From times gone by, and not in a good way.

I was in the market this spring for a sun getaway not too far away from Europe and Morocco was under active consideration (despite having had a very poor experience in Agadir some years ago).  Having read cwl's review I thought I give the Sofitel Marrakech Palais Imperial a try.

This is decidedly not one of the newer hotels in Marrakesh, nor is it exactly one of the most luxurious ones. My review will focus on the hotel first and then on some other issues which the prospective guest may wish to consider when booking or choose to disregard, more further below.

No pre-arrival communication was sent by the hotel so no private transfer was on offer.

Having endured the most nonsensical immigration procedure at the airport (a disgrace for a country which is a major tourist destination) we arrived by taxi. A door man reluctantly assisted with the luggage. Once in the pleasant and airy lobby we were asked to sit, as no tables were free we squeezed in with some other guests. No recognition of Platinum status whatsoever. After sitting there for 15 minutes I went up to the chaotic front desk (a recurring theme) and asked wether we could check in. Eventually someone came over and check in was done at said coffee table. Credit card was requested and keys were handed over, as was teh drinks voucher, no butler was identified. As mentioned above in thread, an upgrade to a suite had been secured after some prodding in advance (for which I am grateful).

The suite (Prestige) was exactly as cwl has desribed above. The room screams 80s. Dark, slighly worn and not exactly oozing luxury. Think Sofitel of times gone by....

The suite: living room with dining table and sofa; bedroom with the excellent Sofitel bed; bathroom (old fashioned marble which had seen better days), small walk in shower and tub.

Nespresso with chargeable refill. Water bottles replenished every day. Mini bar with the usual extravagant proces.

Welcome amenity (no welcome note)

View from the room

Service was hit and miss. The best part was housekeeping who were extremely friendly. The ladies were efficient and kind. The same was true for the waitress in the restaurant. And so there is a theme here, the women were good at their job, the men less so (except the pool bar staff). 

This hotel has tons of staff with most of them just standing around doing nothing. As cwl already mentioned managers just hover around and delegate (reluctantly). The other theme emerging is that you can't expect great service at a Sofitel in Morocco. I had exactly the same problem in Agadir: too many staff, zero efficiency. A real shame.

We tried a variety of food outlets at the hotel. The first was the Sunday brunch which was very pleasant, served buffet style in the garden. Pricey (all restaurants/bar at the hotel are expensive) but worth doing on a sunny day.

The restaurant (also popular with locals) was pretty decent too, serving Moroccan and international food.

Room service and pool side service is of course also available, the usual fare.

The lobby bar serves cocktails and other beverages. The welcome drinks voucher (for 2 people) was accepted for cocktails. Service was extremely slow.

A taxi ride from/to the airport is about 15/20 minutes. The hotel is located in the Hivernage district, just outside the Medina walls.

A fully stocked carrefour supermarket is a 10 minute walk away. An ATM is 5 minutes walk (the one in the hotel never worked).

One evening we decided to check out the So lounge, a restaurant and night club. The restaurant part did not appeal (very strange place to have food) but we went later in the evening to the club for some drinks. Popular with locals and residents alike.

And now we come to the part which you may wish to ignore but for me this tainted the entire stay:

At one point my travel companion was assaulted by a guest in the club for no reason. Security bundled the man outside and no major harm was done. This could happen in any club. Problematic was the fact that after a while he was allowed back into the venue and again threw a punch at my companion. So if you are in the business for some violence at the Sofitel try the So lounge at night.

The reaction of the hotel left a lot to be desired. Security were fine but should never allowed the man back in.

When I tried to follow up with management the next day it took persistence to get to speak to anyone, the GM was nowhere to be found. Eventually his PA and the "manager" of the So lounge were dispatched to "listen" but overall the reaction was a mere shrugging of the shoulders.

Overall I did not get a sense that this hotel values Le Club members. On departure I had a chance to speak to the guest relations manager. Frankly he was quite open to my concerns. Here's what I raised:

- no hotel pre-arrival email. No private hotel transfer offered (this could be a revenue centre for the hotel)

- no priority check in, no hand towels offered

- no butler identified

- no proper newspaper delivery, (which is a Platinum advantage), one page “news” copy was delivered only twice in the week, no Pressreader app availability at this hotel.

- limited welcome gift, no personalised or even generic GM welcome note

- no daily turn down Platinum amenity (other hotels usually provide daily sweets, macrons or chocolate)

- flowers in room not replaced after day 4 of stay

- late check out (4pm) initially refused, only after some protest given

I also gave him a copy of the Accor APAC handbook for Le Club (avid readers may remember this from 2015). https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accorhotels-le-club-accorhotels/1644625-le-club-accorhotels-member-experience-handbook.html

He was frankly surprised about the lack of service. As service recovery he offered free transport to the airport (better than nothing I guess). As we were talking the GM finally resurfaced and was briefly introduced. He could not have been more disinterested if he tried.

Overall this hotel is not bad per se, but I don't think it is luxurious enough (dated rooms) or lives up to the service expectations to warrant the name Sofitel. Rates are not cheap here and what is on offer is not commensurate with those rates.

Come July Le Club members can avail of the local Fairmont, possibly a better choice as the Sofitel lives in the past and not in a good way.

Personally I will not return.