and it does not live up to the price tag. Our room (the Silver Room) looked beautiful but it also over-looked the very busy and very noisy road next to the Riad. No double glazing here. The room was very very dark and there were no modern facilities. No TV, no coffee making facilities. On our first day there was torrential rain and water started pouring through the skylight of the bathroom. OK - unlucky but this shouldn't happen in an expensive hotel.

I could have got over all of this but two things really let the hotel down. One was the "swimming pool". The hotel had an arrangement with a place a few miles out of Marrakech to use their pool. But this place has changed its name and we were charged a lot to use something we thought was going to be free. Also the hotel didn't mention any of this to us until we got back. Secondly and most importantly was the food. It was dreadful. For £20 per person you can get an amazing meal in Marrakech. But in Dar Les Cignoges you have a very limited choice of tagines which contain very poor cuts of meat and you have to order an hour in advance. This is simply not acceptable even in a Riad. If they want to be relaxed and more like a lodging house then they need to charge much less. Otherwise they must significantly raise their standard to compete with other hotels.

OK, but...

from A TripAdvisor Member
Stayed for 3 nights, first disappointment was that although we'd been promised a specific room when booking when we arrived we were given a different room, worse still the manager was adamant that you couldn't book a named room and tried to tell us that we were mistaken. He didn't seem to understand that it wasn't that we didn't like the room we were in, but that they had sold us one thing and given us another.

Room itself (Berber room) was bitterly cold through the first night as they were somewhat mean with the logs for the fire. Only on our third day we found out that the air-con unit was also a heater. No apology from the hotel for it not being switched on before our arrival.

Staff are very friendly, and the raid itself is wonderful. Take a breakfast on the terrace and enjoy the sun. If we had been given what we were promised and it had been warm then I'd have given 4, maybe even 5* but to me boutique hotels are about making sure the guest is totally looked after and this didn't happen for us

Storks on the terrace

from A TripAdvisor Member
We received a warm welcome at the hotel and were served delicious mint tea and Moroccan pastries on arrival. Loved the log fire in our room and the bed was so comfortable. Staff extremely friendly as was Olaf the Manager for whom nothing was too much trouble. Lovely terrace with fantastic views of storks nesting and flying back and forth. Close to the souks and the Palace.

Lovely Riad

from goco
We stayed 4 nights at Dar Les Cigognes and couldn't fault our experience. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. Our room (the Orientalist Suite) was fantastic and we enjoyed the roaring fire on the (surprisingly) chilly nights. We ate dinner at the hotel which was again a very high standard. The Hamman experience at the riad is also highly recommended. All and all, we found this riad to be a welcome oasis from the chaos that awaits you in the Marrakech souks. It is a shame some of the other reviewers have had bad experiences (some without actually having visited), because we could not have wished for a more pleasant stay.

Not what we expected

from A TripAdvisor Member
Although the management tries very hard to be warm and welcoming, the room standards are dissapointing. We ran out of hot water for our morning showers, the room was very dark, and the closet was cramped and awkward, making it impossible for us to unpack and settle in. No television, no internet. The bed and linen was perfect. But altogether, for the price you can easily get it all elsewhere.

Great for stork watching!

from jubeeTunbridgeWells
This is a lovely place to stay. It is not really like staying in an hotel - staying in a riad is an experience in itself. We loved the architecture of the riads we visited in Marrakech (apart from staying here we went to several lovely restaurants in riads). However, this one might be one of the few where you can watch storks from the roof terrace. This was surprisingly fascinating (perhaps because they were so close). We thought Dar Les Cigognes was excellent value for money and very stylish and comfortable. The staff were all lovely and mostly spoke good English. We would recommend booking a guide for your first day in Marrakech as it is so easy to get lost (we did!). The guide we booked through the hotel for our second day was worth every penny - we saw so much more than we would have done on our own and his helpful explanations helped bring this fascinating place to life for us.

