If you head out of Marrakech towards the Atlas Mountains and the Palmeraie area, you’ll find things get a little quieter, a little more well kept, and a little more spacious. And it’s this type of area where the Pullman hotel is located — a massive 42-acre spread of rose gardens, orange trees and desert villas. After driving through some sparsely populated areas for a bit, we arrived at the front of the Pullman and were surprised at the large entrance and fountain upon entering. It’s really quite lovely, and we felt a bit of relief after having been in the busy city center earlier that day.

The rooms of the hotel are more like little connected villas with studio apartments inside — something like you might find in Arizona or Palm Springs. The landscaping was really top notch and featured a man made lake where turtles swam and people kayaked, along with large dining and pool areas. There are also several olive and orange trees, a massive lavender garden, and plenty of roses throughout the grounds. As one might imagine, the smell in the air is somewhat intoxicating.

Our room was tastefully decorated with a mostly grey refined theme and Arabic art throughout. There was an adequately sized bathroom and shower, complete with upscale products from London to pamper yourself with. The bed was also super comfy and the outdoor balcony had a great view of the Atlas mountains in the distance. On the other hand, it did seem like there was a bit of a bug problem. For instance, I had to get rid of one spider after watching him eat an ant on the bathroom floor. But I suppose if you are staying in the middle of a desert, these kinds of things are to be expected. There were also just two small waters provided in the room, and the mini bar wasn’t stocked. You can of course have water brought to your room, but it’s an additional 90 dirhams for them to come out there. Considering the extra long walk back to the restaurant, it would have been nice to have a few items in the hotel room to make it more convenient.

Despite the fabulous grounds and rooms, service was pretty inconsistent throughout the entire stay from check-in to check-out. Check-in took quite awhile, and we seemed to be passed over by the golf carts whisking people away that arrived after us. Meanwhile, we stood and waited for about half an hour before being able to get to our rooms. We also didn’t get the complimentary tea, though we saw several other people being served and one guy just looked at us with tea on his plate then turn around. At the bar during the night, we were brought the wrong drink and asked for another one, but after waiting 20 minutes we decided to leave as the waiter never showed up again. And upon check out, the same scenario played out with a long wait and somewhat rude service. It did seem like most people were getting great treatment, but unfortunately we weren’t one of them.

For those concerned with the distance from the main attractions of Marrakech, there is a convenient shuttle bus that leaves several times a day and takes you to the art complex about a 5 minute walk from Djemaa el Fna. However, I didn’t really like the location that the bus drops you off, as several “guides” seem to be waiting to pounce on any tourist coming off the bus. I would suggest just walking past them. Unfortunately everybody else on the bus seemed to be followed for awhile except us.

At night, we went to a Moroccan folklore show which started off making me feel like I was on some kind of Disney cruise ship with children dancing around in the crowd. However, the remainder of the show included a Berber band, dancing, acrobats, snake charmers and more. It was definitely entertaining and kept us occupied through the night. And even at night the hotel remains pretty family oriented. It definitely didn’t seem like somewhere you would meet other singles (if you’re looking for that). Not many people were mingling with each other, and most people seemed to keep to themselves as if they were all on family vacations.

Overall, Pullman is a great place to get away from the main scenes of Marrakech without being too far away from the action. It’s also geared for family fun, and you could easily spend most of your vacation hanging out and doing activities in the resort without ever leaving.