Gastgebruiker
14 februari 2023
Guests cannot be expected to sit in their bedroom all day. We booked this hotel, so that we can go out of our bedroom and enjoy the gardens, grounds and lounges in the hotel — something that we thought we are entitled to do as guests of the hotel, having paid them €123. The staff clearly had problems with us going to those areas. In the first evening, after we went to the pond and menara, we were politely brought back to the room, and were told in broken English that “by the way you need to have a paid guide”. Because it was dark anyway, we had dinner and did not go to the garden again. On the following morning, before breakfast we enquired about the cost of the guide and what it entails, we were told that it costs 100 dirham and that it would take 2 hours. We declined. We did not want to spend 2 hours there with a guide, and we were not particularly interested to learn every detail about that artist. So, we decided that after breakfast we would simply walk through the gardens, grounds and lounges ourselves. However, as soon as we started walking, every single staff member took the opportunity to tell us that we need to have a guide — effectively we were told to pay to walk within the hotel lounges or grounds. But we already paid this hotel €123. Eventually the receptionist allowed us to walk through several lounges, but it was made very clear that we are being afforded exceptional treatment. Frankly I fail to understand what is exceptional in allowing guests to walk within the hotel grounds and lounges. Other customers have made negative comments that “staff are oppressive, too much hanging around us”. Indeed, I formed same impression. We felt that we were pestered by the staff members — we were constantly in fear that staff members would approach and demand something. If you want to charge for guests walking to all parts of the hotel, then charge €130 instead of €123 per night, and then just leave those guests alone. Pestering guests destroys the whole stay. Another disappointing experience was when I came to pay. Firstly, I had to stand there and wait while the receptionist took an inordinately long time to produce an invoice — he claims he had to amend my invoice to remove the cost of the paid guide. Given that I had never even requested a guide, why was there such a charge on my invoice in the first place? Secondly, when I was eventually given a printed invoice after a long wait, it turned out that the receptionist demanded more money than had been agreed in a reservation. After I made a reservation, the hotel sent me a confirmation that I would need to bring €2.60 as tourist tax. Both the amount (2.60) and the currency (euro) were clearly specified. Therefore, I prepared that exact amount even before coming to Morocco. However, the receptionist revealed to me that I would need to pay 42% more than had been agreed, and in dirham (as opposed to euro). I objected to that: if the hotel wants to charge in dirham and a different (greater) amo
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