We were utterly shocked at checkout to be presented with an additional €16 minibar charge that had never been clearly disclosed to us. We have absolutely no issue paying for minibar items when charges are clearly communicated. The issue here was the complete lack of transparency. We have stayed in hotels all over the world, including many in Morocco, and chargeable minibars always come with a clearly and obviously displayed price list, menu or signage. It is always crystal clear but at Palais Riad Lamrani, we could not find any such indication. During check-in, Ahmed hurriedly showed us around the room and specifically pointed out the minibar, saying only, "This is the minibar," before moving on. He never mentioned that the items carried additional charges. Ironically, if the minibar had not even been pointed out to us, we likely would not have touched anything inside it. When we raised this issue at checkout, what was most disappointing was not the €16 charge itself but the way it was handled. Instead of listening to our concern or acknowledging that there may have been a communication gap, Ahmed repeatedly argued with us and claimed that because he did not say the word "free," we should have assumed everything was chargeable. That explanation is frankly absurd. Guests should not be expected to guess hotel policies. Transparency should be the hotel's responsibility. He even suggested and continued insisting that both of us must have somehow failed to hear him. This made the entire situation worse and we were so shocked by his attitude. It was an unnecessarily defensive and confrontational response to a reasonable question about a charge that was not clearly communicated. The entire interaction felt extremely unprofessional. A guest raising a concern should not be met with arguments and excuses. Acknowledgement that clearer communication would help future guests would have gone a long way. The entire situation left a particularly bad impression because it felt as though guests were expected to discover these charges only at checkout rather than being informed upfront. Whether intentional or not, that is the impression it created. This is particularly disappointing because Marrakech is known for its hospitality. We have visited the city multiple times and have never encountered anything like this. People often talk about scams in Marrakech, but after five visits, I never expected the first time I felt misled would be by a 5 star hotel. Strangely there was no management on site to speak to. The only saving grace was Khaled, who handled the situation professionally. Unlike Ahmed, he listened to our concerns, acknowledged that clearer communication and signage would be beneficial, and apologised for the experience. A hotel is only as good as its service. Given that we stayed here just before our wedding reception in Marrakech, this was a extremely disappointing way to end what should have been a special occasion. Unfortunately, due to the
