Morocco Culture and Nature Tour

Traveler Reviews

• L

  Lindsay

  October 10th, 2018
  4.0
  Overall I thought that the tour was generally good. The variety of destinations and choices of places of interest (...
  Overall I thought that the tour was generally good. The variety of destinations and choices of places of interest ( Natural Landscapes Discoveries tour ) provided a good overview of what Morocco has to offer in the 10 days of touring. Our driver MADHI was excellent not only in providing a professional transport service but also an insight into the real " MOROCCO ". His approach and friendly personality made the tour more personalised rather than purely a sightseeing tour. Accommodation on the whole was good. I had a preference to Rihads rather than hotels. Meals were in my opinion very average and typically hotel buffet in presentation. Local guides were very good and most informative and helpful. The many ( and sometimes repeated ) presentations of local crafts/products was unnecessary and proved uncomfortable at times. Itinerary was generally good however in my personal opinion the night in the Sahara is overrated and not worth the effort. The day visit to Ourika valley offered very little and the time spent would have been more rewarding in Marrakech. In summary I believe that the tour we undertook could be improved by reducing it by 2 days or alternatively replacing the Sahara and Ourika days with extra time in either Marrakech or Fez or another destination. I would like to also note my appreciation to " Morocco Discoveries " in honouring their commitment that the tour would be guaranteed with a minimum of 2 confirmed bookings.Show more
  Traveled in September 2018
• S

  Sumie

  April 14th, 2018
  2.5
  I don’t recommend this agency. They sell this tour as 4 stars but you really get 2.5 service. 1. Even though many...
  I don’t recommend this agency. They sell this tour as 4 stars but you really get 2.5 service. 1. Even though many customers have complained about accommodation they keep using the same hotels. 2. Not all of their staff speaks English, or are qualified for the job they have been assigned for. 3. The car we got for traveling around the country had: a. NO A/C (no air conditioning going to the desert!) b. When going up a hill or mountain, the car expelled black smoke and wouldn’t go faster than 10km/h (we spent 10h going to Fez, instead of the average 7h). c. Was absolutely dirty. You would get dust in your cloth just by wearing the seat belt. 4. The itinerary could be improved: a. Spending a day in Ourika Valey instead of Casablanca doesn’t make much sense. b. Traveling from the desert to Fez should be done on a Friday (when everything is closed) and like that one can take more advantage of Fez Medina’s tour (Saturday instead of Friday).Show more
  Traveled in April 2018
• 

