The best thing about this hotel is that it is so close to the train station in Rabat. We had just arrived from JFK that morning into Casablanca, jumped on a train and arrived in Rabat around 10 am. Not more than a 7 minute walk from the station, we arrived at our first choice, Hotel Splendid. It was much less money than some of the others listed in Lonely Planet and seemed to be located as conveniently so we sprung on it. We got to see the room first and it was cute, roomy, with tall ceilings (12 ft) and a window that overlooked a lovely tiled courtyard. The bathroom was a true walk in, seemed like the size of a small room actually, tiled all over so that when you took a shower the water could go everywhere and it would not matter. The toilet smelled just a bit but we soon learned that this was pretty standard in all the hotels--something to do with the plumbing perhaps because everything was quite clean and sparkling. The bed was a firm straw mattress which I happen to prefer to a boxspring type. The pillow was my first introduction to a french roll, which was kinda fun. The courtyard had some plants, tile work, arches and chirping birds to serenade you. I used earplugs as I am a light sleeper and I could hear the staff's music selections in the morning from the kitchen. Also, there was a bit of construction going on next door around 8 am (tile cutting mostly) and we slept in til 8:30 or so. The front desk men were as friendly as they could be, and they didn't speak too much English but we got along just find with some broken French. The key fob was a most excellent hand made brass bauble. Funny thing about the locks in Morocco, you have to turn them twice to get them to lock just right. Odd to us but a nice surprise. Just outside there were a few cafes and patisseries and snack shops so we had no trouble finding food at odd hours. There was a cafe/restaurant in the hotel for breakfast (pretty standard toasted baguette with butter and jam, and cafe au lait) and the dim lights in the courtyard at night indicated you could get a mint tea or coffee then too. Hot water all the time....towels were not provided. Little writing desk and a large stand up clothes cupboard was in the room too.

This hotel is located in the Nouvelle Ville close to the souks and open-air markets which were quite fun to walk around. A good location, especially if you are weary from the train! We recommend. It didn't seem like it could get much better than this for this price.