We travelled to Morocco with a large group of friends to celebrate our bachelor/bachelorette party. Since we take group trips often, our friends are very familiar with how it is renting out large properties like this villa. All in all we enjoyed our 4-night stay at Shemsmoon, but there are areas for improvement.
Communication:
We booked this property 7 months in advance. As happens with large trips like this, we had many questions to be answered & items to be addressed before our arrival to ensure all of our guests had a great time. The property owner, Layla, was very responsive at the beginning but as we got closer to the trip it would take a couple of days to get a response and missing answers to some of our questions.
Check-in/Arrival:
When we arrived at check-in time (which was changed from 3 to 4pm the day before we arrived & guests had already scheduled car transfers to arrive at the villa at 3), we were greeted by the house manager, Mamadou, and his assistant, Bashir, along with some mint tea. They showed us around the property and helped our guests carry luggage to their rooms.
The property:
This is a beautifully laid out villa with lots of outdoor space. We loved sitting outside each night for dinner. We also really liked that with 35 guests each couple/pair got their own room with an en suite bathroom. Only 1 suite had to share a bathroom between 2 rooms/4 girls. The beds were comfy, nicely decorated & maintained a good temperature. When I asked my guests about their rooms, they all loved how spacious they were but did have a few complaints (which I've listed below)...
-only one bath towel was provided per person in each room (the girls preferred more)
-no washcloths
-no hand soap at the sinks & only one tiny bottle of shower gel/shampoo in the showers
-many showers don't have shower curtains or doors so the water sprays everywhere
-one room had a terrible odor in it the entire 4 days
-one room had 2 sinks, but 1 was missing a faucet and handles
-one room had a bulb out that was hanging down from the light
-some rooms did not get hot water and others had very weak water pressure
-WiFi barely reached the rooms, you'd have to go to the living room to get a good signal
Meals:
We had breakfast & dinner at the house each day. The food was good. Setup was beautiful! Service great!
All in all we enjoyed our stay but definitely wish the property was better maintained. Mamadou and Bashir were wonderful and helpful! Thank you!
