Heure Bleue Palais : Relais & Chateaux

An absolutely stunning building, with a restful and cool central courtyard filled with mature planting. I'll admit - we upgraded to a Premier Suite, and it was gorgeous; a huge bedroom, separate lounge area, bath, shower, etc. etc...plenty of space, which was great as we were spending a whole week here. Service was faultless; the staff couldn't do enough for us. The breakfast buffet was excellent, with both cold and hot food available. The pool, terrace and bar on the roof level was a really nice touch. We ate up there one lunchtime, and the food was really good. The location on the edge of the Medina meant that access to the souk, restaurants and shops, the port and the ramparts was all in easy walking distance, and access to the beach promenade was only a few minutes walk away.

Beautiful hotel, hospitable staff, lovely rooms and excellent amenities. Really enjoyed this hotel from the moment we walked in the doors. The staff were very friendly and attentive. The room was really spacious with a lovely bathroom and quirky features. The breakfast was excellent with a great selection and the restaurant at night was also nice. Will definitely be back!

If I didn’t stay at this fabulous hotel, I would have almost no positive memories of my trip to Morocco. ||This was a highlight of my stay in Morocco, hotel both beautiful with excellent location and service, food was great on dinners and breakfasts, staff helpful friendly and professional, I loved the room decor, and facilities, flower petals and fruit were a nice touch. Toiletries smelled incredible I have even bought some to take home. ||Everything from the check in and complimentary orange juice and sweets, to seamless luggage service as well as a great walk around of the hotel facilities ending with exquisite laundry service (I never seen my clothes this well pressed), I enjoyed two full days of rest in the heart of Mdina, Essouira.||The dinner in the main restaurant was beautiful both nights as well as the service, my favourite was sitting in the beautiful lush bar enjoying peace and quiet together with a well prepared cocktail. ||This was easily the best hotel stay to date (and I’ve visited 60 countries) and I would visit again just to stay here again. Thanks to all the attentive staff for such a wonderful stay

We stayed in Essaouira, which is a relaxed, chill town on the Atlantic Ocean (some scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed in the town). We had high expectations for a Relais and Chateaux hotel but were disappointed. While the hotel is in a great location, the entire property feels a bit sad, tired and the decor is dark -- such a contrast from the brightness and blue and white outdoors. The rooms felt the same (showers were great!!). The first night we could not sleep at all because there was construction noise outside. When we altered the staff they said there was no construction in that area of town overnight (they were wrong). We persisted and had our room changed, which was a nicer room in a better location. The breakfast food was meh and the breads stale (tasted old and not fresh). We need to leave early to catch a flight home so the hotel said they'd back us a to-go breakfast (very nice); however, you needed a spoon to eat much of the food and there was none (a rookie oversight).

We stayed here for four nights during our 15 day tour of Morocco last month.|There were some good and bad points, which is why I have to give an "average" rating.|Our first night was one of the worst we have ever spent in a hotel. The building is surrounded on three sides by busy medina streets/alleyways and we suffered a group of locals partying below our window until 2.00am. (Plus bins and bottles crashing around at midnight). We complained the next morning (as did other guests) and were offered a similar suite on the fourth side, overlooking the open space to the east, then a large car park and busy city street beyond that. We took it and worked out that despite the traffic and more distant background noise, the walls are quite thick, and if we stuffed the external windows (which are tiny) with every spare pillow and cushion we had a quiet room and had three good nights sleep.||The central courtyard area was much cooler, smaller and darker than we expected from photographs. It is full of trees and greenery which have become quite tall now in a 4 storey building so not the warm/sunny area that we had envisaged. There is no outside space or views or sun terrace/space at ground level.|The dining was quite formal. We only used it once. |I understand previous reviews which say the place is a bit tired. Our second room (32) was better than the first (35). Maybe more recently decorated. The first room only had one bedside working bedside light. The second was broken and hanging on its flex.|But all quite clean.|The rooftop was the best bit. A very pleasant (and sunny!) rooftop lunchtime menu and plenty of sunbeds and shades. But we went back especially for lunch on one day and it was shut without any warning or notice. One guest thought they "had another event on somewhere". We went back downstairs and were told it was due the the previous night's rain. So we had to have lunch in the cool shaded courtyard. The next day (and after another night's rain!!)...it was open again!!.|The location is very good, just inside the medina and I don't think there's any comparable alternatives until you get over by the port area. And I'm not sure what there is there. So for a fairly safe bet in Essaouira, L'Heure Bleue will do the job. |Maybe we caught it in less than perfect weather and the shaded cool central courtyard area would be great in the heat of summer.

