Blue Sea Le Printemps

The Blue Sea Le Printemps reminds you that Guéliz has more than boutique hotels: there are also large classic establishments, and this one is a textbook case. It belongs to a Spanish chain and has the format: one hundred and fourteen rooms, a reception with time zones, three restaurants, all around a patio where a pool stretches under a large mural. With more than four thousand reviews, it is one of the busiest addresses in the quarter. You know what to expect, which in itself is a service.

The strength of a large chain hotel is the running. You park at the foot of the building, you find three tables for the evening and a full buffet in the morning, a reception that never sleeps. Nothing original, but everything works, and some of these services weigh here: parking, for instance, turns into a headache in the rest of the quarter. The address is also frankly central, about ten minutes on foot from the heart of Guéliz and a fifteen-minute taxi from Jemaa el-Fna.

Standing, on the other hand, does not play in the character-address class, and the overall score owns it. The most concrete point is the room mix: the chain has refurbished part of its stock in a contemporary spirit, but other rooms keep crimson drapery and ageing furniture. At booking, better to specify a recent room. On the facilities line, travellers give their sharpest score, there is no spa, and the traffic of a hotel this size shows at peak times.

The Blue Sea Le Printemps owns its format. It is a reliable, central and cheap base for a 4-star, with pool, parking and breakfast on hand, built for families, motorised travellers and those chaining Marrakech and the Great South. You do not come for a decor experience, but for a convenient anchor to range from. On that ground, its very large review count shows it does the job.