We stayed in a brand new room. The room, beds, and swimming pool is spotless. The hotel staff carefully explained the reservation, deposit, and room cost upon checking in. Breakfast by the side of the pool is included. The lobby is large, comfortable, and has books for reading. The staff was friendly and direct. This was the best experience of our hotel stays in Jordan.

Great hotel - clean rooms, nice pool, good breakfast. But best of all was the service.
We were greeted warmly even though arriving in the middle of the night; and the owner/manger sets high standards for himself and his staff. We moved on to a 5* hotel in another part of the country, but though the setting was posher, the staff could learn from the Mariam in terms of meeting and greeting, and generosity of spirit

Given the high ratings Mariam Hotel has gotten, I expected a bit more. What you get with Mariam -- for a pretty good price to be sure -- is a basic hotel room. Not particularly comfortable or particularly good in service or anything else. The front desk was always so busy we had to wait around a long time to check in, check out, or ask a question. Importantly (for those going in the summer) there is no A/C in the rooms, so they can be uncomfortably hot ! Also the pool was sort of a green color so we didn't venture inside. And the breakfast was very basic, just bread and butter, etc . . they wouldn't even give us a bottle of water with our breakfast (this cost sextra). The hotel is a short cab ride from Madaba city center. There really aren't any shopping or eating options around the hotel.

We stayed at the Mariam Hotel for a few days in December '07 and January '08. It was a very good choice indeed.. The hotel is simple, but very clean, staff friendly, you have everything that you want, even a pool if you want.

The breakfast was sustantial. They organise the taxis to make all the trip to the north of Jordan, i.e. dead sea, Hamamat Ma'in spring hots, Jerash, etc.
Also they have a small bus that goes to Wadi Mousa (Petra) using the Kingshighway, which is very scenic.

This was our best hotel in Jordan and we will be back.

Cheers
Juan