Do you want to feel like royalty without spending a fortune? Then Morocco is a good place for you to visit! There are many reasons to visit Morocco, but the accomodation was a highlight for me, more concretely the accomodations known as Riads.
Traveling – it gives you home in thousand strange places, then leaves you a stranger in your own land
Ibn Batuta
What is a riad?
A riad is a tradittional Moroccan house and they can be anything from simple to authentic palaces inside. These traditional houses keep all the beauty indoors, which is something that doesn´t match to modern life and the need to show external beauty all the time (think about a house, clothing, cars, etc). This is an important detail to notice as you may arrive to your riad and feel a little worried that the entrance can be just a simple door and a huge wall without much decoration… and you are wondering where your beautiful accomodation is. Well, it´s still there and you will find this whole new world inside 😉 In this case I am talking about the real riads…
Typically these houses have a garden and / or a fountain in the middle and then all the rooms of the house face this. Moroccan families used to be very big and living together, hence this concept of big houses for extended family was very common. As you can imagine by now, it has become very popular to turn such houses into hotels considering such homes tend to be in the old cities medinas. Some of them do feel more authenthic and keep their original designs that needless to say are beautiful, others have been renovated but they keep the original concept and distinctive architecture with a nice tweast of a small pool for example… and some others are rather built from the beginning to be hotels but they keep some architecture elements of the riads and advertise themselves as Riads. These tend to be very fancy, famous and less accessible from price perspective.
My experience was in the mid range, I did want the authenthic experience and for me it meant an actual riad even if renovated – nothing wrong with modern life comfort, right? 😉 – The place needed to be relative small and have beautiful architecture. This is almost a given but yet it takes time to find what you like the most provided the multiple options.
Riad el Amine, Fes
I start by the most impressive one in the imperial city of Fes, I stayed here one night only as I was travelling all around Morocco but that was a special night! This was technically speaking not inside the Fes medina but just outside of it and walking distance to one the entrances, so I still consider it a central location.
Riad el Amine Fes is a luxury traditional Moroccan house that opened in 2008, it was restored by talented craftsmen of the city… one of the specialities of Fes, I would say. It´s a family business as I talked with the manager who was very polite and making sure I was ok. It is really top notch both in how beautiful and comfortable everything is, but also how you are treated.
A common practice in Morocco is to be welcomed with a local mint tea, and in a place like this everything feels different since the moment you step in 😉
Picture paradise! I spend a lot of time just taking pictures during the night and then again in the morning as the light is different and colours are also appreciated differently. My room was on the second floor, in the middle and facing the view you see in the photos above. The hotel is relatively small but it has this photography magnet that you want to capture the view from every single angle! I truly felt like a princess in my richly decorated room and the colourful details and moroccan design.
Finally a quick tour in English and Spanish. It´s funny sometimes I just switch from one language to another but ultimately that is my life 😉 When I write there is always google translate for my family in Mexico, when I speak it´s more difficult to decide and I just go with the flow 😉
Riad Dar Alhambra, Marakesh
I stayed in Marrakech in the beginning and in the end of my trip to Morocco so I took to chance to stay in 2 different riads. These were smaller but beautiful.
Riad Dar Alhambra dates from the 16th century, it is located inside the Medina and it´s about 20 minute walk to the Djemaa El Fna Square, a place you will want to go for sure when in Marrakech.
L’Oriental Medina Riad & Spa
Finally, on my last night in Marrakech, I stayed in a different riad that had a very gorgeous mini pool.. This was november so I didn´t officially swim but it was really nice to just relax by the pool after a long evening walk and before preparing my trip back to Finland.
How to book a riad?
It works exactly as a hotel, you can find them in hotel search engines (I use Booking.com). Even though I did hire a private tour to travel around Morocco, I chose to book the accomodation by myself. It always gives me freedom to choose the correct balance of price and location. In the case of Riads, they don´t have many rooms given its nature therefore it is very important to plan this in advance.
To be honest, if you would be travelling with a big group, and I mean really a big one.. I don´t know how agencies treat this. However, if you travel to Morocco I would absolutely recommend making sure you are staying in a traditional riad with beautiful interiors. There are many options but it´s always best if YOU get to choose it in my opinion, if not at least try or request this experience.
I´m not typically a “hotel person”, I do not stay in hostels either but what I mean is I prioritize always a good location over luxury or overspending in accomodation when I only intend to sleep, take a shower and possibly have breakfast. Still, Morocco is unique from this perspective and this is part of the trip!! You will love it.
