5* Bluebay Sahara Palace Marrakech formerly Taj Palace-From £28 Suite with bft.
Jul 12, 2015, 8:04 am
#91
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: M&M,HH Gold,Accor Plat.,Priority Club Plat. Ambassador,Club Carlson Gold,Marriott Gold,GHA Plat.
Posts: 1,627
1) the discussion between me an Chokdee has always been polite and on the merit of the issue, just a normal confrontation, discussion and sharing of different ideas.
2) the thread was a little bit soiled by some "poetic" posts that wasn't useful at all to the cause (look also my report), so maybe the request should be adressed somewhere else too
BTW
happy to see that OTA reinstated the reservations: as i told you, legally speaking, there was no way for them...
So well, who's the first to check in?
Jul 13, 2015, 8:43 am
#92
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: MSP
Programs: Delta SkyMiles, AmEx, NorthWest WorldPerks, Jelly of the Month. S&H Green Stamps, Subway sub club
Posts: 1,754
Jul 31, 2015, 7:46 am
#94
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Amsterdam
Programs: SkyTeam Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,421
was just gonna try and see if I could get mine reinstated again, when I noticed that this hotel is not bookable anymore at any of the booking sites... From the look of it, you are better off spending the original amount on a nice Riad in the city than paying the 'error' rate for this hotel.
This is the only new review in a long while on Tripadvisor (1 out of 5 stars; only 1 out of 5 stars since January 2015:
We booked and pay with a travel agency. We arrived at the hotel and at first were received by the person in charge, who kindly showed our room. We signed a guarantee of MAD 5000.
Then in the room, he explained that the Nespresso ( with missing pieces and dirty water and with insects) , had only 2 capsules, but were for the total of our staying (5 nights), we after realize that the frigobar was empty, it only had a water bottle already opened and with some water inside, who knows how long it was there.
The pool was dirty, it had an old cel phone in it! The spa and gym closed.same as other parts of the hotel... Closed and dirty with dust that seemed there from a long time.
Grass and all without maintenance. Other dirty pool, smaller was with people, which we thought were guests, but were employees.
The few employees we saw, told us that the restaurants were closed and we should talk to the concierge, but at 4:30pm he was already gone. Also that they were informed that we would not have breakfast at the next day (also paid). There were only a family as guests, with them we took a taxi to the nearest restaurant in a hotel and called to the travel agency, that decided to arrange all to change us to other hotel.
After dinner we went back and still no one to do check out and speak of these issues.
Since that day 13/7, we've been calling and no one answer the phone. It have been past 3 days and we neither have answers to our emails.
So, we have lost a full day of our vacations, spent time and money to go to dinner to a different place, we are still worried because of the lack of answers and afraid to pay again a taxi to go there to solve this, and find (again), no person in charge to give us back what we signed.
For the high cost and beautiful place that was in the past, I understand that it could be closed for manteinance and open with splendor and a good service.
We are aware that also the employees have problems, but it would be better if they cancelled us the booking made some months earlier and let us have a good vacation and a better image of the Sahara Palace Marrakech...
And the last review on Booking.com (July 3, 2015 - the only one since October 2014)
Booking.com needs to stop taking bookings here even though it's a beautiful location. This property has no staff at the moment. No one answers your calls in the reception or the concierge or the room service. We were the only 3 people in the hotel and still there's no service of anything. It's a deserted hotel currently. We ordered for 4 bottles of water at 6 pm that finally came to the room at 10 30 pm after personally going down and looking for someone of the hotel to get us water. They said we don't have water at the hotel!!! Wow! Taj has exited the property and they are in the middle of someone else taking over so it's a big mess! Paid a ridiculous amount for such hospitality. The morning I checked out I spoke to the F&B manager and he blatantly disagreed and said that everything is functioning at the hotel ! He agreed that they did not have anyone to answer the calls!!! And said it's ok!! Like seriously?? There's absolutely no one running the place. At night the staff jump in the pool and swim even during the day. No idea what's going on here! If a proper company takes over definitely worth visiting the place otherwise stay away for now!
