Outsite Marrakesh Review: A Remote Work Hotel in the Heart of the Medina

Tucked in one of the many side streets of side streets in the heart of Marrakesh’s Medina is Outsite – a hotel that is built with digital nomads in mind. With a promise of secure and fast wifi and co-working spaces, this hotel is perfect for if you’re working as well as travelling, and was the perfect base for the Work & Play Vacay I had booked with Happy Freelancers.

The plan : 5 days in Marrakesh, exploring this incredible city, connecting with other freelancers and keeping on top of client work whilst I was away. Outsite seemed like the perfect base for this kind of trip, and I was excited to see what it was all about.

Outsite Marrakesh is based inside the Medina, in a traditional Riad, and the location was great. About a 5-10min walk to where the taxis can drop you off, and after a day it seemed no bother navigating back after a few hours exploring. Nothing ever seemed more than 15 minutes away and around the corner there was a stall to get snacks and drinks from, a pharmacy, and lots of places to eat, drink and explore.

The hotel designed for digital nomads

The selling point of Outsite hotels is that they’re designed for digital nomads. Whilst each one is unique in their own right, and ran individually, the concept is still the same.

The promise is a digital nomad community. Co-working spaces, a big shared kitchen, rooms to take calls in, work stations in your room, reliable wifi. Basically everything you need to set up camp for as long as you wish to.

I love the idea, and I love the idea that there are community events there as well. However, for me, Outsite Marrakesh fell slightly short.

For starters, the WIFI in my room wasn’t always great and would jump in and out. Luckily I didn’t have any zoom calls whilst away, but it would’ve been a nightmare. It seemed quite dark at all times in the main communal areas and the lighting in my room wasn’t great, again making it harder for quality zoom calls.

WIFI in the main communal areas was great though, and I never had any problems when I was working from the desks or the rooftop.

Sound travelled easily around the Riad, and it felt like you could hear everyone at all times. Again, it just makes it harder to really focus or take calls without feeling aware.

We’d gone as our own little community of 9 people, so there was plenty of us to chat to, and we tended to congregate on the rooftop to work from (and make the most of the glorious weather!). It didn’t seem that there were many other people working, but there was a real community feel in that everyone chatted to each other from different groups which was lovely.

The Rooms at Outsite, Marrakesh

Each room is uniquely different in Outsite Marrakech, in keeping with the traditional Riad feel.

My room was spacious, and the bathroom was huge, but I feel like it didn’t quite hit what I was expecting. It felt quite dark inside as I had no external windows, however the lamps did give it a cosy feel.

There were no plug sockets near my bed, only one by the desk, and it was falling out of the wall. It did the job but I didn’t feel wholly comfortable about the safety of it!

The bathroom was spacious, however one of the lights didn’t work and the water pressure in the shower made it difficult to wash my hair with hot water.

It felt clean and had good AC, but the bed for me was a little hard. It’s not my favourite room I’ve ever stayed in but clean, safe, plenty of space – it was a good base all the same!

A traditional Moroccan Breakfast

Included in our stay was a traditional moroccan breakfast, served daily from the main communal area. It was brilliant – breads, boiled eggs, pastries, yoghurt, fruit – it was the perfect set up for the day.

We’d each fill our plates then head up to sit in the sunshine and chat about what we had coming up. It was one of the few times everyone who was staying there would come together, and it was the only time you really felt the community feel that they’re trying to create.

Final thoughts on Outsite, Marrakesh

I’m aware this comes across quite negative – I think it’s just I had high expectations and I don’t think they were necessarily met.

There’s a gorgeous looking pool in the Riad, but when you get there it feels a little bit dirty….there’s a sauna but it’s not very hot at all…you get the idea. There’s big promises that just don’t quite deliver.

Having said all of that though, the staff there were super friendly, I felt safe staying there, I felt comfortable and it was a great location. There’s a kitchen you can use, and I love that they have a filtered water tap, so you can just keep filling your water bottle up.

Would I stay again? Maybe. However the idea of Outsite is that they’re coliving spaces, and to be honest I think that’s where it fails. I wouldn’t want to stay longer than a few days. It didn’t have that community feel, it didn’t have that homely feel.

I would be interested to see what other Outsite locations are like though, as each one is individual, to see if the concept does actually work because I love the idea of what they’re trying to achieve.

And there we have it! If you’re looking for more Morocco guides, you can find them here. You can find our full 4 day itinerary for Marrakesh here, and a complete guide of what to expect when you visit here. For more hotel reviews click here.