Marrakech Guided Tours – One to avoid

If you ever think about going to Marrakech in Morocco you will do well to avoid the company Medina Guided Tours as the following booking converstation and link to the trip advisor review shows

[Tourist] Hi can you give me the prices for half day and perhaps full day tour for 27th July (private tour for English Couple)
James and Claire

[Medina Guided Tours] Thank you for your interest in Medina Guided Tours and we would like to confirm the availability for the guided visit to Marrakech and its best sights on the dates you want.

For a half day, we suggest a walking tour to visit the old towns’ highlights trough the labyrinths of narrow streets and Souks (without transportation), our guide will meet you at your accommodation. The half day walking tour is much more suitable for travelers staying in hotels located in the old town, however we also can arrange your hotel transfers if needed.

For the full day, we propose you a tour combining between the visits of some most interesting monuments and gardens (outside of the old town), then a walking tour of the Medina trough the labyrinths of narrow streets an Souks. A comfortable air-conditioned car, would be at your disposal to arrange your hotel transfers (collect/return) and the monuments/sights transfers.

A qualified guide (English peaking), will meet you at the lobby of the hotel where you will be staying, our tours are private and we can collect you from your accommodation at any time you want (we suggest 9:30am).

The price of the private half day walking tour is 40Euros and 120Euros for the private full day tour (with a guide, comfortable car & driver at your disposal).

Please, display the link follows for more details about monuments and sights we visit, this list is a proposal and we can tailor our tours to suit your points of interests.

Not included: Meals and some monuments entrance fees.

*Please find attached our day trips brochure. Counter to the city tour in which we provide guide and driver, excursions are running just with an English speaking driver.

We look forward to hear from you and I remain at your disposal for any more details.

[Tourist] ok would like have a half day trip with you on the 27th. We are staying here ‘Al Fassia Aguedal’ MH 9bis route de l’Ourika, Marrakech 40000, Morocco

[Medina Guided Tours]  Thank you for all this information.  It is with great pleasure that we confirm your city tour (half day) to the Medina of Marrakech and its best sites on Friday the 27th of July 2012. A qualified guide will meet you 930 am at the lobby of Al Fassia Aguedal, we propose to visit first Majorelle garden then a walking tour to the old town through its Souks and narrow streets.  The price of the half day city tour is 70 Euros (750 Dirhams), includes a qualified guide, the transfer to Majorelle garden and the hotel transfers (collect/return) in a comfortable air-conditionned car. Lunch and some monuments entrance fees are not included in the price.

We inform you that for the Medina and many other attractions there are no entrance fees to pay, however for some monuments the rates are as follow (guides doesn’t pay the monuments entrance fees, they have a free access).

Majorelle Garden: 3.5€ per person
Bahia Palace: 1€ per person.
Mederssa Ben Youssef: 1.5€ per person.
Museum of Marrakech:  1€ per person.

We are looking forward to meeting you and I remain at your disposal for any further information.

[Tourist] Great thanks for the confirmation. In the original email you said its €40 for a half day’s tour and below you mentioned €70 is that a mistake?

[Medina Guided Tours] 40€ is the price for the half day walking tour, your accommodation is located out side the medina and the extra of 30€ is the price for the hotel transfers in a comfortable air-conditioned car, wich will includes the visit of Majorelle Garden. Please confirm and I remain at your disposal for any more details.

[Tourist] So you have charged €30 for transfers, talking to a friend that has done your tour and stayed in the same hotel they said you can get a cab for 40 dir / €3 each way. I would have thought a more reasonable cost would be €50, await your reply

[Medina Guided Tours] I fully understand your doubt however the cab you talking about is what we call in Morocco small taxis, which is not practical not air-conditioned and you will not find it in front of the hotels’ door. You can request from your hotel how much the transfers would coasts.

70€ is our best rate for the half day tour and I’m confidence that we represent a good value for money (qualified guide, safe driver and comfortable air-conditional car). Hotel transfers and the Majorelle garden transfers, are included.

I doubt that you will find the same service at this price. We felt that we provide help and assistance, we earn almost nothing at 70€.

[Tourist] ok, hope I am not going to regret this but please book us in for Friday 27th and hope we have a good a day with you

The day of the trip came and a terrible / pointless trip was had then we left a tripadvisor review

[Medina Guided Tours] what you did is not honest!!   we didn’t ripped you off as you said in tripadvisor… shame on you

it was totally honest

[Tourist] You should be ashamed of yourself for saying otherwise,  Your service is a rip-off and pointless and will go out of my way to tell more people to avoid your company.

[Medina Guided Tours] you are totally wrong!!  and 70€ is nothing for what we did for you… the problem that you are not informed…  you are reluctant to admit because of prejudices and stereotype you had about Morocco, this was evident from the first contact and appear in your lack of confidence in everything we tried to advice. we regret accepting your booking, and you are the rubbish to run for the cheep taxis in a desaster condition, just like you!

[Tourist] So you charged €30 for a one way trip from the hotel to Medina and you think that is reasonable when we had taxi trips for €4 in perfectly nice taxis. The taxis were not ‘disaster condition’ and neither am I. You are a cheap and tacky operation and dont deserve your ranking on trip advisor, will ensure you dont get recommended to our friends

€70 for a 3 hour chat from someone with hygiene problems, whom we tried to avoid being close to, that got annoyed when we didnt want to buy a carpet from his ‘friends’  is probably about €70 more than its worth.

We have reviewed 8 other Marrakesh trips / experiences as 5/5 so we have no prejudices or stereotypes in mind ? you are crazy and deserve nothing

[Medina Guided Tours] I knew it from the start,  but don’t worry the prices you mentionned on tripadvisor are correct and we are not overpriced as you said, you are not used to good service that’s why you don’t know how much it costs  the 30€ was for the transfers and the visit of majorelle garden… you know better than me that we didn’t ripped you off !!  what to say, sick people exist everywhere and you are sick

[Tourist] you call your customers rubbish and sick, this is a big mistake

[Medina Guided Tours] Look, previously we had bad reviews and they were constructive, your review its for the only interest to destroy our reputation. I know exactly what I did for you and we don’t desirve that, why you didn’t mentioned that those taxis were not airconditionned and to not mention the transfer to majorelle garden too moreover, we didn’t forced you to book with us, we didn’t take a deposit and you were free to cancel any time lot of things makes me angry, why you so dishonest and racist

[Tourist] In summary you overcharged us, provided a pointless ‘guided’ service that you can easily do yourself and then tried to get us to buy from your ‘friend’ at inflated prices despite the fact we specifically said we didn’t want to buy rugs.

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