Steve Bintley

Review of Kenzi Menara Palace Marrakech

I can highly recommend the Menara Palace, especial...

I can highly recommend the Menara Palace, especially if you re looking for a relaxing break which doesn t come with the noise and bustle of the city centre. Pulling up at the entrance, even relatively late in the evening, everything was naturally taken care of and the friendly reception desk completed proceedings quickly.

I had the delight of being allocated a top third floor room with a pool view. The interior of all the corridors is a minimalistic style but very pretty, broken up with open air plantation sections.

The room was very impressive and I certainly recommend paying the slight extra for a pool view. It was so spacious, complete with sofa and arm chain, desk, massive bed and lots of storage space along with wardrobe, in a separate section of the room. Lots of lighting options which could be controlled from the bed, along with electric sockets at both sides of the bed added to the comfort levels. There were tea and coffee facilities as well as a mini bar. The huge french doors and window opened up to a spacious balcony with table and chairs. Outdoor lights made this space useable late at night too. The thick curtains were very effective at blocking out the light in the mornings.

The bathroom was equally as spacious as the main room, with two sinks, a separate large bath and shower cubicle as well as a toilet and bidet in another room. Towels and gowns were present although I couldn t find any slippers. The toiletries came in small bottles but were kept restocked well and the shower had decent power as well as getting hot quickly. What was a shame was that there was no guide to the hotel facilities within the room. An overview of the dining options, how the pool worked, entertainment in the evening etc was all missing which resulting in making the most of my stay harder. The TV was also rather difficult to use and temperamental, requiring a channel change to restore a frozen picture regularly. Most frustrating though was the wifi which didn t work very well at all. The rest of the hotel wasn t as bad, so I assume the room was maybe on the edges of the signal.

There s a lot of range in the breakfast buffet - traditional meats and fruits, hot dishes, pastries and a range of fruit juices were all present. There s also a counter with freshly made sweet items should you need a morning sugar fix. No dishes made to order were available which I could see and hot drinks are also self service. There s plenty of seating both inside and outside which is nice and the staff were good at clearing plates etc. Service ends promptly at 10:30.

The main selling point for this hotel is it s outdoor pool.There s actually two pools with a smaller one which is heated in the cooler months. There s loads of sun loungers around the pool, a decent number of cabanas for at least two people as well as beanbags on the grass and a number of tables surrounding. Towels are provided from a hut alongside the DJ which plays non obtrusive music in the afternoon. The huge pool has steps down at the top and a shallow section at the opposite end, next to the restaurant / bar. Its a shame they don t offer service to the sun beds and, to be honest, the service from the bar itself is a little slow, but overall everyone was friendly and the food available is good for lunch with reasonable prices. It was all served quickly and presented well.

There s three main restaurants in the hotel and I had the pleasure of trying two for dinner during my visit. The first, specialising in Italian food, was pretty quite on the Tuesday evening but the staff were friendly and the food served in good time. The Moroccan restaurant the following night was much better! An authentic setting with low sofas and live traditional ude music gave a fantastic experience. There was a good range on the menu and my starter, although not as I expected, was delicious and filling in itself. The traditional tagine main was one of a few options but didn t disappoint. A really enjoyable evening and a meal.