Reviews of Essaouira Lodge

What was good The hotel grounds are attractive, the rooms are a reasonable size, and the staff are polite and generally helpful when approached. What wasn’t so good Pretty much everything else. Breakfast – A very limited selection: stale pastries and cakes, tired-looking pancakes, and everything seems to be covered in flies. The “cooked” offering consists of rubbery scrambled eggs and stringy sausages. Cereal choice? Just one — a bargain-basement version of cornflakes. The coffee tastes like rust scraped from the inside of the urn — truly the worst we’ve ever had. (You can get a half-decent espresso from the bar, but only if you ask and pay extra.) Rooms and furnishings – Fixtures and furniture are tired and grubby, with stained, tatty soft furnishings. The bed linen is low quality and the beds themselves are rock-hard (though perhaps that’s just a Moroccan standard). Staff and service – Polite, yes, but mostly inattentive; plenty of standing around chatting. Reception staff greet you with a smile, but it has all the warmth of a tax office. The “Guest Advisor” desk was unmanned throughout the entirety of our stay. Overall It’s a real shame — this place could be fantastic with the right attention and investment. As it stands, it’s rather dreadful. The owners need to undertake some serious refurbishment and rethink their approach to hospitality. You’ve been warned!

Absolutely delighted to get here from overheated and crowded Marrakesh. We came with friends to celebrate my 40s' birthday. A beautiful table by the pool was expecting us with live music. We so much appreciated everything that we decided to reschedule 2 days more even we were supposed to go to Agadir. Thank you so much guys, will be back soon.. 🙏 Eva & Amine

Our stay at Essaouira Lodge was extremely disappointing. The so-called “Guest Advisor” desk was always empty, with no one around to help with anything. The pool area was filthy - the loungers were covered in mud and dirt, some even torn, and clearly hadn’t been cleaned or maintained in ages. Breakfast was equally bad: sad options including one type of off brand cornflakes and stale “cake” that was obviously days old and to make it worse there were flies everywhere. There was barely any variety, and the setup felt unhygienic. To make matters worse, there was a constant smell of sewage lingering throughout the property which also was coming from our bathroom, which made it impossible to relax. The furniture in our room and around the lodge was old and literally falling apart. Overall, this place feels completely neglected and nowhere near the standard it advertises. Definitely not worth the money, I’d recommend staying anywhere else.

Three nights at EL was enough. Furniture, fixtures and fittings exhausted, cleanliness only average, reception desk devoid of charm, breakfast frankly poor (we didn’t risk any other meals). The TA rating and resort photos are baffling. Yes, it must have been quite some place once but that’s a distant memory now. New management and a serious injection of cash are sorely needed if it is to bother a three or four star rating. Even allowing for the price point it’s a disappointment.

FOOD POISONING !!!!! DO NOT STAY HERE. I can’t emphasize it enough. Our group of 13 arrived at this lodge last week. Every single person was sickened with horrid food poisoning. Twenty five people on retreat the week prior. A doctor was called in ( at each guest’s expense) to examine and prescribe meds (also at guest’s expense: Cipro antibiotic, probiotics, vitamins, anti-spasmatic meds for tummy. Most of the group departed early and/ or checked into other hotels. We literally could not leave our rooms for fear of being away from a toilet. Rooms are dark and dirty. Cats roam freely in and out of the kitchen. Peacocks crapping all over the pool deck area. Atrocious and unhelpful with dozens of people sickened within one week’s time.

This place is filthy!! The grounds when you first arrive look very nice but when you enter the Villa it’s so dirty. The floors need deep mopping. The pool had zero chlorine. (Yes, I carry test strips in emerging worlds.) There was peacock excrement all over the pool deck and on tattered furniture. Let’s just say peacocks are big birds and leave it at that. The beds are very hard, perhaps that is Ok for some. But the worst part of all was the Lodges lack of empathy and response to large amounts of people becoming sick. The week prior to our arrival, 13 of 13 yoga guests became ill. The following week of 25 I believe 15 or more became it. They chalked it up to seasonal flu and tried to say people had it before arrival. No it wasn’t. I was in Marrakech for 10 days and fine! I already noted the condition of the villa. There answer, oh just tell us we’ll clean it!!! What I have to tell you to mop? I have to tell you to use a disinfectant? I have to tell you to clean up large bird excrement from a pool deck? Then the food. I would only eat hot food. It’s a food safety thing when traveling. I was told by a worker there was a problem with the kitchen gas and having issues getting and keeping food hot. I stayed at a total of 4 places in Morocco in the greater Marrakech region. All of them super clean. This is a review that I wish I could leave a zero. In addition, when asked for management I was told they weren’t there. I said call. Nope can’t do that either, out of the country. Well that’s just great. Don’t stay here.

