Hi everyone 🧡
I hope you're all enjoying the weekend - or what's left of it at least... 😃
Today's post is (yet another 😃) on our recent trip to Marrakech. And yes, I know it's been quite a few updates on our Marrakech trip already, but there really are tons of things to explore in this very lively and intriguing city.
If you haven't been already, I can definitely recommend you add Marrakech to your travel bucket list - with a few things to bear in mind in terms of do's and don'ts while there, that is. 😉 I have written a post about those right HERE in case you would like some nice-to-know-info before you go.
In my 8 THINGS TO WHEN IN MARRAKECH post, I mention that spending a night (or more 😍) at one of the city's many beautiful riads is one of the things you will HAVE to experience while in Marrakech. I was soo surprised to find that something this beautiful - and also quiet 🙏 - could exist in the middle of this extremely lively - and at times rather chaotic - city that Marrakech is.
As mentioned in a previous post, we had planned our itinerary so that we would have our first three nights at Riad Le Clos Des Arts to start out with, one night in the desert at the Scarabeo Desert Camp, and then three nights at Riad Itrane, which was our last stop so to say.
We were both extremely happy with this itinerary, since by day three we really needed a break from all the hustle and bustle that is CONSTANTLY going on in Marrakech. So if you plan to book a week's vacation in Marrakech, I can definitely recommend you do the same and get a small break from the city midway. 😊
The last riad we stayed at was Riad Itrane - yet another beautiful and well-hidden gem in the middle of the Medina. To those not familiar with the Medina term (I wasn't initially); it basically means 'the old part' of any Moroccan city, and are usually surrounded by city walls, which, with its almost 20 km and 10 meter height all aorund the medina, is quite an impressive sight.
Riad Itrane itself is located just a few minutes from the main square, Jamaâ El Fna, yet you don't get the feeling of basically being right in the middle of the city. Most riads are in fact located on tiny little side streets, behind some rather thick walls and thus shielded quite a bit from the noise of the city.
Upon arriving, we were greeted by some of the very friendly riad staff, who - not surprisingly - had us sit down and enjoy a Moroccan mint tea while waiting for our room. For some odd reason I never really tired of this gesture, but I'm guessing you do have to be a tea enthusiast, or at least like it to not get fed up by the end of the week. 😃
Since we already had been around and thus knew quite a bit about the city from our first three days, we didn't need the city introduction this time.
I do, however, recommend you take the city introdcution if it's your first time in Marrakech; I don't think I've ever gotten such a great introduction to any city before. This might of course have to do with the fact that riads are a lot smaller than regular hotels, which gives them time to really personalize the experience and cater for their guests on a whole other level.
We had been given the Urantia majestic suite, which was absolutely fabulous. It featured a bedroom, living room, bathroom all beautifully decorated as well as its own private rooftop terrace with an epic view of the city.
The room waas indeed big enough to make you feel a bit like a Sultan - at least one of us did. 😉
The bedroom basically looked like something taken straight form a fairy tale, with its beautiful swan-like decoration with rose petals spread across it. 😍
Regarding hotel room decorations in general, it is usually the room itself that gets the most attention. That is different in Marrakech, however, where also the design of bathrooms have been given a great deal of attention.
All bathrooms here are individually designed and decorated with the most exotic and colorful tiles you can imagine - and walking into these basically feels like entering into a bohemian oasis... 😍
// View of the indoor pool from our room.
I mentioned previsouly that a common feature of riads is that they are usually equipped with a rooftop terrace, where guest can enjoy the sun and also cool down in the rooftop pool, when it gets too hot during summer time.
At Riad Itrane, we even got our own private rooftop terrace - the Urantia room had that - which we used to its fullest, as we both looove spending time in the sun. 😍
// Beautiful mini cacti on the roof.
The rooftop offered quite a spectacular view of the neighboring houses.
... as well as a view of the Koutoubia Mosque in the distant background.
// More pretty cacti. 😍 They are everywhere down here.
Like I mentioned previsouly, one of the cool features of staying at the smaller boutique hotels like riads, is that there's more room for individual and personalized service, like choosing when you would like your breakfast for instance.
Now, this is something we really appreciate, as we love to do something active in the morning, typically sightseeing when traveling. We would then come back around 12pm and order our breakfast, and they would set up these pretty breakfast tables for us. 🙏
The breakfast is served downstairs in the 3 patios, one of which features a cozy fireplace and a view of the beautiful pool. We would, however, have loved to enjoy breakfast on the roof - in the sun of course 😍, but since its a three-storey riad and the kitchen was placed on the lower floor, this wasn't possible.
Everyday there was a different selection of specialties to choose from but always with the most basic breakfast foods like eggs, breads, fruits etc. 😍
I hope you enjoyed this post and got a small an insight into what living in a riad is like. If you haven't decided where to stay for your (next) Marrakech trip I can definitely recommend you check out Riad Itrane.
Safe travels, guys. ✈
Lots of love and good energy, K