Hubby and I in planning stage of 2 week hols in Morocco mid March 2008. Hoping to organise it ourselves and save money (poor nurses )
Has anyone stayed in Esouari?? Apparently approx 1and a half hrs from Marakesh. What would a taxi cost from the airport to resort, are there other alternatives ie Good bus/train links?
What is the difference between a Riad and a hotel? Can anyone recommend either in Esouari (where we would stay prob 11 nights and Marakesh for 3 nights)?
What is the price of living as a tourist ? Is Morocco a "safe place" to travel? Is English widely spoken ? etc etc etc
All/any advice welcome!!
Thanx in advance

Hi Helen
1) cost about 60 MAD for a transfer from Marrakech airport to medina but you must agree this price in advance any more and your being ripped off.
16 MAD = £1

2) Essaouria can be reached either by Grand Taxi which you hire for your journey, or you can get the Supratours Bus which you catch in Guilez. It takes 3 hours and they leave 3 times a day.

3) Riads are houses converted into basically B&B's Moroccan style. They tend to be small and friendly and are usually run by famalies. Quite an experience staying in one. There are some big hotels in medina hwover most of them are located in Guilez just outside medina. Riads are anything from £55 -£120 per night depending on where you stay. Hotels tend to be slightly cheaper.

4) Morocco is very safe, it's a total culture shock for a country 3 hours away. Berber Arabic and French are the national languages. Some knowledge of French goes along way.

Checkout Riads Marrakech and Riads in Morocco websites and there are a multitude of Riad reviews on Tripadvisor, check out their Morocco forum as this can be very informative too.

Hope this helps.
Laurence

My son went to Essouira and Marrakesh in May. He works for Laterooms.com, and used their accommodation. He and his travelling companion were very pleased with the quality of their rooms. You might have a look at what they've got to offer. (No advertising intended just another source of information - you may have to ring Late rooms to get the details ... ask for Jon in the French section (but he speaks perfect English too).

Only 36 hours now before I have to be at the airport. Can't wait. So excited. Looks like the weathers going to be good as well. Has been looking quite cloudy over the last couple of days.

Remember that cloud cover doesn't stop the heat getting through nor you from burning! Slap on the sun cream even if it's cloudy. Have a great holiday!

Yeah thanks for the warning. Indeed I will be. Looking like low 30's which is lovely, and a nice break from 40's I'm used in going to Egypt and Dubi.

I'm all packed and ready to go already.

Anyone stayed in a Riad in Marrakech lately?

We are off to Marrakech for a few days in November. Fancy a really different sort of holiday, and we want to get a true taste of the place, so we have booked into a Riad called L'Orangeraie which looks amazing. We've checked out reviews and people seem to rave over it!
Can anyone give us some ideas of what we can expect to pay for food and drink? Believe that you cannot usually get alcohol in restaurants in the Medina, but can sometimes take your own, is this a common thing to do?
Does anyone know if it is usually warm enough in November to swim in the pool at the Riads,(it is heated)?
Would be interested to hear about anyone elses experiences who has stayed in a Riad recently.
Thanks in advance

We have been many, many times to Morocco, north and south, and many times to Marrakech. One of the most authentic and best small riads in Marrakech is Dar Kniza . This riad is elegant, refined, well-run and has a wonderful collection of very authentic antiques. The owner was an internationally renown antique dealer. It is on the pricey side though.

My daughter (who is half Moroccan) recently stayed in another Marrakech riad that she liked very much. Dar Rhizlane.

Hi everyone that has been to morocco just a few questions as we would love to go to morocco next august.Firstly we are looking at hotels al moggar beach club,anezi hotel can anyone give any insite to these both places.We want to be in the cental location due to having a daughter who has slight walkin difficulties she loves to stay around the pool most of the time but occasionally we will venture down to the beach.We went to tunisia this august and loved it so we are now lookin to find a nice place in agadir any ifo is much appreciated many thanks christine

Just returned from Marrakesh and found it a varied experience. Stayed in the Moroccon House Hotel which was lovely and very authentic with lovely staff.

So I dont repeat everything people have said before if you have any questions please let me know while it is fresh in my mind lol and I will try to help.

Food prices vary from place to place but I suppose an average price for say a pizza is 50 D - which is around £3.

Carrie, i would love to hear your experiences , good or bad, we are off to Marrakech next week , can you tell me what was the weather like? also can you recommend any eating places , thanks, shirleyv

Hi Shirley
The weather was hot around 30c if not hotter but in the eveninig a nice breeze starts and it is just right for wandering around.

I suppose it depends what area you are staying in, we stayed in Guliez which I believe is the new area. We didnt venture that far at night for food just using a couple of restuarants near our hotel (Italian and Thai) and the other 2 nights we ate in our hotel.

The open top bus is a good way of seeing parts of Marrakesh that you wouldnt see otherwise. Its around 140 DI which I suppose is around £8.

The first place we went to Kasbar (spelling) which was awful. The further down you go the smellier and more disgusting it was. Needless to say we only went there once and was glad to leave that area.

Dont let a guide persuade you to go to a half price warehouse it is a con - the place is a rip off and ppl were intimidated to pay hundreds of pounds for things. Lucky there was 4 of us so be brazened it out and then had to find our way onto a main road to try to hail a taxi. That was probably the worst experience for us but no hard done. The man that got us saw us leave our hotel and pretended he was a guide for our hotel. Well you live and learn and we just put it down to our experience of the place.

Have fun but be careful.

Taxis are cheap but we did do a fair amount of walking.

The kasbah, is that the main square Carrie? I went last year and the main square is called Djem el Fnaa , is that what they call the kasbah , or did you go somewhere different?

We're going to Marrakesh over Christmas and normally draw money from ATMs when we're in cities. Is this the best option for Marrakesh, or are we better off taking cash? If so, should we take MADs, Sterling or Euros?

Thanks
Elaine

you cant get MAD's outside of morocco, so you will have to take either sterling or euro, you can change them at the airport once you arrive , there isnt many ATMS about and banks are thin on the ground , marrakech isnt the easiest of places to change money,so i would recommend taking cash with you and not travellers cheques , luckily for us our hotel changed it no problems

Please note that there is an ATM at Marrakesh airport just after you come out of customs and immigration, behind a pillar, with a bank and change office on your left.

Sorry to disagree Ellie Meg, but we found plenty of ATMs and banks in Marrakesh, but we were looking for them! Your home bank may be able to give you a list of 'partner' banks in Marrakesh, and

DO collect 1 dirham pieces to give in exchange for going to the toilet!! Worthless in themselves, but worth their weight in gold for what doors they unlock for you!

Thanks for the replies and the tip about the loos

Elaine

maybe it was the part of marrakech we stayed in but , we couldnt find any and was so thankful our hotel exchanged it for us, once we had done this we didnt look for any in the central area, and i dont remember seeing any banks or exchange offices about like you do normally on holiday

Maybe I have got it wrong but the taxi driver told us it was the Kasbar that he dropped us off at and it wasnt too bad at the start but further in it was awful.

I thought the Medina was the main area (the square with the surrounding allies full of stalls????

Anyway, I was trying to warn others but maybe I have the name wrong.