Hotel Marrakech

The two-star Marrakech Hotel, located near Central Park, Columbia University and some famous jazz bars, offers 127 sufficient— though not amazing—rooms at very reasonable rates.

Quick read

Pros: Friendly, helpful staff. Convenient subway access. Good value.

Cons: No elevator. Thin walls. Dark rooms.

Rooms

The rooms at the Marrakech Hotel have a minimalist feel, with dim lighting and cool cultural touches, such as an ornate Eastern-style nightstand or sari-style bed covers. Alternating walls are painted in contrasting colors, and some rooms have cool exposed brick walls as well.

Each room is equipped with air conditioning, a flat-screen television and CD player clock radio.

The private bathrooms, from the mirrors to the shower curtain rings, are shiny chrome. They also have Ecco natural bath products and a massage showerhead on hand. A hair dryer is available at reception.

Hotel Facilities

The hotel’s Moroccan-themed Kazbar Lounge, with its mosaic tables, signature cocktails and international music, is a great place to enjoy a little exotic flare (note that the lounge is closed in winter months). The hotel also has a restaurant, Sookk Thai Asian Restaurant (located next door), which serves up tasty and inexpensive Thai favorites.

Wi-Fi is free in the lobby and lounge. The Marrakech does not have an elevator (and does have lots of stairs).

Location

The Marrakech Hotel is lacated on Broadway, the restaurant- and shop-lined main drag of the largely residential Upper West Side. Columbia University, Grant’s Tomb and the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine are all just north of the hotel. And Harlem is just a little further north of all that.

The area is also home to an array of green spaces, with Central Park a 10-minute walk to the east (we recommend walking across the Conservatory Garden on the eastern side of the park), and Riverside Park an even quicker walk west.

It’s about a 15-minute subway ride to Times Square and the rest of Midtown.

Guest reviews in brief

Guests find the Marrakech to be rather basic but a good value. They like the hotel’s convenient location (just across the street from the 1 train), and many commend the hotel staff for their kindness and hospitality.

Most complaints revolve around the hotel’s dated building. Guests don’t like lugging their bags up the stairs, and also complain the rooms get hot in winter (a common issue with the steam heating in older New York buildings). Some guests feel the rooms are too dimly lit, and a few say the carpets are dirty and that the thin walls don’t keep out noise from the neighbors.

*These reviews were provided by verified guests who booked through EuroCheapo's reservation partners. Click on the links below to read reviews in detail.

Transportation

Subways: The 103rd Street subway station is located just across from the hotel. There you can catch the 1 train, a local line that runs along the West side, with major stops like Times Square, Penn Station and the West Village. 

JFK: To reach the Marrakech Hotel from JFK, take the Air Train to Howard Beach Station, then the A train to 59th Street-Columbus Circle. Transfer to the Uptown 1 train to 103rd Street, and the hotel is just across the street.

LaGuardia: Take the M60 bus to the last stop: Broadway and 106th Street. Then walk three blocks south along Broadway to the hotel.

Newark: Take the Air Train to the NJ Transit station, and then any NJ Transit train into New York Penn Station, where you can catch the 1 train to 103rd Street.

Read more about airport transportation in New York.