We agree with the last poster.We have visited the Mariam Hotel from Australia on 2 occasions and have found Charlie and Nadia the perfect host.The hotel is wonderful since their recent new improvements including a great pool.

The best place to base yourself in Jordan to see this wonderful country

The Mariam hotel is a great place to relax, as a photojournalist I choose the Mariam hotel to go to if I have to be in Jordan. Because I know the service is excellent, the beds are good and the rooms are clean. If you want to have information about the surroundings or the Middle East and its history ask Charl Twal (the boss).
I choose Madaba over Amman because it is not so crowded and close to the airport.
Another plus: the swimming pool!

Regards,

Raoul Kramer

Clean, comfortable room, met lots of friendly people, great tours, and a beautiful pool. The staff was hit or miss, some were friendly, but I have to agree with others, Karl wasn't very friendly; he seemed annoyed we were even there. The food was also pretty disappointing, the breakfast was okay, but the dinner food was pretty horrible. I would definitely stay here again, but not because of the staff.

An average hotel in a quiet location in Madaba.
The swimming pool is a definite bonus on a hot day!
Rooms are clean and well appointed but a but small.
The en-suite shower room is a wet room (i.e water drains onto floor) and hence in hot weather the whole place can get a bit stuffy, and unfortunately the fan may be insufficient for a good night's sleep.

The Mariam is a very nice little Hotel to stay in.
Clean rooms and friendly and helpful staff.
A nice and clean pool with enclosed restaurant.
When we come back to Jordan again we will stay there again.

We were really surprised how great this hotel was. The manager was very helpful and we were able to book taxis from the hotel for now problem. I liked the location and any question that we had was answered with maps and lots of information.

really a great base to explore the dead sea, bethany and mt nebo.

We stayed in the hotel for 4 nights over the Xmas period. The location in Madaba is convenient for the Dead Sea,Mt Nebo and also the airport.
The hotel was good value at 24JD for a double room. The room was adequate in terms of furnishings but was a little cold. We were in room 21 and it wasn't noisy. It took us 5 minutes to get into the centre of town and there is atakeaway chicken place with a room next door to eat in a minute from the hotel.
We found Chral helpful when it came to arranging transport but not overly friendly. He wasn't rude but he was quite reserved and didn't offer us any particular advice.
But I would recommend this hotel nonetheless.

I was only going to stay five nights, but decided to stay a full week after discovering how great the place was, even though the owner, Charl, tried to talk me out of it, despite the fact that it would cost him business.

Charl is a great guy, and a mine of unbiased information. He'll not just tell you about the best ways of seeing the country, but I also talked to him at length about the politics and culture of Jordan and the Middle East in general. I've studied this subject in depth, and even given a few lectures at university on the subject, and even though I might not agree with his opinion, he is certainly knowledgeable. As a Christian Arab, it is also a very interesting and rarely heard perspective.

He cares passionately about his business too, and you can see that in the quality of care shown in the hotel, and the way the hotel has been adapted to the needs of modern travellers. It had everything I could possibly need for an enjoyable holiday in Jordan: free wifi internet for my laptop, cable TV, a good restaurant and bar, and a pick up point for all my tours, which Charl and his wife gladly arranged for me.

The tours are run by local taxi services which Charl personally vets to ensure your enjoyment. He solicits feedback on them, just as keenly as he does his own hotel, because their services reflect back on him. He claims to not take money out of them, and I can believe that when he would often insist I take public transport to places instead of a taxi.

The hotel is extremely clean, and the staff are all incredibly friendly and helpful. The staff insisted on bringing my beer to my room on a silver tray, with an ice cold glass, and a big smile, even though I was perfectly happy to get it myself. The restaurant serves good food, and they were happy to modify the dishes to my unusual tastes (vegetarian). The home made lentil soup was particularly good.

There isn't much in the way of bad things to note, but to be fair I should point out that some of the rooms are a bit noisy. I'd suggest avoiding my room, number 12, as this is on the ground floor, near the busy road outside, and next to the foyer and one of the corridor to the restaurant. I think the best rooms are probably those that overlook the swimming pool at the back.

The furniture and decor is homely, spartan and comfortable rather than fashionable and brand new. Some of the furniture is a bit scuffed, but nothing is broken and everything functions as it should.

The location of the hotel in Madaba is a little out of the center, perhaps a five minute walk.

We went to the Mariam after reading good reviews on this forum.
The hotel is cheap and good value for what you pay.
However I have to say I cannot agree with the comments about the owner.
When we arrived we tried to find out about things to do in the local area. He was actually quite ignorant towards us and we felt like we were not welcome. He couldn't manage more than a scowl, this was not the " Super Friendly Charl" that we had read about.
I also asked to use the safe for some expensive camera gear. I was told bluntly " No Room", and when I asked if there was an alternative place to store it the answer came via a shrug of the shoulders.
Despite this the other staff around the hotel were generally friendly and helpful despite spending all their spare time leering at my girlfriend. This is just something western women visiting Jordan will just have to tolerate.

On the whole its a decent budget hotel, it would be a good hotel if Charl made you feel welcome.

Just returned from 2 nights at the Mariam and found the hotel to be a good place to stay not too far from the airport. Although the hotel isn't located in the most scenic of spots, the staff are friendly, the rooms were clean and the hotel was great value. We explored Mt Nebo and Madaba for a day and found the hotel to be a good base to do this. OK it's not 5 star luxury, but for what you pay per night I didn't find any other hotel in Jordan which offered such good value.