Riad Etoile d'Essaouira

Recent Reviews: 3300

• User:Fiona S

  Trip type: Couples

  The views do the heavy lifting

  03 May 2026

  The hotel is located in the most stunning setting. That coupled with the staff friendliness does the majority of the heavy lifting for this hotel. At what i can only describe as a premium price for 2 nights at Parknasilla, i was left disappointed. This establishment markets itself as a premium venue but lacks most of the hallmarks associated with a luxury offering. The room was clean but tired & lack luster. The food was mediocre at best. Whilst eating my main course in Doolittle dining i had staff hoovering next to me which appears to be a common practice in the dining rooms when tables are vacated. The in room TV advertised room service. When i rang for some hot food late into the evening i was informed there was no hot food but "raw sandwiches" were available. When i politely expressed disappointment at the lack of hot food options i was asked "did you not enjoy your dinner?" Parknasilla is marketed as a luxury destination with couples in mind but what we found was that it's more of a family orientation & if planning a romantic break i would look elsewhere. Cocktails are vastly overpriced at €17 euro. The infinity pool is a major plus & supposed to be adult only. Unfortunately this rule went unenforced which meant that any sense of tranquility was stolen. Theres a general lack of atmosphere about parknasilla. It has the right bones but there is so much about it that could be so much better. If looking for a couples break, look elsewhere.

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• User:TommyC1

  Trip type: Family

  Wonderful location and property. Motel 6 standard room.

  02 May 2026

  Such a beautiful and wonderful location. Unfortunately, our room did not meet hotel standards or our expectations.We were booked as part of a 12 guest tour, so we had no control over our room type or location in the hotel. We understand that sometimes you draw the short straw. It was our time, apparently, at this wonderful resort, with a room that lives up to Motel 6 standards.The attached photos will show what we dealt with in what is considered a four or five star resort.Room 241 on April 25 and 26, 2026. The hotel seemed to be fully booked so we didn't ask for another room, with it being Saturday and Sunday. The room is at the end of the run on what looks to be an addition to the original hotel property. The view out the window was beautiful, to the left, looking into a forest area. The right half looked at the car park for the attached storage building. Not a great thing to see when looking out.The shower window (yes, a window is in the shower looking into the storage building) had an opaque window, but I could plainly see paper products stored on shelving. Which means that someone on the other side could likely see my wife as she showered. No, there was no curtain of any type. As the photo will show.The smoke detector in the entry hallway had been updated, and there was still a hole in the ceiling because the new detector was smaller.The bed was comfortable, with great pillows, There is no air conditioning in the room, so windows were open at all times. There was broken glass in the closet door. My wife mentioned these issues when we checked out and the reception lady simply said she would 'mention' it to the staff. Whatever that might mean. We would NOT book this hotel unless we had control over the type of room and location. I'm sure THIS room does not represent others in the property.

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• User:Maps17020396818

  Trip type: Family

  Family escape

  21 Apr 2026

  We stayed as a family of 3. The grounds were absolutely amazing. Loads of places to explore and safely. Family friendly. Room was good and spacious with a separate space for our son.

• User:767kevino

  Trip type: Couples

  I paid for a sea view, so I was I stupid to expect a sea view?