Although the building might be historic, rooms are tired and need better maintenance upkeep. Stayed 2 nights as part of tour, likely in most basic rooms on level 1, one floor above ground floor. ||Bathroom tile edges have mildew, outlet near basin didn’t work, and another traveler in group didn’t have functioning air conditioning. As bathroom window faces out to Medina parking, there’s constant noise coming through. As it’s a windy city, room door is loose and didn’t close tightly so there’s chatter from time to time. ||WiFi is slow. Massage in Spa is mediocre. Pool is on the roof with a limited menu for lunch. Dinner and breakfast served at the lobby level restaurant. ||Excellent staff service from restaurant to housekeeper to reception desk. The aging and lack of facilities upkeep made it an average, or perhaps below average stay.

It appears that the hotel have taken on board the comments of previous reviews because the hotel was immaculate. Everywhere was freshly painted and beautifully maintained from the exterior walkways and balconies to the beautiful crisp bed linen fresh towels and robes. The staff were amazing, opening the kitchen to provide room service after our late arrival. Breakfast was superb and our one meal in the restaurant was very special. The rooftop was a little paradise and all beautifully clean and it appeared that every detail had been attended to. We have booked again immediately on return to the UK, this time for 9 nights in February 2026 - I cant wait.

When you stay at a Relais & Chateaux hotel, and especially one billed as the best Riad in Essaouira, you expect a certain level of comfort and attention to detail. Whilst this property is undoubtedly very good, it did not meet our expectations. On the positive side the hotel is beautiful inside and the staff are certainly friendly and well trained to look after the guests; always a smile and very willing to help with anything. The standard of cuisine is high, as expected. However, we booked a deluxe room with a balcony and I would say it was a little more shabby than chic. On arrival, we mentioned that neither of the sets of curtains was working and one was hanging off the rail. Someone very quickly attended to make sure the curtains were closed, but no repair was carried out during the five days of our stay, it was more like a third class hotel each time we looked out of the windows. After the first night, the manager asked if we had any issues and whether we had slept well. I mentioned that the room was very noisy with traffic outside the medina, the clattering of rubbish from below when the bins were emptied and lots of children playing into the night. It was shrugged off as the sort of thing one has to expect during Ramadan. Unfortunately, the problem persisted and for five nights we were frequently woken in the night due to the noise of traffic, bins, motorcycles racing around the car park outside, children playing and dogs barking. We were pleased to leave for a quieter hotel. Perhaps this is problem with the deluxe rooms with windows to the outside, rather than the standard rooms with windows only into the courtyard. When prompted, I mentioned it again to the manager after the fourth night and he offered to change our room, but this was impractical with only one night left. It's a shame he did not offer this after the first night. We had looked forward to having some relaxing spa experiences, but even here we were thwarted. The fan in the Hamam treatment area is so noisy that you cannot relax in the Hamam itself or the treatment room beside it. Needless to say a relaxing massage became a bit of an ordeal. I mentioned this to the staff and one of the managers came to me the following morning. All she could say was that this was the normal noise of the Hamam steam and that I could have asked for it to be turned off. We did not return for more treatments. To end on a positive note. The hotel has a wonderful pool on the roof, with panoramic views out to the sea and really comfortable seating areas to relax in. It is also spotlessly clean and very beautiful internally with a gorgeous courtyard that is used as the breakfast area. Bathrooms are lovely with very high quality cosmetics.