Palais Jena&spa

We booked Hotel Palais Jena and Spa through lastminute.com, and to be honest we did not knew what to expect. We were two families, travelling with our 9 year old son. We landed in Marrakesh on 6th Dec 2018 and flew back to UK on 11th Dec 2018. Before travelling, we found some mixed reviews about this hotel. I will highlight some of these points for future travelers who may find these helpful. "Negatives": There are no fridge in the room. Nor any kettle with sachets of coffee, sugar, tea etc. The hallway is dark, with light switches which turns the light on for few minutes only. To be honest, these were never the focal point of our holidays neither were we bothered by a lack of kettle, or a fridge. We got a fridge just by asking politely and also drank coffee from the house restaurant. Sitting outside near the pool, drinking the coffee and reading my book was perhaps more healthy. I also got used to finding the light switch in the dark hallways and made a little game out of it for my son. The reason behind the lack of fridge, kettle, permanent hall lights are high costs of electricity in Morocco. And let us help the hotel in this regard. While in Rome, be like the Roman. Apt saying. "Positives": The staff. You need anything, you will get it with a smile thrown in. In tourism, we rate service more than non-essential amenities. The SPA: Ms Sukhina is a real gem and she really looked after us in the Hammam. My masseuse was Ms Iqra, and she sort of provided deep tissue massage which relieved my body aches (sustained during Saharan trip to Zagora. Those who are planning it, please do visit Zagora for a 2 day trip or Merzouga for a 3 day trip. The latter is more or less like the Sahara we have seen in Google images. We now know a great local contact for our next trip, so hopefully will go to Merzouga next). The (Lamb/Veg / Chicken) Tajine: Gorgeous. The outdoor pool: Freezing but relaxing Breakfast: Crepes, which reminded us of Indian Parathas, along with freshly squeezed orange juices, yoghurt's, jams, butters, boiled eggs etc..was sufficient for us to keep going till lunch time. Proximity to Carrefour: Cannot remember the name of the shopping centre, but if you fancy an Italian, or Pizza Hut, or Kebabs etc - there is this shopping center (if you ask about Carrefour, you will be shown very easily how to get there) with a massive food court at the top. They can also deliver food to your room if your order early. Overall, I rated Hotel Palais Jena and Spa a full 5 star for the memories me, my family and friends brought back with us. The service by the staff contributed immensely towards these memories and a mere lack of fridge or kettle did not impact us at all. Planning to get back to Marrakesh next year April, and if we do - we will stay again in Palais Jena and Spa.