"Safe, secure, clean and in a PRIME locaiton!!"
This is my first Review for a hotel, but I would just like to say that I had an amazing time in Marrakech. After reading all of the reviews I really was expecting the worst. When we arrived we didnt have any problems checking in, they did take our passport for what they said would be 10 minutes, we came back down in 10 mins and collected our passports without any problems. The room was very basic, and the bathroom wasn't great, but the rooms were cleaned and towels were changed every day. The shower was lovely and the bed was very comfortable. Everything worked fine (such as A/C.)
This is a 2 star hotel and I feel that the rooms reflected that. If you are not used to 2 stars or basic accommodation and want to spend lots of time in the hotel room, then simply don't stay here, but if you want somewhere safe, secure and clean to rest your head in a prime location then this is the place for you.
Even though it wasnt stated when booking, Breakfast was included. As everyone has mentioned The location is perfect. I would DEFINITELY stay here again and plan to do so soon. The staff were very friendly too.
Word of advice: DO NOT book any excursions through the hotel as they work out to be very expensive in comparison to other local organisations. we planned to book a 1 night 2 day excursion to the Sahara dessert, the hotel charged 1800 dirham, but we found somewhere
else charging 650 dirham....Check out Sahara Expeditions which isnt too far from the hotel.
Hope this information helps.
Rating:
"Great Location"
Stayed at the Islane from 3rd to 7th Feb and had a great time. We were a bit apprehensive about the hotel as we got it for such a good price £22 per room per night which included breakfast! (on the terrace overlooking the koutoubia mosque!)
It was in such a great location, about 2 minutes walk from the main square and right opposite the koutoubia mosque!
The hotel was clean, and the rooms were cleaned every day, and the staff were always friendly.
We ate at the pizzeria venezia (same place where breakfast is served) and at Porto Fino (which is attached to the hotel) and both were really good!
I would definately reccommend this hotel!
Rating:
"fab location"
Marrakesh was a fab place - full on - but such an experience!
Hotel Islane doesn't look great from the outside, but when you go inside it's totally different - the stairs and walls are marble, the hall way ceilings are amazing - really intricate designs carved into stone, and the view from the restaurant was great, you can see all the chaos on the road and the koutoubia mosque (which has a beautiful haunting call to prayer played loudly on speakers).
The djema al fna is a very short walk away, and the entrances to the souks are there too, along with lots of restaurants. (would reccomend la marrakechi - looks very expensive but still so cheap!) If you want to escape the madness of the square you can go up to the balconies of lots of the restaurants just to have a drink (we're hooked on their mint tea).
Would recommend the lonley planet book on marrakesh - helped us a lot!
The shop owners and snake charmers etc come accross quite persistent but if you say 'la shukran' - (no thank you (and smile too)) they leave you alone - it's the people who ignore them totally that they keep hassling.
The souks are a little daunting and I can see how people get totally lost in them, but don't be scared into getting a guide - you don't need one, you can just ask someone for directions, and people don't hassle you as much as you think they would - (la shukran works wonders!) We had a man offering to take us around the souks as a guide and we were tempted - until we realised he'd set up a friend just around the coner to 'hassle' us in arabic - so that he could come and 'save' us from him! People are so friendly there really is nothing to worry about - we got totally lost in the back streets trying to find a particular hammam, and were given directions from several different extremely friendly people.
Also make sure you stop to take everything in, the sounds, the smells, the sights (the atlas mountains looked like they were painted in - stunning!) Also remember to haggle for everything - the shop owners often suggest quite expensive prices to start but you can offer what you like and get the perfect bargain.
Rating:
"Great location, great value"
Let's put things in perspective straight away. £11 per person per night in Marrakech is a good deal by anyone's standard.
My wife and I booked the Islane as it was smack-bang in the middle of all the action and was slightly more upmarket than its equally well located sister hotel (de Foucald) which I had stayed in before.
The staff at the reception desk were very friendly and helpful all speaking excellent English and were quite happy to have a chat from time to time. Our good-sized twin room was very clean and gave an excellent view of the Koutoubia and the busy street outside; we spent several hours idling away time just watching the world go by from our room. We have stayed in dim riads and soulless Hivernage hotels but this has to be the best hotel view we've had.
Breakfast (included in our deal) was a hot buffet (the pancakes were the hot item) taken on the 2nd floor restaurant which doubled as the ever popular Pizzeria Venetia by night.
The only negative thing we could say about our stay was the noise directly above us caused by chairs being scraped across the tiled floor of the restaurant. If you are early to bed like we sometimes are in can be a bit grating if you are trying to get to sleep. If you like staying up late this won't be a problem.
Other reviews have mentioned the call of the muezzin that comes quite loudly from the Koutoubia directly opposite. To us this is an integral part of the overall experience of staying in a Muslim country and should be expected; it can also be quite beautiful to listen to.
All in all, the Islane is great value for money and we would highly recommend it.
Group Booking
1 km