  Sayuri

  April 14th, 2018
  2.5
  This is NOT a 4 star tour, it is OVERPRICED. Additionally, we agree with the complaints published on this website by...
  This is NOT a 4 star tour, it is OVERPRICED. Additionally, we agree with the complaints published on this website by Akshatha and Mariya on February and March of 2018, regarding hotel issues. TRANSPORTATION: This is where “Morocco Discoveries” failed completely. 7 out of the 10 days that lasted the tour, we were transported in a dirty, old van WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING. Imagine going to the dessert under these conditions. A 4WD should have picked us up to get to our lodging in the dessert and that didn’t happen either. Our 3rd driver, wasn’t familiar with the route, so we got lost several times. More over, he didn’t speak English, although the agency insisted that he spoke English, Spanish and French. I am a Spanish native speaker and also speak English, I can assure that he didn’t speak any of them. The driver had the best attitude, but he is not qualified for the task. HOTELS: The promise of the hotels is “Great (4 stars)” and that is NOT the case. Hotel Meriem is supposed to be 4-stars; however, the food is horrible (over cooked, cold, etc.), the rooms are humid and we found a spider between our bathroom towels. Tichka Salaam in Ouarzazate is a 3-stars hotel (see www.letichkaouarzazate.com), it was ok for a 3-stars, but definitely not a 4-stars hotel. Kasbah Leila in the dessert, considering the conditions, was good. The only hotel that lived to the 4-stars promise was Riad Nazha in Fez, it was unbelievably good, it offered delicious food, comfortable rooms and excellent service. Casa Hassan at Chefchaouene was good, but it is not a 4-stars hotel. Oum Palace at Casablanca is a 4-stars hotel; however, our sheets were dirty (they were wrinkled and had hair on them) and we had to request to have the sheets changed, which they did promptly. GUIDES: This tour says that Services of local guides and a tour manager are provided. We did not have a guide for Kasbah Aït Benhaddou, which is a historical site; however, for the rest of the historical sites we had very good or excellent guides. At Ourika Valley, our guide hop on the van (or so we thought) because our first driver said “this is your guide”. When we tipped the guide, he said that he still needed to be paid... We told him that this was the agency’s responsibility since we had all guides included on our plan and that we needed to ask our driver. Our driver said that if we had tipped him, then that was enough. It turns out that this was somebody that had nothing to do with the program and we had to negotiate a guiding fee to walk up the mountain, but we were not informed before hand. It makes no sense to include this visit that is several hours outside Marrakech without a guide and moreover without telling people that the guiding fee is not included. ITINERARY: Badi Palace in Marrakech was not included and we had to pay it and do it on our own (our 1st driver was kind to take us there and picked us up afterwards). Kasbah of Aït Benhaddou is a historical site where we didn’t have a guide nor a tour manager with us. Hassan II Mosque (the biggest in Morocco and amazing) located in Casablanca was not included either. We were able to do it (at our own cost) because the tour manager was kind enough to offer the chance to visit it, making adjustments in the itinerary. But, Ourika Valley was included, but it turns out with no guide, this visit could be removed and instead include the historical sites we ended up paying additionally (Badi Palace and Hassan II Mosque). MOROCCO DISCOVERIES: Basically, we saw no intention of the agency to amend things, even though we manifested our complaints several times. Although we have to say that our tour manager (Mohammed H.) tried to cheer things up, but this should be a company effort and not of just one employee who feels bad for his clients. The situation was so aggravating that even our guide in Fez called the agency to complain, he found the situation unacceptable. We want to clarify that this review is only regarding the services of Morocco Discoveries as an agency, it is not a reflection of what we thought of Morocco and it’s people, which we loved.Show more
  Traveled in March 2018
  

  Reply from: Morocco Discoveries

  Dear Ms. Tamura, Glad to hear that in the overall you had a wonderful experience with Morocco and its people. That does make us happy and proud as well. In fact, Morocco Discoveries is totally a Moroccan company, so we take part directly or indirectly of this wonderful experience. We do our best to satisfy everyone in our diverse tours we supply in Morocco. We have handpicked these tour itineraries offering you the best of our country and culture. We cover all that is included in our itinerary but in every large city, we leave a window of opportunity to explore what is of your personal interest. Palais Badiaa in Marrakech is not included in our itinerary as many people felt as wasting their precious time visiting ruins of an old palace when we can be exploring many other relevant historic sites Marrakech has to offer. So we include only what is vital and necessary and important to visit in Marrakech. Like what is mentioned in our itinerary. However, we give you a free afternoon in Marrakech for this reason. Ait Benhaddou does not need a guide to visit. It is a world heritage site of UNESCO. Mohamed Hayani who did everything to make it a memorable journey and satisfy all your needs is Morocco Discoveries Tour Manager. All the guides in cities visited are Morocco Discoveries guides. You have been in contact with Morocco Discoveries staff from your arrival to your departure. We have contracts with Hotels but we do not own them nor give them the stars to list. Maybe they are not 4 stars by your standards but that is how The ministry of Tourism in Morocco rates them. Our goal is to give you a memorable experience in Morocco but let's not forget that Morocco is not the USA. Morocco with all its particularities is trying in good faith to meet all the standards to satisfy all visitors. It is a beautiful country with lots to offer. Morocco Discoveries is no exception. We are trying to do our best. About the Van, There is absolutely no Van running in Morocco for tourist transportation that is without AC. It is the Ministry of Transportations regulations. This Tour is called Morocco Natural Landscapes Diversity Tour. It is an in-depth cultural and adventure tour. Please see it from this perspective. Not just what a 4-star hotel should be.

