Casa Lalla Reviews

Casa Lalla - Marrakech

Casa No-No

Casa Lalla is no longer anything to do with Michelin star chef Richard Neat. We new that before we booked, having been forced to hand over a 50% non-refundable deposit anyway. It is now run buy laugh-a-minute French couple Annabel and Pierre-Olivier, who are ruthlessly and shamelessly trading off the former owners name but without offering the level of service the riad was formerly known for.

We experienced the following during our stay:
. Additional Services - a huffing and puffing effort for them to arrange even a massage for a fellow guest.
. Website pictured large Jacuzzi. Don't be fooled. It is not on the premises.
. Information on excursions - an effort for them to be informative, let alone arrange.
. Request for a simple boiled egg in the morning to liven up a very basic breakfast of bread and jam - denied.
. Permission to adjust the date of one of our pre-booked nights with notice, in order to allow us to do a tour - denied. ";My wife is very strict. She will not allow this."; was the reply.
. If you have one of the two rooms with a bath it is not welcomed that you use it, as wasting water is against the ethics of the couple.
. You are not invited to leave your towels on the floor if you want them to be changed. Is not an option. They are simply folded and placed back on the shelf, as my toothpaste stained towel revealed.
. Open Fire? It was very cold during our stay but not one burning fire did we witness.
. Library - contains a few self-promotory riad booklets for sale containing Casa Lalla during the former glory days of Richard Neat.
. Dining. If you consider sitting in stony silence in an echoing courtyard along with your fellow diners to be appealing, being afraid to barely even whisper, then please, eat and enjoy the Moroccan menu.
. For all its pretty, muted earth tones with a touch of mushroom, this is certainly not a 'chocolate on the pillow' kind of a place. It is all its money. Advice. Either pay the same or more elsewhere for more, or pay less elsewhere for more. The choice is yours.