The minute you step into La Marroque, and out onto the incredible deck with the infinity pool and endless views of the Mediterranean, you are transported. It is unlike anything I have experienced before (and I have stayed in many beautiful places with infinity pools and views). It is a stunning Moroccan-style haven in the far north of Ibiza. The rooms (especially the one upstairs with the balcony and views up above the deck and to the sea) are great, comfortable and clean. Waking up in the room upstairs to that view is just heaven! The only gripe about the rooms is the lack of proper fans, their are the small swivelling variety ( and not enough of them) which keep you hot and cold at intervals all night and can never give air to both people sleeping on the bed at the same time, which gets uncomfortable as it gets very hot. The owners should really consider getting ceiling fans or fitting air conditioners to solve this problem. The bathrooms were clean and nice, except that the faucets- shower and tap fittings really need to be changed they are very uncomfortable to use and make it difficult to have a proper comfortable shower. The bathrooms are otherwise perfectly nice, especially the large downstairs bathroom with the tub and views is incredible! The kitchen, well equipped, and the living room comfortable, although we didn't spend much time indoors - you just can't when you have a pool and view like that!
Now to come to the main problem we faced - the Manager, Bea. After a long night of flying, we were eager to get to the villa, freshen up and get something to eat. However, we were told by Bea (very rudely) that she wouldn't be able to meet us then and we would have to wait for more than 2 hours (!) down in the town with our many suitcases. We didn't have a car yet at that point and couldn't keep a taxi waiting of course with the taxi meter going up. This was after sending her repeated emails about our arrival time (9 am). Now I am not one to complain, but I do feel the owners of this property have the right to know the way the manager they have hired treats guests who have paid good money to stay at the villa. From the very beginning Bea was downright rude and abrupt, in all correspondence- email communications and messages. When we finally met her it was the same rude behaviour, like she was doing us a favour by, well, doing her job! She was dismissive and unwelcoming. Just a few minutes after she showed us in the house and left, we were faced with a problem with the taps, and a toxic foul smell coming out of every faucet in all the bathrooms when the water was turned on. This is in no way a complaint about the property, it was most definitely a one-off issue that could happen with plumbing anywhere. It was eventually solved in a couple of hours by the very sweet house pool cleaner/ handyman who came back and forth to resolve the issue for us. Throughout this incident (which was so serious that we thought we might have to move somewhere else) Bea was rude, unhelpful and didn't even come to check on the problem once. She did send the handyman who managed to help us. But my point is, her behaviour with guests is completely unacceptable. And I hope the owners will see this, because when we had the issue and wanted to speak to them, Bea and the helper said they don't speak to guests directly, (which is fair enough), but I don't think they are aware of the managers temperament with the guests. If they knew they surely would do something about it! I am not even sure if this will go up as a review because I know that Bea handles the page and she also has the right to reject a review. I really hope it goes up because its a shame that a property as beautiful as this would lose its appeal and ability to attract guests because of an unwelcoming manager, who makes it very hard to book the property in the first place!
All in all, the above should not deter one from staying at La Marroque as it is absolutely stunning and dream-like. If it wasn't for the manager and the shower fittings, I wouldn't hesitate to book this property again and again!