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• 

  Sayuri

  April 12th, 2018
  2.5
  This is NOT a 4 star tour, it is OVERPRICED. Additionally, we agree with the complaints published by Akshatha and...
  This is NOT a 4 star tour, it is OVERPRICED. Additionally, we agree with the complaints published by Akshatha and Mariya on February and March of 2018, regarding hotel issues. TRANSPORTATION: This is where “Morocco Discoveries” failed completely. 7 out of the 10 days that lasted the tour, we were transported in a dirty, old van WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING. Imagine going to the dessert under these conditions. A 4WD should have picked us up to get to our lodging in the dessert and that didn’t happen either. Our 3rd driver, wasn’t familiar with the route, so we got lost several times. More over, he didn’t speak English, although the agency insisted that he spoke English, Spanish and French. I am a Spanish native speaker and also speak English, I can assure that he didn’t speak any of them. The driver had the best attitude, but he is not qualified for the task. HOTELS: The promise of the hotels is “Great (4 stars)” and that is NOT the case. Hotel Meriem is supposed to be 4-stars; however, the food is horrible (over cooked, cold, etc.), the rooms are humid and we found a spider between our bathroom towels. Tichka Salaam in Ouarzazate is a 3-stars hotel, it was ok for a 3-stars, but definitely not a 4-stars hotel. Kasbah Leila in the dessert, considering the conditions, was good. The only hotel that lived to the 4-stars promise was Riad Nazha in Fez, it was unbelievably good, it offered delicious food, comfortable rooms and excellent service. Casa Hassan at Chefchaouene was good, but it is not a 4-stars hotel. Oum Palace at Casablanca is a 4-stars hotel; however, our sheets were dirty (they were wrinkled and had hair on them) and we had to request to have the sheets changed, which they did promptly. GUIDES: This tour says that Services of local guides and a tour manager are provided. We did not have a guide for Kasbah Aït Benhaddou, which is a historical site; however, for the rest of the historical sites we had very good or excellent guides. At Ourika Valley, our guide hop on the van (or so we thought) because our first driver said “this is your guide”. When we tipped the guide, he said that he still needed to be paid... We told him that this was the agency’s responsibility since we had all guides included on our plan and that we needed to ask our driver. Our driver said that if we had tipped him, then that was enough. It turns out that this was somebody that had nothing to do with the program and we had to negotiate a guiding fee to walk up the mountain, but we were not informed before hand. It makes no sense to include this visit that is several hours outside Marrakech without a guide and moreover without telling people that the guiding fee is not included. ITINERARY: Badi Palace in Marrakech was not included and we had to pay it and do it on our own (our 1st driver was kind to take is there and picked us up afterwards). Kasbah of Aït Benhaddou is a historical site where we didn’t have a guide nor a tour manager with us. Hassan II Mosque (the biggest in Morocco and amazing) located in Casablanca was not included either. We were able to do it (at our own cost) because the tour manager was kind enough to offer the chance to visit it, making adjustments in the itinerary. But, Ourika Valley was included, but it turns out with no guide, this visit could be removed and instead include the historical sites we ended up paying additionally (Badi Palace and Hassan II Mosque). MOROCCO DISCOVERIES: Basically, we saw no intention of the agency to amend things, even though we manifested our complaints several times. Although we have to say that our tour manager (Mohammed H.) tried to cheer things up, but this should be a company effort and not of just one employee who feels bad for his clients. The situation was so aggravating that even our guide in Fez called the agency to complain, he found the situation unacceptable. We want to clarify that this review is only regarding the services of Morocco Discoveries as an agency, it is not a reflection of what we thought of Morocco and it’s people, which we loved.Show more
  Traveled in March 2018
  

