Marrakech, Morocco has a tremendous amount of riads and super luxury hotels that compete for indulgence on a world class scale. Sometimes though, you just need a hotel on your way in and out of Marrakech or perhaps something less over the top indulgent. The Le Meridien N’Fis Marrakech comes in perfectly in these circumstances. Read on to see how our experience with this property fared…

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Iceland, the United Kingdom and Morocco. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

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Review: Le Meridien N’Fis, Marrakech, Morocco

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“Le Meridien N’Fis is a straight forward city resort hotel that is close to the Marrakech Airport. It offers everything you’d expect from a chain hotel, but none of the charm of staying in a Moroccan Riad”

We had one night in Marrakech, Morocco after our multi day stay at the Erg Chigaga Luxury Desert Tented Camp Mhamid, Morocco. We travelled back to Marrakech with one night to spare prior to departing Morocco for the United Kingdom the next day.

Booking:

I picked the Le Meridien N’Fis Marrakech as it was one of the bargains in the Starwood Preferred Guest portfolio at the time. During our stay, we were able to redeem a night’s stay for 2,000 Starpoints, which is now the equivalent of 6,000 Marriott Bonvoy Rewards. Marriott Bonvoy Award rates now go for about 11,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points per night, which still a pretty good deal for a night in a hotel. If you value Marriott Bonvoy Points at $0.08 cents per point, you’d be better off redeeming a room on points assuming the cash rate is above 872 MAD (Morocco Dirhams), $88 USD or 82€.

By booking direct with Marriott Bonvoy, we were able to also take advantage of Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status, which extended a complimentary breakfast, and a suit upgrade based on availability.

Getting to the Hotel:

The hotel is situated on the west side of Marrakech and the medina. As a result, it was on the right side of town to be closer to the Marrakech Menara International Airport.

The Le Meridien N’Fis Marrakech hotel is located about 3 kilometres away from the Medina and Jemna el Fnaa square; the center of attractions for any visitor to Marrakech. The three kilometers means a six minute car ride or an uncomfortable thirty minute walk through some pretty hot and shadeless walking conditions in a hot climate. This means you’ll likely need a taxi or other local transportation for your sightseeing visits into the walled city.

Checking into the Hotel:

On arrival to the Le Meridien N’Fis Marrakech, we entered through a metal detector and the bags were wheeled in. Similar to many of my other Le Meridien experiences, the property was quite dated and partially refreshed. The check in was handled fairly promptly and there was no wait to get to the counter. On our arrival, the lobby happened to be full of packaged tour guests. At the check in counter, I asked if there were any Platinum Upgrades available and the host indicated that we had been upgraded to an Executive Room.

The Room: An Executive Room

We had our bags wheeled up as we were led to Room #344. Unfortunately, the beautiful upgrade that I had been dreaming of after our tenting experience turned out to be just a Club Level view room on the top Starwood Preferred Guest floor located in the Atlas Building.

The room was in reasonable condition and was likely in first third of it’s life cycle. It was a pretty straight forward and standard room. We were happy that we didn’t spend all our time in Marrakach at this resort when we compared to the Anayela Riad as the Riad was a much nicer experience (and priced accordingly). I wasn’t a super fan of the red 1990’s accent wall, but who’s complaining at these prices?

The room offered a small working desk that was downright tiny after a bag or two was placed on it. The room also featured a small counter underneath the flat screen television.

Although there were lots of suite upgrades reported here by other elite travellers, the building we were in didn’t appear to have too many suites configured into the layout at only 1 per floor.

There was a tiny and slightly drab bathroom with the usual Le Meridien Malin + Goetz toiletries.

At least the room, despite not being all to grand, had a pleasant view into the palm trees of the property.

Around the Property:

Outdoor Swimming Pool

The next morning, I ran around and took a look around the property. The hotel had some nice gardens and a pleasant pool area that was completely deserted at all times throughout our stay. Being an older property, it happens to have a lot of real estate attached to it. As a result, it was very spacious for an inner city property.

Food and Beverage:

Le Jasmin Restaurant

On the day of our arrival, we had dinner at the hotel property bar. It was a dated looking bar but it offered a club sandwich which I was craving at the time. By this point, I’d had Moroccan Tagines about three nights in a row. Tagines are great but they tend to be similar tasting after a while. The bar was old, dark and smoky; just what you’d expect from an older African hotel. It was full of French visitors smoking thin cigarettes.

Le Panoramique Restaurant:

We took in a Platinum breakfast the next morning at the Le Panoramique Restaurant. The Le Panoramique restaurant offered the usual indoor and outdoor seating arrangements typically found in a hotel of this size. It wasn’t anything all too exciting to write home about. The breakfast buffet did offer Moroccan Tea, along with the opportunity to try fresh pancakes which were featured all over Morocco. The ability to enjoy a free breakfast courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy elite benefits was another value add for our stay.

We stayed at the hotel prior to departing Morocco on British Airways Club Europe Business Class Marrakech – London the next day.

The Bottom Line: Le Meridien N’Fis

The Le Meridien N’Fis certainly met my expectations for a quick stay. It wasn’t all too exciting, but fit the need for a quick overnight at the airport. The pools looked great, but it was definitely a cheaper place to stay for those that didn’t want to spend a large amount on a luxury resort or a riad that Marrakech was known for. At a discounted redemption rate, I certainly wasn’t complaining. It seems that the same property is now offered for between 11,000 and 12,500 Marriott Bonvoy points, which is still a reasonable value.

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If you have stayed at Le Meridien N’Fis, did you redeem Marriott Bonvoy points for outsized value?

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