This is the only new review in a long while on Tripadvisor (1 out of 5 stars; only 1 out of 5 stars since January 2015:
We booked and pay with a travel agency. We arrived at the hotel and at first were received by the person in charge, who kindly showed our room. We signed a guarantee of MAD 5000.
Then in the room, he explained that the Nespresso ( with missing pieces and dirty water and with insects) , had only 2 capsules, but were for the total of our staying (5 nights), we after realize that the frigobar was empty, it only had a water bottle already opened and with some water inside, who knows how long it was there.
The pool was dirty, it had an old cel phone in it! The spa and gym closed.same as other parts of the hotel... Closed and dirty with dust that seemed there from a long time.
Grass and all without maintenance. Other dirty pool, smaller was with people, which we thought were guests, but were employees.
The few employees we saw, told us that the restaurants were closed and we should talk to the concierge, but at 4:30pm he was already gone. Also that they were informed that we would not have breakfast at the next day (also paid). There were only a family as guests, with them we took a taxi to the nearest restaurant in a hotel and called to the travel agency, that decided to arrange all to change us to other hotel.
After dinner we went back and still no one to do check out and speak of these issues.
Since that day 13/7, we've been calling and no one answer the phone. It have been past 3 days and we neither have answers to our emails.
So, we have lost a full day of our vacations, spent time and money to go to dinner to a different place, we are still worried because of the lack of answers and afraid to pay again a taxi to go there to solve this, and find (again), no person in charge to give us back what we signed.
For the high cost and beautiful place that was in the past, I understand that it could be closed for manteinance and open with splendor and a good service.
We are aware that also the employees have problems, but it would be better if they cancelled us the booking made some months earlier and let us have a good vacation and a better image of the Sahara Palace Marrakech...
And the last review on Booking.com (July 3, 2015 - the only one since October 2014)
Booking.com needs to stop taking bookings here even though it's a beautiful location. This property has no staff at the moment. No one answers your calls in the reception or the concierge or the room service. We were the only 3 people in the hotel and still there's no service of anything. It's a deserted hotel currently. We ordered for 4 bottles of water at 6 pm that finally came to the room at 10 30 pm after personally going down and looking for someone of the hotel to get us water. They said we don't have water at the hotel!!! Wow! Taj has exited the property and they are in the middle of someone else taking over so it's a big mess! Paid a ridiculous amount for such hospitality. The morning I checked out I spoke to the F&B manager and he blatantly disagreed and said that everything is functioning at the hotel ! He agreed that they did not have anyone to answer the calls!!! And said it's ok!! Like seriously?? There's absolutely no one running the place. At night the staff jump in the pool and swim even during the day. No idea what's going on here! If a proper company takes over definitely worth visiting the place otherwise stay away for now!
Last edited by BobKop; Jul 31, 2015 at 7:54 am
Jul 31, 2015, 7:49 am
#95
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: M&M,HH Gold,Accor Plat.,Priority Club Plat. Ambassador,Club Carlson Gold,Marriott Gold,GHA Plat.
Posts: 1,627
was just gonna try and see if I could get mine reinstated again, when I noticed that this hotel is not bookable anymore at any of the booking sites... From the look of it, you are better off spending the original amount on a nice Riad in the city then paying the 'error' rate for this hotel.
This is the only new review in a long while on Tripadvisor (1 out of 5 stars; only 1 out of 5 stars since January 2015:
We booked and pay with a travel agency. We arrived at the hotel and at first were received by the person in charge, who kindly showed our room. We signed a guarantee of MAD 5000.
Then in the room, he explained that the Nespresso ( with missing pieces and dirty water and with insects) , had only 2 capsules, but were for the total of our staying (5 nights), we after realize that the frigobar was empty, it only had a water bottle already opened and with some water inside, who knows how long it was there.
The pool was dirty, it had an old cel phone in it! The spa and gym closed.same as other parts of the hotel... Closed and dirty with dust that seemed there from a long time.
Grass and all without maintenance. Other dirty pool, smaller was with people, which we thought were guests, but were employees.
