Riad Emotion

In short, it was a truly enchanting experience. The rooms are beautifully crafted, adorned with art at every turn—it's clear the owner has a passion for collecting. If I find myself in Essaouira again, I won’t hesitate to choose this place for my stay.

Best avoided (read till the end). The owner, Mr. Phillipe, doesn't seem interested in running Riad Emotion in a manner that comes across as warm or hospitable to his guests. First thing first, if you do decide to stay here, make sure you have your own towel(s). The towels and bathrobes that we were provided with in the bathroom were completely run down with threads swaying in the air at the edges; more brown from overuse than their original color, white. Breakfast is fine and the women who make breakfast do a good job at it and are perhaps the only ones who are seemingly warm and nice. But, more than anything else, the reason this place is best avoided is because Mr. Phillipe seems to consider guest relations as simply an impersonal business transaction. And, I say this not loosely. But, from a bad experience there. My wife and I stayed for two nights, and unfortunately forgot one of our jackets there. We reached Marrakesh and realized it only while unpacking our stuff. But, we didn't know where we had forgotten the jacket. In the rental car? At restaurants where we ate at in Essaouira? A bench? At Riad Emotion? So, we began calling places, and after calling all the outdoor places, we decided to call Riad Emotion. We were presuming that if we had left it at Riad Emotion then they would obviously call us. Mr. Phillipe is a Frenchman, and to be sure his first language is not English. That's totally fine, of course. But, it's not that he doesn't speak English. We don't know French or Arabic but we had spoken with him in English while staying at Riad Emotion. However, as is sadly common, the first thing that he said when we called to inquire about the jacket was that 'he doesn't speak English.' We pressed on, so he didn't just bang the phone down. And, lo and behold, he carried-on the conversation in English after we said 'hold-on, we just stayed with you, and are calling for something specific.' Nearly two days had passed since we had realized that our jacket was missing. But, to our surprise, upon inquiring about it with Mr. Phillipe, he simply said, "yes, we got your jacket from your room." What?? If you found our jacket from our room, then couldn't you drop us a text, call, or send across an email - our contacts were noted after all when we checked-in. But, here's the kicker. Mr. Phillipe went on to say that if we need our jacket in Marrakesh, it would cost us 700 Dirhams (~70 Euros) as he would have to pay someone. Really? Moroccans that we spoke to in Marrakesh regarding this had their jaws drop at hearing that Mr. Phillipe was asking us to cough up 70 Euros to somehow get us our jacket. No one said it should cost more than 30 Euros at best. We finally worked with someone at the Riad in Marrakesh we were staying at, and who was super helpful to have the jacket picked up from Riad Emotion and delivered to Marrakesh the very next day - all for a token amount compared to what Mr. Phillipe was demanding. We've never had such a strange experience, a

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Riad Emotion, it was everything we had hoped, small, intimate and quiet. The owners Philippe and Gisele clearly love their home and rightly so, their attention to detail is everywhere. It's a charming place, in a wonderful central location, close to everything. Rooms, especially the Suites are large and well appointed, with huge comfortable beds and lovely little touches, including seating outside the room, which we loved, especially to hear the sea and watch the tuneful little birds fly in and out to feed their young. The staff are ever so friendly and attentive. Breakfast is one of the best we have had in a riad - the yogurt is divine. Thank you Philippe and Gisele for a lovely, relaxing 4 night stay.

Beautiful riad in the heart of the Medina. Phillipe and Giselle are wonderful hosts, and their staff are very attentive and kind. The interior design is stunning and everything has been thought of. Lovely touches such as rose petals scattered. When we left they gave us snacks for the journey and some very high quality Argan oil. Highly recommended

Riad très bien placé, au coeur de la médina tout en étant au calme. Très jolie décoration, de l'entrée jusqu'à la terrasse sur le toit. Chambre soigneusement décorée, très bonne literie. Petit déjeuner maison (confitures, pâtisseries, oeufs, légumes, salades de fruits…) très complet, avec des douceurs locales renouvelées chaque jour, servi par un personnel, efficace et très aimable. A tout ça, vous ajoutez l'accueil très chaleureux des propriétaires Gisèle et Philippe, de très bon conseil pour accéder aux bonnes adresses, que ce soit visites culturelles, sportives, bien être ou restauration. Le combo parfait du séjour parfait!

Le riad a été rénové avec goût. La décoration est bien choisie, tant pour le mobilier que pour les œuvres d'art. L'accueil est chaleureux et l'hôte sait vous proposer des lieux intéressants sur Essaouira. Le petit déjeuner est fort agréable