Appart Hotel Amina Resort and Spa

Spent a week at the Appart Hotel (Residence) Amina in Hivernage (the newer area of the city) and enjoyed our stay. Firstly we recommend you contact the hotel in advance and ask for their airport transfer service (we found out too late about this service which is cheaper and more reliable than the HolidayTaxis service provided through Easyjet). Throughout our stay all the reception staff were warm and welcoming and Abdul went above and beyond trying to sort out our return taxi to the airport when HolidayTaxis did not turn up (apparently there is another hotel in the Ville Nouvelle area with a similar name). The block is on a quieter side street just off a main route and has 21 apartments. We stayed in appartment 104 which is a two bedroom sleeps six at the front of the hotel on the first floor. It was clean and spacious though needed a little bit of refurb in the dated kitchen area and to deal with water stains above the shower. There is a hob but no oven or microwave. If you like a decent mug of tea or coffee take your own travel mug as they only have small cups. Unlike many others, our room did not have a balcony but the roof top terrace was always quiet. The bar up there and pool are closed out of season though.

There is a large Carrefour supermarket in the Menara Shopping Mall which is just a five minute walk up the road and it carries a wide range of European and local products. Along the front are a range of eateries offering breakfast (from MAD35 / EUR 3.50/ GBP £3), snacks, set lunches to al a carte dinners. Alcohol is not always served and if it is, you will be asked to sit inside or to the rear of the venue to be discreet. At Menara Mal we found Manchego served alcohol and a pleasant meal or even nearer to the hotel Bar Le6 offered a wide drinks menu and well presented tasty meals (breakfasts from 9am). The medina was a pleasant 20 minute walk away up some quieter streets behind the hotel, taking you to the main gate by the famous Mamounia Hotel (busy with guests staying for the International Film Festival while we were there), and through the gardens to the Koutoubia Mosque. Beyond the Mosque it.s a short walk across the square and past all the horse carriages to the Jemaa El Fnaa main square. Throughout our stay we felt perfectly safe walking round the city both in daytime and at night including walking back from the city centre in the dark (with reasonable precautions).

We did not use a guide for the souks, a good city map and compass to know which way you were heading was sufficient if you have a sense of adventure and are happy to smile and keep saying "Non, merci" (No thank you). We did take up the hotels offer of a guided visit of Marrakesh with our own taxi driver, which was handy in that he took us to the more outlying or harder to find sights though his English was not great and he did not actually guide us round the sights themselves. But there are so many guides and groups, it is easy to tag onto the back of a group to learn any bits your guide book omits. At our request he took us to the Saadian Tombs, Bahia Palace (both so worth seeing!!), the fasinating tanneries (where we did buy from the co-operative shop there - better quality leather than we found anywhere else), the Majoreele Gardens (out in Ville Nouvelle), Menara Gardens (not a lot to see) and would have then taken us into the city centre but the weather closed in so we opted to return to the hotel.

If you have time, do not miss the chance to visit the Atlas Mountains. We booked in advance through Viator to go on Art de Cuirve's Three Valleys trip with camel ride, market visit and the inevitble Argan Oil stop. The trip included a walk through the villages of Imlil by a waterfall and our guide Hassan was so knowledgeable. We found ourselves trekking along paths with snow surrounding us so do take warm clothes and stout shoes for the rough track. Tea in Hassan's own house at the end was a bonus.

Essasouria was nice but at three hours each way, it's a long day.

Overall we would recommend the Appart Hotel Amina for active families and couples wanting to stay out of the hubbub of the medina centre and happy to walk or grab one of the numerous taxis or carriages to get in and out of the city.

Very spacious 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit. Some difficulty with the heating and water leakage in the shower(s), but generally well maintained and quite close (30 minute walk) from the main action. Good supermarket 200m away. Driver arranged through reception was convenient, but taxi cheaper than usinig their airport shuttle service.