The few employees we saw, told us that the restaurants were closed and we should talk to the concierge, but at 4:30pm he was already gone. Also that they were informed that we would not have breakfast at the next day (also paid). There were only a family as guests, with them we took a taxi to the nearest restaurant in a hotel and called to the travel agency, that decided to arrange all to change us to other hotel.
After dinner we went back and still no one to do check out and speak of these issues.
Since that day 13/7, we've been calling and no one answer the phone. It have been past 3 days and we neither have answers to our emails.
So, we have lost a full day of our vacations, spent time and money to go to dinner to a different place, we are still worried because of the lack of answers and afraid to pay again a taxi to go there to solve this, and find (again), no person in charge to give us back what we signed.
For the high cost and beautiful place that was in the past, I understand that it could be closed for manteinance and open with splendor and a good service.
We are aware that also the employees have problems, but it would be better if they cancelled us the booking made some months earlier and let us have a good vacation and a better image of the Sahara Palace Marrakech...
And the last review on Booking.com (July 3, 2015)
Booking.com needs to stop taking bookings here even though it's a beautiful location. This property has no staff at the moment. No one answers your calls in the reception or the concierge or the room service. We were the only 3 people in the hotel and still there's no service of anything. It's a deserted hotel currently. We ordered for 4 bottles of water at 6 pm that finally came to the room at 10 30 pm after personally going down and looking for someone of the hotel to get us water. They said we don't have water at the hotel!!! Wow! Taj has exited the property and they are in the middle of someone else taking over so it's a big mess! Paid a ridiculous amount for such hospitality. The morning I checked out I spoke to the F&B manager and he blatantly disagreed and said that everything is functioning at the hotel ! He agreed that they did not have anyone to answer the calls!!! And said it's ok!! Like seriously?? There's absolutely no one running the place. At night the staff jump in the pool and swim even during the day. No idea what's going on here! If a proper company takes over definitely worth visiting the place otherwise stay away for now!
This is the only new review in a long while on Tripadvisor (1 out of 5 stars; only 1 out of 5 stars since January 2015:
We booked and pay with a travel agency. We arrived at the hotel and at first were received by the person in charge, who kindly showed our room. We signed a guarantee of MAD 5000.
Then in the room, he explained that the Nespresso ( with missing pieces and dirty water and with insects) , had only 2 capsules, but were for the total of our staying (5 nights), we after realize that the frigobar was empty, it only had a water bottle already opened and with some water inside, who knows how long it was there.
The pool was dirty, it had an old cel phone in it! The spa and gym closed.same as other parts of the hotel... Closed and dirty with dust that seemed there from a long time.
Grass and all without maintenance. Other dirty pool, smaller was with people, which we thought were guests, but were employees.
The few employees we saw, told us that the restaurants were closed and we should talk to the concierge, but at 4:30pm he was already gone. Also that they were informed that we would not have breakfast at the next day (also paid). There were only a family as guests, with them we took a taxi to the nearest restaurant in a hotel and called to the travel agency, that decided to arrange all to change us to other hotel.
After dinner we went back and still no one to do check out and speak of these issues.
Since that day 13/7, we've been calling and no one answer the phone. It have been past 3 days and we neither have answers to our emails.
So, we have lost a full day of our vacations, spent time and money to go to dinner to a different place, we are still worried because of the lack of answers and afraid to pay again a taxi to go there to solve this, and find (again), no person in charge to give us back what we signed.
For the high cost and beautiful place that was in the past, I understand that it could be closed for manteinance and open with splendor and a good service.
We are aware that also the employees have problems, but it would be better if they cancelled us the booking made some months earlier and let us have a good vacation and a better image of the Sahara Palace Marrakech...
