This hotel is absolutely terrible! On my first day, I had a twin room booked. I was in a rush and didn't pay close attention. When I arrived at the front desk, I asked if I could switch to a double bed room. They said no. I offered to pay extra, explaining they just needed to update it in the system, but they still refused. When I asked why, the person at the front desk just kept silent. I pressed for a reason, and they just repeated, 'It's not possible.' Finally, after asking again, they said it was because the hotel was fully booked. The attitude was incredibly dismissive and sarcastic. If they couldn't switch it, they should have said so earlier. I was already exhausted from a long journey, and dealing with this was just frustrating. Why couldn't they just say it wasn't convenient?
Later that evening, I ordered room service – food and coffee. The food arrived, but no coffee. I had to call twice more before someone finally picked up, and it wasn't even the same person. I explained I'd ordered coffee, and it hadn't arrived. They said they'd send it up. After waiting over half an hour, I was practically falling asleep, so I called again and told them not to bother if they hadn't made it. Then, after I'd already turned off the lights, someone knocked on the door and brought me instant coffee packets. Why would you bring me instant coffee when there's already instant coffee in the room? And they told me I could just brew it. Seriously, this hotel doesn't even have cups! Am I supposed to drink it out of a toothbrush holder? To top it off, the balcony floor had bird poop on it, and there was no light on the balcony.
Today for lunch, I had a meal for 200dhm, which was a fair price and at least filled me up. Afterwards, I needed to change some money to take a taxi to the station. I tried the ATM with my US Visa card and Chinese ICBC card, but getting cash in Morocco has always been an issue for me. In Casablanca, I had to find a Chinese shop owner to exchange money. I asked an older woman from housekeeping if she knew where I could get cash. She told me I could use an ATM, which I already knew, and then said there was a place just a short walk outside. I went out and found a broken-down, black-screened ATM in a dark corner, with some shady characters around. I then tried to find a currency exchange office nearby, but couldn't exchange RMB, and local shops wouldn't let me use my card for cash.
So I went back to the hotel and explained the situation to the housekeeping lady. She sent me to the front desk, but the front desk just brushed me off, saying they couldn't help. I walked back to her, and she made a call and then told me to go back to the front desk. I went back, and after a long explanation, with me using both French and Arabic translations, I clearly stated multiple times that I needed a cash advance and that I couldn't use the ATMs. I asked for their help in getting cash. I even suggested putting it on my room bill and then paying with my card. They still said no. The three women at the front desk and the housekeeping lady were all incredibly unhelpful, acting completely indifferent. It made me so angry I wanted to yell. If they had even an ounce of responsibility or could have come up with a solution, I wouldn't have had to run around so much. Is this the kind of service you get at such an expensive hotel? It's my fault for not carrying enough cash, but I wasn't asking them to give me money; I was just asking them not to make things harder. I feel like I'm not on vacation, but rather going through a trial.
Every city in Morocco seems to present a new kind of stupidity. This country has French flair, Arab faces, and African intelligence. Life here is incredibly inconvenient, with more scams and trickery than Egypt, and the scammers are all very cunning. There's absolutely no sense of service, and the general level of education and quality of people is very low. I did encounter a few kind people, but overall, it's been a very poor experience. If I didn't have a soft spot for some aspects of it, I would have left a long time ago. I was supposed to go to Laayoune, but the thought of a 10+ hour bus ride and dealing with all these daily hassles was too much. I had already bought the ticket but decided to abandon the trip. This afternoon, I contacted several friends from my US study abroad days who lent me their bank cards to use for Uber and other expenses abroad. I honestly can't stand the absurd behavior and attitudes in this country! I immediately booked a flight to Istanbul. I'm on the plane now, and this hotel deserves a terrible review!
Original TextTranslation provided by AI
