Jaal Riad Resort

The Good: The location is good, offering easy access to the town centre within 10 minutes via taxi. The hotel is generally clean throughout, and the rooms are a decent size and well-maintained. The pool area is clean and decent sun beds. Be aware you have to pay around £15 for a pool card which entitles you to a green towel for the sun loungers, however you are not informed at check in. This refundable if you dont lose the card. The Bad: Misleading All-Inclusive Package: The dining options were highly limited and repetitive throughout the week. Furthermore, the poolside bar and eating areas have menus on the tables with no prices listed. We ordered food only to be handed a surprise bill, later being told that the all-inclusive food only starts at 2:30 PM. When available, the food is basic at best, the beer is watered down, and it is served in half-glasses. The complimentary Wi-Fi is practically non-existent, requiring you to log back in every 10 minutes just to get a few minutes of connectivity. We eventually complained to the visiting Managing Director during a walk-through. It turned out the hotel was deliberately hiding the proper login details from guests—something the MD was shocked to discover. He kindly gave us his personal password, but management's handling of this was completely unacceptable. Poor Staff & Management: The service here is miles behind industry standards. The majority of the staff actively avoid eye contact, ignore residents, and seem undertrained and unmotivated. Verdict: This hotel has the potential to be great, but it is currently functioning as a 3-star property, not the 5-star experience it claims to be. Management desperately needs to visit other successful establishments to learn how to properly run a resort and treat paying guests. I would highly recommend DO NOT visit this establishment. Be aware regarding local currency, try to spend all be your departure, as this is not excepted at the airport, except for local Moroccan goods. All duty free is card or Euros cash only.

Jaal Riad Resort Review: Impressive First Impressions but Falls Short of Its Five-Star Claim The Positives Our holiday began smoothly with the airport transfer service. We chose the coach transfer option, which was efficient, punctual, and well organised. Communication was excellent throughout, both via text messages and through the representatives at the airport, ensuring we had all the information we needed. Upon arrival at Jaal Riad Resort in the early evening, our first impressions were very positive. The reception area and communal spaces were spacious, elegant, and well maintained, creating an immediate sense of luxury. Check-in was relatively straightforward, although there was a minor issue connecting to the Wi-Fi in order to access and forward our hotel voucher from the Jet2 app. The hotel's location is another significant advantage. Situated approximately 5 km from Marrakech city centre, it is only a short ten-minute taxi ride away. The distance is also walkable for those who enjoy exploring on foot, which we did on a couple of occasions. The pool area was one of the highlights of our stay. It was clean, well presented, and equipped with ample sun loungers and parasols, providing a relaxing environment to enjoy the Moroccan sunshine. Several members of staff also deserve recognition for their excellent customer service. The team at the dining room entrance consistently welcomed guests warmly and professionally, while K Christ, who regularly served our table, provided attentive, friendly, and exemplary service throughout our stay. Areas for Improvement While there were several positives, a number of aspects fell well below what would reasonably be expected of a hotel marketing itself as a five-star resort. The most immediate issue occurred on arrival. After check-in, the concierge escorted us to our room, only for us to discover that it was already occupied by other guests. Although the concierge promptly arranged an alternative room, it was disappointing that neither reception nor management offered an apology for what was a significant oversight and potential security concern. Our reassigned room was spacious, comfortable, and serviced daily. However, it would have benefited from a more thorough deep clean. In addition, the tea-making facilities were incomplete, with tea provided but no coffee or milk available. We ultimately purchased these items from a nearby supermarket. Dining proved to be one of the more disappointing elements of our stay. While we appreciate the challenges involved in catering to a broad range of tastes within a buffet-style service, the menu became repetitive after only a few days. Furthermore, food was consistently served lukewarm regardless of when we dined, even after adjusting our dining times in the hope of improving the experience. The food service at the pool bar also raised concerns. Hot food was frequently left uncovered on serving counters, attracting birds that helped themselves to the food while staff appeared largely unconcerned by the issue. This fell significantly short of expected hygiene standards. Guests should also be aware of the pool towel system. Towels are obtained through a token scheme that requires a deposit at reception. While charging a deposit at an all-inclusive, purportedly five-star resort is questionable in itself, our experience was made worse by difficulties recovering the deposit at the end of our stay, despite attempts to resolve the matter with management. For this reason, I would strongly recommend paying any required deposit by card rather than cash. All-Inclusive Plus Package The biggest disappointment of our stay was the All-Inclusive Plus package. We upgraded specifically for access to advertised international branded spirits and premium drinks, having previously found local alternatives underwhelming on other holidays. Unfortunately, the reality did not justify the additional cost. The selection of branded spirits was extremely limited, and from our observations, guests on the standard all-inclusive package often appeared to receive the same drinks. As a result, we found very little value in the upgrade and would not recommend paying extra for the Plus package. Overall Verdict We enjoyed a relaxing holiday and there are certainly aspects of Jaal Riad Resort that deserve praise, particularly its location, pool area, and the professionalism of several staff members. However, the resort consistently fell short of the standards expected from a genuine five-star hotel. While it presents itself well and offers comfortable accommodation, shortcomings in room allocation procedures, food quality, service consistency, and the value of premium package upgrades mean that it does not currently deliver the luxury experience it advertises. For these reasons, I would consider it a mediocre four-star resort rather than the five-star destination it claims to be. Rating: 3.5/5 – An enjoyable stay overall, but not the five-star experience advertised.

We had a really nice holiday the hotel is beautiful, the lovely staff keep it very clean, the pool is good a little cold when you first get in, the whole ambience of the hotel is really relaxed and chilled with lots of different areas to choose to relax in, the one thing that let's it down unfortunately is the food a lot of the time it is cold and a bit repetitive, and they need to invest in some new utensils for service instead of for instance a fork to pick up green beans or a dessert spoon to pick up lettuce leaves or sliced onions but saying that we did always find something to eat, the curry section was very good, I wouldn't recommend the al a carte restaurants unless your prepared to pay extra in supplements, but all in all we did enjoy our stay