And the last review on Booking.com (July 3, 2015)
Booking.com needs to stop taking bookings here even though it's a beautiful location. This property has no staff at the moment. No one answers your calls in the reception or the concierge or the room service. We were the only 3 people in the hotel and still there's no service of anything. It's a deserted hotel currently. We ordered for 4 bottles of water at 6 pm that finally came to the room at 10 30 pm after personally going down and looking for someone of the hotel to get us water. They said we don't have water at the hotel!!! Wow! Taj has exited the property and they are in the middle of someone else taking over so it's a big mess! Paid a ridiculous amount for such hospitality. The morning I checked out I spoke to the F&B manager and he blatantly disagreed and said that everything is functioning at the hotel ! He agreed that they did not have anyone to answer the calls!!! And said it's ok!! Like seriously?? There's absolutely no one running the place. At night the staff jump in the pool and swim even during the day. No idea what's going on here! If a proper company takes over definitely worth visiting the place otherwise stay away for now!
Anyway largerly still bookable:
Last edited by Paul4Travel; Jul 31, 2015 at 7:59 am
Jul 31, 2015, 8:09 am
#96
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Amsterdam
Programs: SkyTeam Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,421
Hotelopia (the irony)
Booking.com
Expedia
Venere
etc.
Hotelscombined only returns Prestigia and Getaroom (they don't list Orbitz), but only if you look for its old name (Taj Palace), not when you look for the Blue Diamond Sahara Palace Marrakech
Jul 31, 2015, 8:13 am
#97
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: M&M,HH Gold,Accor Plat.,Priority Club Plat. Ambassador,Club Carlson Gold,Marriott Gold,GHA Plat.
Posts: 1,627
Hm interesting, as they are not bookable on:
Hotelopia (the irony)
Booking.com
Expedia
Venere
etc.
Hotelscombined only returns Prestigia and Getaroom (they don't list Orbitz), but only if you look for its old name (Taj Palace), not when you look for the Blue Diamond Sahara Palace Marrakech
Hotelopia (the irony)
Booking.com
Expedia
Venere
etc.
Hotelscombined only returns Prestigia and Getaroom (they don't list Orbitz), but only if you look for its old name (Taj Palace), not when you look for the Blue Diamond Sahara Palace Marrakech
About the name: I've already seen a similar situation in the past. I suppose it depends by the ota, and partily by the property. I'm not sure of that.
Anyway I was asking who's the first to check-in in order to have a fair idea.
Aug 3, 2015, 3:32 am
#98
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: DUS
Posts: 199
Well, hopefully Bluebay Group is only remodeling the property.
Aug 3, 2015, 6:19 am
#99
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Amsterdam
Programs: SkyTeam Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,421
Aug 3, 2015, 7:34 am
#100
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: M&M,HH Gold,Accor Plat.,Priority Club Plat. Ambassador,Club Carlson Gold,Marriott Gold,GHA Plat.
Posts: 1,627
Reading TA's reviews, I had some doubts on the quality of the services provided!
Even if the room (suite) should be amazing!
Aug 3, 2015, 1:28 pm
#101
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: BRU, AMS
Programs: Miles & More, FlyingBlue, Iberia Plus Gold
Posts: 485
Actually it is not even bookable on Bluebay's website.
Out of curiosity I tried to phone the reception (just in order to ask some innocent questions, not about the booking no worries) and the line's been busy for the entire day.
Would be bad arriving there in front of closed doors with no one...
Out of curiosity I tried to phone the reception (just in order to ask some innocent questions, not about the booking no worries) and the line's been busy for the entire day.
Would be bad arriving there in front of closed doors with no one...
Aug 3, 2015, 2:57 pm
#103
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: DUS
Posts: 199
I can't imagine this property being closed soon. The rooms still seem to be in decent conditions and Bluebay won't buy a hotel just to burn money.
Nevertheless I am more curious than before how things will move on.
Nevertheless I am more curious than before how things will move on.
Aug 3, 2015, 3:06 pm
#104
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: M&M,HH Gold,Accor Plat.,Priority Club Plat. Ambassador,Club Carlson Gold,Marriott Gold,GHA Plat.
Posts: 1,627
i suppose they're going to change something.
It would be nice to know who will check in soon...so he will be able to give some advices.
Aug 3, 2015, 3:11 pm
#105
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: BRU, AMS
Programs: Miles & More, FlyingBlue, Iberia Plus Gold
Posts: 485
I just don't understand why they are not taking bookings on their own website. Maybe things have gone out of control, no idea.