I thought I would give you some honest feedback about our trip – this is not to complain at all but since we enjoyed ourselves so much and since I think you and your Company did such a wonderful job for us, I felt it would be useful for you to know all our good experiences as well as some of the negative things about the trip so that it will help you for the future.
First of all Mr. Hamid – I am sure all your drivers are excellent – I don’t doubt that, but I would like to say a few really positive things about Mr. Hamid – he went the extra mile to make our trip enjoyable – as you know the roads through the mountains are really difficult and at no time did Mr. Hamid ever make us feel uncomfortable – he drove very safely. Another plus point was he was ALWAYS on time – whenever he gave us a time he was there – really impressive – and then when we wanted to deviate from the usual norm, he was always cooperative so please do make sure you let him know how much we appreciated the services he provided.
Hotel in Casablanca – very good with an excellent spread at breakfast – one of the best we have had on our travels.
Now the Riad in Fes – lovely place and very convenient but the Manager needs to change his attitude – we arrived after a really hard day of driving in intense heat and were really tired. He informed us that my daughter from Canada had called – naturally we were very concerned as we wanted to get in touch with her – his attitude left much to be desired – he could not have cared less as to how we were going to get in touch with her – no phones in the room and when we asked him if he could find out for us as to how much it would cost to call Canada he could not help – he sat in the courtyard enjoying himself with his pals who had dropped in and the young guy who was helping us with the luggage was running around trying to find out how to help – he even tried to see if he could call for us on his cell phone which was very kind of him – after an hour of this fiasco, my husband approached one of the Manager’s friends who was sitting in the courtyard with him. He told us that less than a minute away from the Riad was a pay phone where we could buy a card and make a call to my daughter!!!!! You can imagine we were not impressed to know we had wasted so much time when the pay phone was around the corner!!!!!!
That night we could not sleep as the air conditioning was not working well – next morning we asked if we could change the room and the answer given was that all the rooms were taken which was not true as the whole Riad was empty except for us – when we threatened to contact you, we were quickly moved to another room – so by and large something needs to be done about the way the Manager is treating guests – the staff were very very helpful and the meals served were excellent so no complaints on that front at all – also the rooms were spotlessly clean.
The Xaluca hotels were fine – no complaints as such except that at the second one the showers were not up to scratch and while taking a shower the whole bathroom got flooded with water running down into the main room flooding our suitcases etc. Food etc. at both places was excellent.
The stay at the little place in the dessert – cannot remember the name – here the air conditioning was useless because it only comes on after 7:30 p.m. as a result the room becomes so hot – like a furnace and there is no way one can sleep in the room –– the problem was sorted out by us deciding to sleep on the terraces of the rooms – I strongly suspect most people do that – and it was like being in heaven. After living in India where we are used to seeing plenty of stars – have to say we have never seen a sky as beautiful as up there. The people working there were wonderful and were always ready to please so we never felt the lack of air conditioning. We had our night meal under the stars and the food was excellent. Would rate that as a wonderful experience.
The Riad in Marrakech – very clean – very very good staff – but the breakfast was atrocious – first day we got stale bread and cake for breakfast – no eggs etc. at all!!!
I honestly believe the same thing was put away and served to us the next day!!!!! So honestly if I was asked I would not recommend this Riad – but that is my personal opinion.
Now for me the highlight of the trip were three things – first was the fact that Mr. Hamid invited us into his home to share a meal with him and his wife – we were very touched by that gesture as it gave us an opportunity to eat the way the Moroccan people do and the food that his wife had cooked was excellent – the second highlight was the night sleeping under the stars and last but not least were the people of Morocco – never at any time did we feel unwelcome and we just loved the people in general.
My husband agrees with me but also says that one of the highlights for him was seeing the Souks as we never could have imagined that such a place existed – we loved that experience – first day we were terrified and yet the next morning, we found ourselves venturing into the Souks without any fear and loving it.
So there Jeff you have my opinion of our trip – would I do another trip to Morocco with your Organization if funds permitted? Yes, in a heartbeat – and I do believe that all five of us felt the same way. Whatever was promised was delivered and on that score we have absolutely no complaints. Would I recommend your Company to friends and family? Most definitely without hesitation. We felt very safe during our entire trip so many thanks.
By the way, we loved the final touch of the dinner at Rick’s place the last night!!!!
Attaching a few photographs with this email and please do show them to Mr. Hamid and convey our regards to him. Tell him that the TAJINE he helped me to buy in Marrakech arrived safely!!!!! Now I have to learn how to use it!!!!!
Kind regards and wishing you and your Company much success for the future.
Marina.
(September of 2009)