Noir d’Ivoire really is a fantastic place to stay when staying a few days in Marrakech. The small riad (9 rooms, among them are 3 gorgeous suites) is located in the northern medina of the city (not accessible by car, you will be picked up a few minutes away by employees with a donkey cart, nice …).



It’s superbly decorated by the director (Jill Fechtmann). The predominant color is black but without the effect of being somber, there are beautiful pieces of furniture everywhere, for me the whole thing is the perfect mixture between modern and oriental influences. 

We (family with a teen) had the suite „Cheetah“. There was a main room and a separate sitting area,



a marvelous bathroom with an immense tub, two sinks and a separate toilet and the best, there was your own roof-deck with a jacuzzi,



the ultimate in well being …The rooms are gathered around two courtyards,



there is also a small pool and a likewise fitness room. A delicate breakfast is served (no buffet) and dinner (Moroccan style) is also available on request.

But the best of all in this lovely riad is the very personal care of Jill (director) and Damien (manager). Nothing is ever too much trouble for them! Every effort is done to satisfy your needs. They advise you on all the things you have to know in Marrakech and take care of all the necessary arrangements for excursions, dining a.s.o.

To make a long story short in case you are looking for a fine accommodation in the medina of Marrakech go to the Noir d’Ivoire and let yourself be pampered!

Date of stay: October 2009

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Chez le Pacha is located in the most southern point of Morocco



and beautifully laid out. There are 20 rooms (16 tent rooms and 4 suites), we had one of the latter ones.

The suite was in a rustic cottage offering quite a lot of space, a double bed and a single bed, a sitting area, a somewhat frugal bathroom and a large terrace. The hotel has a very nice pool and an appealing garden.



Different excursions to the nearby desert are offered, i.e. camel riding, 4&4 trips etc. 

As far as food is concerned, a small breakfast buffet is at your disposal (not very attractively presented) and an unspectacular dinner (three courses) is served.

All in all, If you want to have a desert feeling then it’s the place to go, otherwise you don’t need to go further than Zagora (but I have to admit that I don’t know the hotels there …).

Date of stay: September 2009

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Dar Daif came as a surprise to us as we hadn’t expected such a lovely hotel in the south of Morocco! It’s located a few kilometers outside of Ouarzazate in a quiet neighborhood. The hotel is small (only 12 rooms) but can satisfy also the needs of picky travelers.



You can chose form either a double room, a junior suite and a suite. We had two different junior suites (as we spent two not consecutive days there), both were nice. The first one was very spacious (three rooms), had a rather cramped bathroom, a very small terrace and no windows (only a roof light), the second one was also quite large (two rooms), had a small bathroom, a separate toilet with a small sink and a fantastic terrace.



The hotel has a lovely courtyard with a nice pool,



and there is also a hammam. After arrival they serve you fine Moroccan cookies and mint tea, a very nice touch. If you care for fine food then you are here on the right place. Breakfast is very nice (a lot of different Moroccan specialities) and dinner (included in the room price) is fabulous, several courses with local food.

In summary, it can be said that Dar Daif is really worthwhile going to and you don’t have to spend a fortune on this!

Date of stay: September 2009

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Les Jardins de la Medina is located in the southern medina (accessible by car) in a former palace. The riad (hotel) has a little bit more than 30 rooms (quite a lot for a riad as they have usually only a few rooms). 

Our family (with one teen) had a double room „privilège“ which we liked as it was located on the top floor with a bigger room for the adults and a very small adjacent room (without windows) for our son.

The bathroom was amply dimensioned and what we liked most was the spacious terrace going to the fantastic garden. You really have to point out this wonderful green oasis with wonderful plants and many birds singing in the morning, very nice! 



There is also a small (outdoor) fitness room and a large swimming pool. Breakfast was good, there was a good selection of western and oriental food. As far as dinner is concerned, the menu is kept too ambitiously in my opinion. There are a lot of western dishes you wouldn’t eat in Morocco as you can’t be sure that these things (raw fish etc) agree with you. On the other hand the choice concerning Moroccan food isn’t wide. 

All in all, the riad is a nice accommodation for a few days in Marrakech, but I would suggest that you have dinner elsewhere.

Date of stay: September 2009

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Our trip to southern Morocco in autumn brought us (I usually travel with my husband and our teenage son) first to Marrakech (one night), then to the south (three nights) meaning via High Atlas to the most southern point of Morocco called M’Hamid (the Sahara desert begins there …) and back to Marrakech for five more nights.