  20 Apr 2026

  Myself and my wife stayed here recently for the weekend to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We had been looking forward to the stay for a while. Recently, (in the last few years), anytime we tried booking the hotel for either a birthday / anniversary, it was always booked out. When we booked, two months in advance, we paid that bit extra so that we could experience the beautiful sea views from our room. The first issue that arose (just after booking) was that I received an email from the hotel with a link that said it was my "personal booking concierge". This was to be used to book everything in advance apparently. It reminded me of the days of covid, even though that was 5 years previous. I understand booking dinner and the spa, but the swimming pool??? I could I know two months in advance when I wanted to go to the pool! Not exactly a relaxing break, if everything has to be planned in advance. The email came with a warning that if activities weren't booked it advance, we could miss out! Turns out when we got there, that was not the case at all! Also, this "personal booking" link was not personal in the least. It held no details of our booking and after saving a time slot, if you returned at a later date to check the time slot you had booked, there was no way to find it! On arrival, we were pleasantly greeted by reception and collected our keys to our room. The room was in the old house as booked. It was large bright and airy with three windows. However, none of them contained the sea views we were hoping (had paid) for. The room was actually on the side of the building and I had a better view of the carpark and the staff smoking area than I did of the bay. If we put our faces against the window and strained our necks we could see the bay. We were very much not impressed. I have never been one to ask to switch rooms (although, looking back I regret not doing so), so I didn't say anything. We had traveled from Cork and were looking forward to a nice coffee in our Nespresso machine, as I assumed this hotel with its reputation for luxury would have had one. But no, we had a small electric camping kettle and some freeze dried coffee sachets and UHD milk. Needless to say they went untouched.The first night we had dinner in the Doolittle restaurant as they had a feather blade of beef on the menu. I always get this, if available wherever I can. Unfortunately, this was the worst one I have ever had. The portion was quite small to begin with and the centre was an inedible gelatinous mess.However, the service was impeccable. The second night we had dinner in the Pygmalion and unfortunately, the food was actually worse - at least mine was. My wife had a steak, which she said was lovely if a not a tad undercooked. She ordered medium and got rare. I ordered the monkfish on a bed of leeks and I got 3 pieces of fish (which were roughly the same size as 2 chicken goujons) on a bed of chopped leeks! That was the dinner! Absolutely tiny. It came with a side of potatoes thankfully as I would have starved otherwise. After serving the meal, the waiter returned a few minutes later to check on us and I had finished my miniscule dinner. I was not impressed!What was very impressive though was the spa and the infinity pool. After all the emails from the hotel reminding us to book the pool or we would loose out, we didn't even enter it and we weren't alone in that. I don't think I saw one person in it all weekend. But the infinity pool, that was busy, but not overcrowded. We stayed there for most of the weekend. Absolutely amazing views out over the bay from the heated infinity pool. I did notice some residents partake in sea swimming and there is a pier right next to the hotel. What I found strange after speaking to a few of these residents, is that there is no access to the changing / showering area by the pool if you did go for a sea swim. I saw a number of residents climbing walls and walking across jagged rocks in an effort to get from the changing area to the sea and back, which I found strange. Why provide access the the pier and a ladder down to the sea, but no direct access to the changing rooms. You don't particularly want to walk through the hotel and down to the changing rooms or or to your own room after just coming out of the sea soaking wet. Very strange!Before, we got there we had read there was a pizzeria on the grounds, however, it was closed on the weekend we were there and then open on random days during the week when the hotel wouldn't be as busy.The other thing is the pizzeria had a sign saying they prefer cash (due to the bad signal re the card machines not connecting - yeah right, the signal!), while the hotel itself operates a no cash policy. No problem with their signal in the same place.On checking out, I was asked if everything was ok and I explained that I was not happy with the room and it was not what we had booked and paid for. The manager that spoke to me actually explained that I had not yet paid for it and sought payment. There and then, she had the opportunity to charge me the correct rate, ie not the sea view rate, but instead, she said "oh yes, we will note your complaint and pass it along" and then proceeded to charge me for a sea / staff smoking area view room! She then had the nerve to ask if we would be returning at a later date. As you ripped us off once, we won't give you a chance to do it again.The breakfast on both mornings was undoubtedly the best food they offered. And a great selection also. The reason that I gave 3 stars and not 2, is purely because of the staff. These people are very friendly and professional and without their enthusiasm, the hotel would struggle to exist.

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• User:Orlaith O

  Trip type: Couples

  Food disssappointing

  09 Apr 2026

  Hotel staff and facilities all excellent but the food was a huge disappointment apart from breakfast which was lovely I would not return too expensive for 2 nights Only