Maswada Plaza Hotel

Booked, paid and confirmed 2 rooms in February for the holiday in April. The hotel called me the day before my trip and cancelled my reservation. Unfortunately, they ruined my planned trip because most of the rooms in Aqaba were already fully booked. They gave me the excuse that they overbooked the rooms. I will never consider this hotel again and do not recommend anyone trust these people while booking a hotel.

Maswada Plaza hotel is an old rundown hotel in need of total renovation. It's nothing like what you see in the pictures you see in there advertising. Rooms are dirty the mattresses have bed bugs. My wife and myself had bits all over us from the bed bugs. The bathroom had mould in the sink and the shower. It was so bad we was afraid to use the shower in fear that we would catch something. They did not clean the room the entire 3 days that we was at this hotel. The dinning room had a fish tank that looked like it was never cleaned with dirt all over it. The food was so bad we was nauseous and even vomited from it. They took no sanitary measures at all. There was smoking everywhere and the lobby was so bad with smoke it was impossible to be in this area. The hotel no doubt will deny all of this but the fact is everything in this review is true and fact. I don't like to give a bad review but in this case it was necessary just look at the pictures.

For the price i think this is a very good value hotel with inclusive breakfast. Its well positioned in central Aqaba. Be prepared for a bit of street noise as its on a main city roundabout, this should somewhat be expected based on the location. There was at times a very small amount of noise from neighbouring rooms but this was a non issue. Just bring good ear plugs which should be a standard accessory for any traveller anyway. I suggest Hearos NRR33 ear plugs, if you fit them properly they just about block any noise. We had a balcony road facing room so the street noise was more prominent but we enjoyed the opportunity to sit out there and watch Aqaba life. Our room and bathroom was clean, the bed was comfortable, aircon effective and plenty of hot water. Yes its dated but for the price its good value, don’t expect 5 star quality when you book and pay for 2 star. There is a bit of a cigarette odour around reception and hallways, they are heavy smokers in this country, but no odour in our room. Wifi was a bit up and down but it was usable. The men at reception were helpful and pleasant. If you are pleasant and patient, 95% of the time you will also receive it. Having a joke or laugh with them always helps. Some had limited English but they always tried to help and Google Translate bridged any communication gap. The included breakfast is typically Arabic, salads, eggs, dip, some cold meat, flat bread so don’t expect more than that. This is understandable as the bulk of the guests appear to be local. It was fine to just fuel you up to start your day. We went to the Berenice Beach club, book it online at their website (12 JOD) and ask the hotel reception to call them to book the free shuttle pickup. Dont buy the tickets from a hotel as they are marked up (was quoted 30 JOD). I am an Western international visitor, not solely budget driven and would stay here again.