  Reply from: Morocco Discoveries

  Glad to hear that in the overall you had a wonderful experience with Morocco and its people. That does make us happy and proud as well. In fact, Morocco Discoveries is totally a Moroccan company, so we take part directly or indirectly of this wonderful experience. We do our best to satisfy everyone in our diverse tours we supply in Morocco. We have handpicked these tour itineraries offering you the best of our country and culture. We cover all that is included in our itinerary but in every large city, we leave a window of opportunity to explore what is of your personal interest. Palais Badiaa in Marrakech is not included in our itinerary as many people felt as wasting their precious time visiting ruins of an old palace when we can be exploring many other relevant historic sites Marrakech has to offer. So we include only what is vital and necessary and important to visit in Marrakech. Like what is mentioned in our itinerary. However, we give you a free afternoon in Marrakech for this reason. Ait Benhaddou does not need a guide to visit. It is a world heritage site of UNESCO. Mohamed Hayani who did everything to make it a memorable journey and satisfy all your needs is Morocco Discoveries Tour Manager. All the guides in cities visited are Morocco Discoveries guides. You have been in contact with Morocco Discoveries staff from your arrival to your departure. We have contracts with Hotels but we do not own them nor give them the stars to list. Maybe they are not 4 stars by your standards but that is how The ministry of Tourism in Morocco rates them. Our goal is to give you a memorable experience in Morocco but let's not forget that Morocco is not the USA. Morocco with all its particularities is trying in good faith to meet all the standards to satisfy all visitors. It is a beautiful country with lots to offer. Morocco Discoveries is no exception. We are trying to do our best. This Tour is called Morocco Natural Landscapes Diversity Tour. It is an in-depth cultural and adventure tour. Please see it from this perspective. Not just what a 4-star hotel should be.

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• 

  Belinda

  April 6th, 2018
  4.0
  More organized......
  Traveled in March 2018
• A

  Anonymous

  March 27th, 2018
  3.5
  More communication and details by staff
  Traveled in March 2018
• M

  Mariya

  March 5th, 2018
  3.5
  We did Landscape diversity tour. It is called Landscape Diversity because most of the time you spend driving from one...
  We did Landscape diversity tour. It is called Landscape Diversity because most of the time you spend driving from one city to another. Overall tour was fine. Great thanks to our driver Farid who perfectly did his job - not only driving, but showing us places and helping us with everything. He tried to make our long drives easier with making jokes and telling stories. His English is also very good. All the best to Farid! As for the tour itself - I would change it a bit. No need to spend 3 nights in Marrakesh since we did cover the Medina and the rest for one day. Trip to mountains wasn't that impressive and it took the whole day. Moreover the hotel in Marrakesh (Hotel Meriem) was bad - old and cold building with awful breakfasts and dinners which spoiled our impression of the city. 2 nights in Marrakesh would be enough. The second hotel in Ourzazate (Tichka Salam) also wasn't great. Again old cold building with bad meal (it was a bit better than in Marrakesh though but still we got drinking water that smelled fungus). Hotel in Fes (Hotel Riad Nazha) was great - clean, new building with nice rooms, and good food. Design of the building is also great. Hotel owner was very nice - he even suggested that we picked the rooms that we liked. Big thanks to his hospitality. Breakfasts and dinner were very fresh and tasty. The hotel in Rabat was fine, but it looked like bed sheets weren't fresh - we found some hair that didn't belong to us and the sheets was creased. What we liked in the tour was the Dunes and Chefchauen. They were just great. But I would spent a bit more time in the Dunes with longer camel walk. They are very impressive. Chefchauen is also great. the city is very cozy and our guide Lafti (if I am not mistaken) showed us most of the Medina for such a short period of time. What I would also change is coming to Fes not during Friday. We came there on Friday and most of the places in Medina were closed so we did a walk on almost empty city. I would rather came to Fes on Thursday and to Chefchauen on Friday since Medina of Chefchauen is very beautiful even with everything closed (shops and stuff). Thanks, MariyaShow more
  Traveled in February 2018
• A

  Akshatha

  February 25th, 2018
  4.0
  My husband and I took this 10 day trip to Morocco. The booking was easy on tour radar and in the beginning Morocco...
  My husband and I took this 10 day trip to Morocco. The booking was easy on tour radar and in the beginning Morocco discoveries was very prompt to answer all my questions and share all the requested information. But when we got closer to the date, we asked if the selected hotels were booked for us and they became unresponsive to our emails. To our horror, they gave us Hotel Meriem in Morocco (the hotel we specifically requested to change on their list earlier). When contacted on email, they said they gave us the best available hotel. 3 nights in that hotel was a nightmare. The beds were not clean, the shower was not warm enough with weak water pressure and the food was awful. We ended up eating out most of the nights. The next few hotels were pretty good and I have no complaints about it. I would say they are more like 3 star hotels in the US. At the end of the trip, the promised hotel was apparently booked up and we were again put up in a dingy hotel with twin beds in Chefchaouen. Now about the good parts of the trip, our driver Farid! He was the most honorable and intelligent driver we have come across! He made some great decisions for us when the weather wasn't on our side. If you take this trip, I highly recommend that you ask for him as your driver. He also recommended some great restaurants for lunch and dinner. The Mercedes minivan was nice, clean and in good shape. The guides were nice too, Mr. Abdelhadi in Marrakech was very knowledgeable, funny and friendly. If you don't really care about where you stay or ready to shell out some extra bucks to upgrade to 5 star hotels, then this trip is for you. Overall, (except for the hotel hiccup) we had a great trip because of the smooth transportation and excellent service of Mr.Farid. The 5 star is for him! Show more
  Traveled in February 2018
  

