Name: Riad Anne de Mekns
Address: 4 Derb Sidi M'Barek Bab Bardaïne,Derb Sidi M'Barek, Meknes Medina, Meknes Medina, Meknes Medina, 50030, Morocco
Rating: 9

Smoke-free property

General

Non-smoking rooms

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Internet access

Internet

Airport transportation

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French

Arabic

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Sun Deck

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Solarium

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Pets Not Allowed

Pets

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At the hotel

Fes-Saiss Airport

Riad Anne de Mekns

Meknes Medina

child-bed

child-bed-fee

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bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

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oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

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pool-view

river-view

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with-view

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

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pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Anne’s cute house is a decent place to stay, but if I could have my Moroccan holiday all over again I would have ditched the night in Meknes and stayed an extra night in Fez. Visiting Volubilis is an excellent experience and was a highlight, but you can easily do that from Fez, or en-route to another destination, bypassing Meknes altogether.

Judging from the infrequent reviews of this accommodation on Tripadvisor, it seems that Anne doesn’t get that many visitors, and now I can understand why. Meknes itself is basically an uninteresting and semi-unpleasant place – the ‘sights’ as they are pale in comparison to those in Fez, and the main square is just awful; full of snake ‘charmers’ blowing loudly on their flutes at some comatose snakes, chained up monkeys wearing Lionel Messi football shirts, peacocks, beggars, and a souk full of cheap Chinese shoes and junk. The Dar Jamai museum that Lonely Planet describes as ‘one of the best in Morocco’ is a joke – it’s a run down, scraggly assortment of bits of clothing, household items and weapons with no English labelling. I can’t imagine how other reviewers can describe this place as ‘amazing’. The fabled Bab Mansour gate is impressive, but it certainly doesn’t justify making Meknes a destination. Coachloads of tourists just stop here, snap the obligatory photo, and zoom off again. 

Adding insult to injury, there’s also no good restaurants in and around the Medina – we ate a half grilled chicken on the main square for late lunch and that was decent, but we couldn’t find something good and local for dinner that didn’t involve being picked up and escorted somewhere else. And by then we were a bit fed up of the place.  

Anne’s Riad is located away from main medina area in a barren & dusty part of town, and the Riad’s location near Bab Berdina is distinctly run-down and charmless, and was the only place in Morocco that I felt vaguely uneasy about leaving my car overnight. The area might be ‘authentic’ and in a ‘neighbourhood’, but so were other places we stayed in Morocco that were much nicer than this. In and of itself, the Riad is quite attractive – our room was the ‘Pink Suite’ and it was a good size, comfortable, and nicely furnished. Anne also has a rooftop terrace which has some semblance of a view, and is a good place to sip tea, nibble cookies, and unwind in the evening – and for breakfast. So no issues with the accommodation, apart from 2 niggles. The first is the breakfast, which I thought was poor – consisting of bread, pancakes and jam. We had to ask for eggs as they weren’t offered (and they are nearly everywhere else we stayed), and the coffee was lukewarm and unpalatable. It doesn’t take much to provide guests with good coffee – and rightly or wrongly I always equate poor coffee with poor attention to detail and quality.

The second niggle is that if you don’t speak French, then you can’t easily communicate, as Anne speaks no English. I imagine that if you want to set yourself up in a guesthouse with international visitors, then you should make the effort to learn enough language to converse with people from the non-European world – but alas not. And although it might seem like a bit of fun to try out your schoolkid French and make lots of hand gestures, it wears thin, and becomes quite frustrating quite quickly.

Riad Anne de Meknes is a quirky and comfortable place, and Anne herself seems like a sweet lady, but the question really is why you would want to stay here in the first place.

Torn between Good and Bad...

This is the fourth of eleven Moroccan accommodation reviews, following the third in Chefchaouen, and preceding our stay in Fes. Stayed on 22nd to 24th April, 2014.

Our stay in the number one Trip Advisor rated riad is kept up in Anne’s place. So far, we have stayed in inns run by English, American and Spanish. Here the owner is French!

By far the accommodation at Riad Anne is the most luxurious so far. Anne is a former fonctionnaire from Paris. Meknes is not a place to stay for most travellers, who stay in Fes, and come for a short visit as a part of their Volubilis excursion. It’s really too bad, because the medina here is much cleaner and less crowded than in Fes, and there are enough sights to warrant a stay. We stayed for two nights, and were grateful for it.

Back to the riad – it is a formal mansion. Our suite is large in Moroccan standards, and the furnishings of the entire building are refined. The shower is solar-heated and takes a while, but runs well once it starts. The rate is not cheap, but well worth what you pay. Anne does not speak much English, but we liked her and the guide she booked so much we took them all out for dinner! We dined at the Riad El Ma, and it was delightful. There is something quirky about the rating – Riad Anne is rated the number one hotel, and Riad El Ma the number one B&B and Inn. To us, Anne is a true B&B, since she does not offer meals except breakfast, while El Ma’s chef is already noted in Trip Advisor for her fabulous cooking. 

Never mind, to each Riad, accolades for your respective successes!

Undiscovered Meknes

The true gem of this Riad is Anne herself, who goes out of her way to make you feel at home. My french is lousy, but Anne went out of her way to accommodate me. The Riad is located in a working neighborhood, which i enjoyed, so lots of people and children rushing about. My room was very basic but comfortable and the breakfast was lovely, Anne got up early to prepare as i had a train to catch. For those looking for an authentic experience with a wonderful host, its a winner. Directions - enter first arch of Bab Berdaine, start walking through car park and take first alley way left, then right, then left, start walking down alleyway silver looking door on your left about 50 m down

Authentic stay - Great hostess ! 

Anne's riad is a fantastic and lovely place to stay at. The interior design and view are what made it for us. Add to this it's location: not in the tourstic area, but with the locals - it was a great experience to see how the population celebrated the first days of Ramadan - and still being some 5/10 min. walk from areas of interested.

Anne was very helpful and charming when it came down to getting us around, letting us use her kitchen and helping us shop. As a host, couldn't find better.

Lovely place

We stayed in the riad Anne for 2 nights this month. The building is beautifully renovated and our rooms  were lovely. Anne and her husband Ali were so welcoming and friendly we felt as if we were part of her family! The breakfasts are lovely and served on the roof terrace with views over the city. I would recommend it to anyone and hope to go back again.

Riad Anne de Mekns

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