staying in Marrakech

pborojon

Hey all,

Does anyone have any reccommendations of riads or hotels in Marrakech? I've looked on Trip advisor etc but seems to be a lot of dud reviews seems people are creative in their reviewing.

Thanks in advance

pigsCANfly

Hi
Depends what your budget is and whether you want a traditional riad, or a hotel with pool etc - most of those are outside the medina walls, apart from a few exceptions, like the Jardins de la Koutoubia hotel which is expensive but fantastic, lovely pool, and one minute walk from the main square. Another we have stayed in is the Palais Sebban, five minutes walk from the square, and absolutely beautiful, its a large riad rather than a hotel.

HTH

solarstone

I would recommend going for a good Riad rather than a hotel. It will give you a much better cultural experience of the place, than one of the Euro-style hotels.

Well worth a look in a Rough Guide/Lonely Planet, as their reviews are totally impartial and are rarely "dud". (Not to mention the wealth of other advice they offer on customs, bartering, food, etc etc).

moneylover

We have just stayed in Riad Marrakush which is a Riad in the Medina about 10 minutes walk from the square. We paid about £70 a night for the blue room (the best of the doubles) and got a dinner and collection from the airport included and endless mint tea. If you are interested mention my name,, Hilary
They couldnt have been more helpful with arranging trips etc, using their internet whenever we wanted, etc etc. It wasnt the very last word in the luxury that perhaps some Riads are but it was excellent value for money
www.riadmurakush.com
It was recommended via TripAdvisor which is where you should go (onto the Morroco forum) for just about everything you want to know about Marrakech
It does depend on what you want to pay. And you have to make the decision re Riad or modern hotel. But if you want to be able to do what you want, when you want without having to get a taxi and can live without a pool then go Riad
We did some good trips too from Marrakech if there is anything in particular you want to know you can pm me

Pee

The riads are in the Medina. I ended up staying in a hotel, the Ryad Mogador, just outside the Medina. The downside of this was it was an ok, basic hotel. Staff were nice, it was clean, but it was nothing special. It was however easy to find, and easy to get from either to the French part for something to eat or to the Medina. The Riads in the Medina look fantastic, but i think they vary in quality a lot more, a friend stayed in a lovely one but wasn't so keen on the cockroaches and finding your way back can be a nightmare. The other option is the big posh hotels which are a long way out. Very nice if a big chain hotel is your sort of thing.

Gavin83

I stayed at the Riad Douzi a few weeks ago about a minutes walk from the main square. It was cheap but fairly basic with no swimming pool, etc. Also I'd say at least a little knowledge in French is important as they didn't really seem to speak English but I'd say this is fairly standard for Morocco anyway.

It's a hard country to travel in but it's good fun. Hope you enjoy your holiday.

moneylover

The Riad I stayed in and posted about had two staff (always one of them on duty) who spoke excellent English. Very clean too. A straight line to the main square, you couldnt get lost.
But getting lost in the souks, thats a different story. I bought a Rough Guide map to Marrakech before I went, about £4 on Amazon and it indexed the main streets. But you still get lost in the souks.
They do however give you a reasonable tourist map in the riads if you dont want to shell out for the Rough Guide map

pborojon

Thanks for all your replies, I've just booked a junior suite at the Riad Mur Akush. Very excited now can't wait although think it might be alittle roasting lol!!

martindow

Gavin83 wrote: »

It's a hard country to travel in but it's good fun.

I would say that public transport is good and cheap. Railway is comfortable first class with air con. Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes, Tanger are all connected. Petit taxis in towns and grand taxis between are plentiful. Agree that a bit of French helps.

Gavin83

Sorry, I should have made myself more clear. I didn't literally mean travelling, I meant just being on holiday in the country in general. It's quite an active aggressive country and not relaxing in the slightest and you may struggle if you aren't used to the North African culture.

I spent a lot of time in lower Morocco as well and that was a little more difficult to travel around than the higher cities.

pborojon

That suits me, can't think of anything worse than lounging by a pool all day it's sooooooooooo not me lol!!