After a pleasant flight with Easy Jet (actually our first one with this airline) we arrived in Marrakech early in the morning. Our first task – to get a taxi to our first hotel in the medina – turned out to be tedious because these taxi drivers in Morocco are out to cheat the passengers. But never mind …, after a short ride we safely arrived in our first hotel, Jardins de la Medina.



As far as the hotels (and restaurants) in Morocco are concerned please have a look on the correspondent Google Map (posted some time ago). I’m also going to post separate reviews on the individual hotels (published also on TripAdviser) shortly. You have to know that most cities in Morocco have an old town called medina and a new town. The medina is normally the place to go also in Marrakech



and you should make sure to have your hotel there because there isn’t anything similar as far as I know. You can’t imagine the hustle and bustle in these medinas: donkey cars, scooters and when the street is broad enough oodles of cars and of course people in heaps thrust themselves through the narrow alleys, unbelievable!



But when you arrive at your hotel a new world is waiting for you. Hotels in the medina are usually so-called riads. These are courtyard mansions hiding behind metre-thick walls blocking out all the street noise and they are oases of calm. You will find there gardens with palm trees and fountains, quite a lot of the riads have also a swimming pool, really a heaven on earth.



After a first day of sightseeing in Marrakech we left the city for the present to get to know the scenic south of Morocco. Our private driver (very recommended and not that expensive) picked us up at our hotel and we left for Ouarzazate,



a middle-sized town at the last plateau of the High Atlas before the Sahara desert. Driving over mountain passes, seeing a lot of picturesque Berber mountain villages, viewing kashbas (ancient Berber castles) is indeed wonderful. Don’t miss the Kasbah Telouet and Ait Benhaddou (film location for “Lawrence of Arabia” a.s.o.).



The next day – heading for Zagora – we crossed the fertile Draa Valley with its extensive oases with date palms.

Explore them by foot and/or by car (your driver will know where to go). After leaving the ancient caravan station of Zagora (famous for its plate “52 days until Timbuktu”)



we finally arrived in M’Hamid, the most southern point of Marocco and the beginning of the Sahara desert, the ideal spot for a camel ride or even a camel trekking lasting several days in case you should like this (we didn’t …).

Then all the way back to Marrakech, followed by another day in the High Atlas,

and this in the mountain village of Imlil where you can climb on the highest mountain of North Africa, Djebel Toubkal (4167 m), or do only a “normal” hike like ourselves, but be aware it’s steeply rising for half of the time.

Back in Marrakech we had several days left for exploring this magnificent city (our riad for this time was Noir d’Ivoire, highly recommended).

Allow enough time for drifting in the narrow alleys of the medina, it’s really an unusual experience, so different from the ambiance of our western cities. Certainly don’t miss the place of Djemaa El-Fna where a great show is going on the whole day (foot stalls, vendors, henna tattoo artists, entertainers a.s.o.), best time is late afternoon. Then visit the ancient Koranic school of Ali Ben Youssef Medersa with its splendid architecture, go to the pompous Bahia Palace and make an excursion to Jardin Majorelle where Yves Saint Laurent created a spectacular garden.

Last but not least have a Moroccan feast beginning with several cooked salads, followed by a pigeon pie, next is some slow-cooked meat, then couscous with vegetables and finally a pastry with cream and almonds. As far as the meals in general are concerned, the portions are normally huge and I had the impression that the variability of the food isn’t that considerable. When you want to have meat e.g. you only get low priced pieces for slow-cooking, I never got a fillet or something like this in a Moroccan restaurant (What do they do with this high-priced pieces?) And be aware of the fact that you have to be careful at what you eat (pay attention to the rule: peel it, cook it or forget it) then otherwise a stomach irritation or worse can result.



But back to the beautiful things in life, Morocco is really worth a trip because it’s totally different from the western way of life and that makes it so fascinating!

The post My travelogue of Morocco 2009 appeared first on Swiss Traveler.

As I mentioned in my introductory blog I’m also doing my own Google Maps of our trips i.e. so far of Canada and Morocco. For those who aren’t familiar with this, in Google Maps you can mark your travel itinerary together with your comments on hotels, restaurants etc. Here are the links:

Canada

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