Riad la Porte Rouge by la Siredrah in Marrakech

I was attacked at this riad by manager Abdou. I am writing this review to warn other travelers, because our experience here was deeply disturbing and unsafe. The room did not have a safe, so there was no secure place to store valuables. On the evening of our arrival, we went out briefly, and when we returned, we noticed that the door was not locked, even though we were certain we had locked it before leaving. A few days later, I realized that my work phone was missing. Using the location feature, I could see that the phone was still inside the riad. When I reported this to the hosts, they said they knew nothing about it and advised me to go to the police. When we tried calling my phone, it was answered multiple times by a woman speaking Arabic, who claimed the phone was hers and refused to return it. This was extremely strange, as it was a Dutch phone number. Based on the live location, the police came back with me to the riad. The hosts were clearly irritated by this. The police searched the room but found nothing, after which I was taken to the police station to file an official report. Later, when we returned to the riad to collect items from the laundry basket, the phone was suddenly there. This felt very suspicious, as the phone had clearly been used earlier and had not been there before. My phone provider also confirmed that extra charges were registered because the phone had been used abroad. This gave us the strong impression that the phone was only put back after the police got involved. From that moment on, the behavior of the hosts changed completely. They became distant and unfriendly, stopped greeting us, and the atmosphere became very uncomfortable. We no longer felt welcome or safe, especially knowing that our belongings were not secure even when out of sight. Because of this, we decided to leave early on January 1st, 2026 and book another accommodation. When we tried to check out, the host demanded that we pay tourist tax for eight days, even though we had only stayed three nights. We found this unreasonable, especially since we had already paid over €900 for a stay we could not complete. We refused to pay tourist tax for days we were not there. During this discussion, the host repeatedly said that he found it “absurd” that we had involved the police and claimed this had never happened in 15 years, clearly blaming us. I calmly explained that involving the police was not our choice, but a decision made by them because of the live location of my phone. He remained angry and accusatory. At one point, he threatened to lock the door if we did not pay and he actually did. My friend managed to get outside, but I was left locked inside. When I tried to open the door, I was physically attacked by him. He then pretended to call the police, but in reality called someone else. There are video and audio recordings of this incident, and an official police report was made. Because of everything that happened, the disappearance of my phone, the h

I am writing this review as a serious warning to future travelers. What we experienced at this riad went far beyond poor service. It involved theft, intimidation, physical violence, and police reports. These incidents are real and are known to the local authorities. From the start, the stay felt unsafe. We were placed in a very small room directly next to the entrance/reception, making it noisy and insecure. There was no safe in the room. On our first evening, after locking the door and going out, we returned to find our door unlocked. That same night, there was no running water for over eight hours, leaving us unable to shower or flush the toilet after a long journey. Two days later, a serious incident occurred. A work phone disappeared from inside our locked room. Find My iPhone clearly showed the phone was still inside the riad. When calling it, a Moroccan woman answered and claimed the phone was hers. We reported this to both the day host and the night host, but instead of helping, they dismissed our concerns and insisted we were mistaken. We were eventually told by staff to go to the police. When we returned with police officers, the atmosphere changed completely. Staff became defensive and uncooperative. Later that night, the phone suddenly reappeared hidden inside a closed storage pouf in our room (a place we had already checked multiple times). Given that staff had access to the room, this strongly suggests the phone had been taken and returned only after police involvement. After this, we no longer felt safe and decided to leave the riad 5 days early, despite having paid for an 8-night stay. When we attempted to leave, the situation escalated dangerously. The day host aggressively demanded tourist tax for the full stay. We explained that we were leaving early due to theft and safety concerns and refused to pay. I then picked up my luggage and walked out to leave the riad, with my friend following behind me. At that moment, the day host slammed the riad gate shut, locking her inside and separating us. As soon as this happened, I immediately ran to find the nearest police, while my friend was trapped inside. She was physically attacked and prevented from leaving. Crucially, my friend recorded this entire incident, including the physical aggression. After approximately 20 minutes, one of the ladies (female staff members) released her. We immediately returned to the police, submitted the recordings, and filed another report. The police took the situation seriously, returned with us to the riad, and the individual involved was identified. These events are now officially known to the authorities. This was an extremely distressing experience. A place where staff have access to guest rooms, valuables disappear, guests are intimidated over money, locked inside the property, and physically assaulted should not be operating as accommodation. Do not stay here. There are many safe and professional riads in Marrakech. This is not one of them