We stayed in Riad dar Lea the first week of january 2011 from New Years Eve to the next thursday and we certainly had a very good time over there!

We were picked up from the Airport by the hotel staff, and luckily they brought us to the hotel because we would never have found it on our own. You have to cross some shabby backstreets from Place Laarous to get to the hotel, which are not as dangerous as they might seem the first time you'll get there. The hotel is located in a dark alley and there are no signs at all, so make sure you have a guide or be very good in mapreading! from the hotel it is a 15-20min walk to the Jema el fna square, or you can easily take a cab from Place Laarous.

The hotel staff was very friendly and always ready to give us tips or help. They even cooked us a special New Years Eve dinner on our request, while the restaurant was actually closed that evening. Also Ismail was always ready to make us some tea in the middle of the night when we were a bit ill.
The breakfast every morning was excellent and provided a good start of the day. The rooms are very nice and romantic and such a big diffrence with the non-emotional big hotels in the Nouvelle Ville! The beds were very good and because the hotel is really quiet at night (exept for the mosques in the early morning of course) this Riad is a good place to get some rest after a long day of walking trough Marrakech. The rooms on the first floor are more quiet than the rooms on the ground level (Topaze & Agathe), which are next to the central hall, reception and the little restaurant. The only minus that I can mention is that the water in the bathroom wasn't always hot (it started hot, then went cold, then hot & cold again etc.) but that didn't spoil the fun for us!

I would recommend this Riad to all travellers who would like to stay in a more romantic place than the big hotels outside the Medina and who want to be not too far from 'the action' in the old city center. Tough it wasn't very cheap (we had to pay some extra 'tourist taxes' and stuff on top of the price we had when we booked it trough Expedia) it was certainly worth the money!

Sabine and her husband run the riad with absolute care to detail. They are so helpful when you arrive and tell you about Marrakesh and the best places to eat and shop. Nothing is too much trouble for them. The Riad has a fabulous feel to it, very authentic and the staff are lovely. The rooms are very well appointed with everything you would need for a stay. The meal we had there was very good. As was the Mint Tea. We will certainly be going back to see Sabine next year.

We had read the excellent reviews on Trip Advisor already and so were expecting somewhere pretty good and we were not disappointed in any quarter. The real highlight though that puts Riad Dar Lea way out in front is the care and enthusiasm extended to all the guests by its owners. They themselves are delightful and it seems they feed on the pleasure of their guests discovering the delights of Marrakech and Riad living. Given the opportunity to give advice they have endless tips and ideas for those that are overwhelmed by the Marrakech experience. Alternatively, if you want a quiet time they melt away and leave friendly attentive staff to take care of you. 6 stars!

Having read all the previous reviews we thought that everything would be fantastic but the room were were given "Topaz" was far from that although we did have a comfortable bed and slept well.
Service was very good and we enjoyed the evening meal we had the night we arrived having been picked up from the airport by Pierre.
It is just that for us the other reviews made us believe we were going somewhere very special indeed so we were dissapointed that it did not live up to our high expectations