Disappointing...

from Rooroocat
I was very much looking forward to my stay in this riad. The riad itself is beautiful and the staff are generally charming. However our stay did not get off to a good start. On arriving we discovered we did not get the room we had originally booked (the kings suite). No explanation or apology was offered and we were told to wait until the manager arrived at 9am the next morning to sort it out. By 9am the next morning, the manager had not yet arrived & we were advised to wait 1/2 an hour. After waiting one hour we were then advised the manager was at the bank but would not be too long!!! This in my opinion is poor service for a so called 'boutique hotel'. Finally by 11am the manager arrived & admitted they were having problems with their booking system but advised me she had sent me an email prior to my arrival advising the room I had requested had been double booked and offering an alternative room - I did not receive this email. We expressed our upset at the situation and the manager did apologise. We requested a reduced room rate to compensate for the hassle and this was agreed although it would have been better service if the manager had offered this to us first. On our final evening, when checking out, their payment system would not accept either of our visa cards! They admitted they were having problems with their computer connection but insisted it was both our banks refusing to athorise payment and not a problem with the system. Finally in a complete panic we ended up having to go out late at night, in the rain, to find an ATM machine and had no problem withdrawing money from our visa cards...On arriving home I immediately contacted my bank who advised there was no reason why my visa was rejected, convincing me the problem was indeed with the raid's payment system & not my visa card! I had a fantastic time in Marrakesh and intend to return next year but would not stay in this riad again. If they want to advertise as a boutique hotel them they have to improve the overall customer care / service.
Management Response from Management_234
We apologize unreservedly for an apparent lapse in the quality of service we seek to provide. While it isn't an excuse, this incident occurred during a period between the departure of one GM and before the start of another.

The client was advised that the room they had requested was not available, and was subsequently given a substantial discount since they were upset by this.

Our credit card processing system is the same one that every establishment in Morocco uses to process credit cards--it is a state-owned enterprise, with all that entails. On rare occasions, their system goes down, and they unfortunately do not offer a paper backup. We are truly grateful that the client went out and obtained cash in the rain, but in the end, they would have had to settle their bill before departure.

This should have been handled better by our staff. We do hope that this guest will come back and that other guests will not be deterred by these complaints.

beautiful tranquil oasis

from highbury
I booked Dar Les Cigoignes, for a special mini break for my husband and I to escape from our young children, solely from the trip advisor recommendations. It was everything I hoped for and more. It looks just like the pictures on the Dar Les Cigoignes website, so if you like the look of it, go for it! The rooms were all designed with care, very clean and not at all bog-standard. The deluxe rooms are markedly bigger than the superior rooms, but all are very interesting and different from each other. The rooms all open onto balconies which surround a central courtyard with a fountain and plants. At the top of the hotel is the roof terrace which has very comfy wicker furniture, a mass of colourful plants and views of the storks nesting on the walls of the old palace. Literally a perfect spot to have breakfast, have a drink , read your book or just hang out.
Breakfast is sensational, local pastries, loads of jams etc and fruit.
None of the rooms lock, although there is a safe in every room, this really emphasised the feeling I got from the riad; completely relaxed and safe. I have travelled alot, and stayed in many lovely hotels, but I must say this riad had a real soul to it, if that doesn't sound too pretentious.
The staff, in particular Asma, were fantastic. I do echo a previous reviewer saying not to follow their directions, or indeed, believe the hotel photocopied map! But their recommendations are good.
The swimming pool at the Sunset Club is utterly ridiculous. You have to pay different amounts depending on which style of pool lounger you want to lie on, up to $60 per day! I usually like people watching, but this place seemed very empty of soul (the complete opposite to the riad). There is a girl at the pool who does massages which was the best massage I have ever had, but having chatted to her I think she's only likely to stay there for another month or two (she was better than the masseur at the hotel).
All in all, I can't recommend Dar Les Cigoignes enough.

Top Local Tips for Marrakech

This issue of not taking money into Morroco Due to the security issues in Morroco - freud is rife. I had to call Barclays a gillion times to get some cash out ........ as they block your card to stop anyone using it until you have called them up. Thankfully my husband was in the uk so could get the telephone numbers etc. but I could have gone mad and been penniless ............. so grab a few hundred pounds - although not allowed - at the airport or you could starve until you get an ATM to work

Dress like a Local The souks and markets in Marrakesh have a lot of hecklers who primarily hassle tourists. Do your best to dress respectfully and try to appear as local as possible. If they think you are local, they will not hassle you. Women can buy a Djellaba to fit in, while men can dress in a more modern fashion.

Guides Make sure that you get a really good guide - maybe through the accm as they will want you to be happy!! Also lay down some grounds rules with the guide at the start about where you are going and which (if any) shops you are interested in seeing. Some guides are only interested in taking you to the Medina for shopping there is so much more to see and explore and if you make your expectations clear at the start your guide will be less inclined to take you to places you have no interest in

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Other names for Dar Les Cigognes Hotel

  • dar les cigognes marrakech
  • dar les cigognes hotel marrakech
  • Address: 108, rue de Berima - Marrakech - 40 000 - Morocco
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