  Reply from: Morocco Discoveries

  Thank you for your wonderful and constructive review of tours services. If we have anything to be proud of is our hand picked guides, drivers and staff in first places. Hotels are we do not own in our supply. But we will work hard to improve on that department. Thank you for your input. Khalil.

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• H

  Helen

  November 8th, 2017
  4.0
  We had fun in Morocco, it ended up as a private tour, which is great and allows for flexibility. Our driver, Yassin,...
  We had fun in Morocco, it ended up as a private tour, which is great and allows for flexibility. Our driver, Yassin, was amazing, he was very accommodating to our requests and he even took us to some scenic spots that were not part of our itinerary. The trip to the Sahara desert was very memorable; the dark sky full of star was just astonishing. We visited different medinas, souks, mosques, Kasbahs, Berber villages, and king’s Palaces and drank a lot of orange juice and mint tea. It was a very interesting trip and offered great experiences. We had some issues with the hotels. We paid extra to be upgraded to 5 star hotels, and we triple confirmed about the hotels we wanted to stay at before booking. Morocco Discoveries (MD) told us that all the hotels we requested were confirmed and we paid the next day. Once we paid, MD replied again with "All Confirmed". A week before the trip, we did not receive our confirmation or driver info. I followed up and MD provided me with an itinerary. To our surprise, 3 out of 6 hotels were changed to less expensive hotels and 2 hotels were no longer 5 stars. I was disappointed with the explanation, but there was nothing much we could do as the trip was coming up in less than a week. Overall, the hotels were good except the one in Marrakech, where we stayed for 3 days. The original hotel we wanted was located right in the city center of Marrakech, where we could go out on our own and explore the city. But MD has changed the hotel and put us in a resort (Kenzi Club Agdal Medina). Even though the resort was nice, we were unable to explore the local scene since the resort is about 15 min drive from the city center and the resort food was not authentic at all. In addition, we had problems communicating in English in the resort and as a vegetarian, there was lack of vegetarian choices. One hotel we highly recommend is the Riad El Yacout in Fez. The Riad is located in the medina in Fez and the breakfasts and dinners provided were the best we had on our Morocco trip. At Marrakech, Fez, and Rabat, we had a local tour guide per city. The local guides in Marrakech and Fez were pretty good, they provided insightful knowledge about the cities. The guide in Rabat was terrible, his English was not good, and provided very little explanation of the places we visited and did not even take us to half of the places on the itinerary. It is good that MD offered to issue a refund for the local Rabat guide, but I wish they would hire a better guide as it ruined our visit to Rabat. Other than the issues with our hotels and local Rabat guide, we enjoyed the tour and highly recommend the driver. The tour itinerary is good pace for any age and allowed us to explore many great cities in Morocco. we were a little bit worried about the safety before the trip, but once we got there, we felt safe and people there were very friendly. We would definitely visit Morocco again in the future.Show more
  Traveled in October 2017
  

  Reply from: Morocco Discoveries

  Thank you Mrs. Huang for your positive review. We are very happy to hear that you loved your Morocco experience in over all. We will do all we can to make it better for you in the future. the guide in Rabat will never work with Morocco Discoveries clients, we appreciate your constructive critic. Thank you again for most important issue by pointing that Morocco is indeed safe. We will dispatch all your appreciations to Riad Yacout, guides and driver who served you in your journey in Morocco. You can count on us for your next visit.

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