Wonderful place with amazing views we highly recommend this hotel the service was excellent and friendly staff The room was clean and comfortable They made amazing food lovely breakfast we highly recommend this hotel in Essaouira it's near to anywhere you needed

Essouria lodge is a beautiful location with extremely well tended grounds and nice medium range villas. The restaurant is good and breakfast ok. Lovely pool. Some of the staff are a little dour and we had issues with the WiFi and water but these were dealt with. Within a few hours. The main problem was the noise from the apartment above ours which was deafening and went on until 1 or 2 am every night. The other gues s weren’t doing anything silly just every movement they made reverberated through the ceiling. Footsteps, dragging chairs bathroom fans it all made for a terrible nights sleep on the very firm beds.

Stayed for 3 nights and could have easily stayed longer. Beautiful Lodge with mix of dwellings. Very private and everything you need. Beds are incredible hard but actually slept quite well.we had a 1st floor terrace with fab views. Terrace furniture could be more comfy so I moved the chair from room out and pleased I did. Food here was nice especially buffet but think it would be limited if ate there every night. Shuttle bus great service and takes about 15 mins. Pool area beautiful and well maintained. Staff not overly attentive but there if you need them.

We received an upgrade when we arrived and it was our best part of our holiday. We were there as a family and enjoyed every bit of it. The personnel was super friendly, charming, helpful and much more. If we would have had the change we would have stayed longer. We would highly recommend the lodge to others. Having a rental car would be my advice to have a relaxed holiday.

They upgraded my room. The room and the view from it was incredible. Very large space for just one person :-). It has a kitchen, sitting area, relaxing area to watch TV next to the bed, and a verandah /patio with tables and chairs to enjoy the outdoor forested area. Unfortunately, I arrived a bit late and it was a very windy day in Essaouira that prevented me from enjoying the patio. They had fruits and sweets in the room, as well as coffee if you wanted to make some. Although, for a person who wants cream in his coffee, there was none. The hotel grounds were very nice, with a lot of well-managed landscaping with beautiful plants and flowers. The dining area was especially nice, including the area by the pool for relaxation, that I did not get a chance to use. But here are the reasons for my 3-star rating: - The lighting in the bathroom was terrible, especially in the wash basin area, making it hard to shave. Since there was no outside lighting source, that made it harder. - The drainage in the shower was sluggish, but then I found that to be the norm in many of the hotels in Morocco, causing the water to often overflow outside of the shower area. - But more importantly, when I tried to tell this to the folks at the desk during checkout, they seemed to be the least bit interested in my feedback and even laughed that I would be complaining about lighting in the bathroom. - Now, they had a very elaborate breakfast. However, there were flies all over, every dish. Now, I realize that this is a real problem in Essaouira, since when it is windy the flies tend to come inside, but this was unacceptable. I did not feel like eating most of the things laid out for breakfast due the flies all over them. - The place is off the main road. So, the 5-10 minute drive from the main road to the hotel and back out is relatively bumpy. I am not sure if that did not cause a puncture in my tire that I later had to repair.

We spent a wonderful few days at the lodge. The place is really peaceful, with a very nice common area featuring a pool and restaurant. The bus service to Essaouira is working perfectly; it's just a short 10-minute drive, and the drivers are extremely nice. It's a very good place if you want to stay with family or a few families, relax, and also be able to arrange short trips. We would like to especially thank Jamal, who was so kind and helpful throughout our stay.

It was a perfect stay for us (family with 2 kids 6/9y). We were surprised with an upgrade to a big and beatiful maison with garden and patio. The kids wanted to live here forever! The swimming pool was heated and in a perfect ambiance to celebrate holiday. The restaurant was also good with every day other good Food. And last but not least, all the people at essaouira lodge are friendly and welcoming. Thank You for everything. We will come back!

This has been my second stay in this beautiful garden. Conveniently distant from town and located in beautifully designed garden. The entire place is an icon of peace and serenity. Yes, you have peacocks visiting you in the morning, cats for lunch and dogs for dinner... And they are friendly. Staff and management could not be more helpful and pleasant to deal with. Private transport to and from town makes it a convenient location for a couples or a family stay. Highly recommended. But, please keep it a secret ;)