Marrakech
Location
It is only 15 minutes drive from the airport to the main Jemma El Fna Square in the heart of Marrakech. Where at night the smoke rises over the food selling market stalls, the drum beats a hypnotic rhythm, snakes dance out of baskets and crowds gather to watch acrobats, listen to story tellers and barter for a bargain piece of leather or pottery from dusk to the early hours of the morning.
A 5-minute walk down a picturesque medina alleyway will bring you to the front door of Riad Zahra a tranquil sanctuary to escape all that exciting hustle and bustle. The only sounds you can hear are your chosen CDs and the callings to the local mosque.
Why stay in a Riad?
There are many wonderful hotels in Marrakech offering excellent international cuisine and 5 star luxury accommodation. You can view the life of Marrakech from a distant window almost as a voyeur. However if you prefer to see in greater detail the colours, sense the smells, feel the activity that is Marrakech, then you must stay in the old town Medina in a traditional house. Riad Zahra is such a house built, around a pretty courtyard featuring a beautiful orange tree, which rises up through the center of the house and through the first floor balcony almost to the roof terrace. It offers shade in the hot summer days and scented blossom in early spring with an abundance of fruit to follow.
From the minute you walk through the door Riad Zahra lives up to its name
(house of flowers). The Riad is
finished with hand made furniture from the Medina craftsmen designed with ideas
from Keith, Mark and David.
The entrance hall opens into the pretty courtyard where breakfast can be
taken at the beautiful tiled table.
The ground floor houses two double bedrooms, in the shade of the
orange tree, which are the coolest places to sleep in the summer. They are furnished with Moroccan
furniture and accessories but offer the luxury of European mattresses with
duvets and a toweling bathrobe supplied for each guest. Each bedroom has a window into the
courtyard with traditional metal grills.
A shower and WC are available on the ground floor decorated in
traditional yellow tadalalkt plaster.
The main kitchen is also situated off the
courtyard where your culinary requirements will be catered for by Madam Zahra,
who will prepare your breakfast, and if required a light lunch or traditional
Moroccan banquet for the evening.
The first floor offers a four-sided balcony, hosting the delightful salon with tiled floor and highly decorated plasterwork ceiling. The salon offers comfortable seating and an indoor dining area with interesting decorative art and object d’art. The huge doors from the salon open out onto the balcony. Further around the balcony is the library with an extensive selection of reference books and novels for you to flick through during your stay. A third bedroom and large bathroom are available on this floor.
On arriving at the roof terrace one finds an unexpected array of luxury
surrounded by terracotta pots filled palms and bourgonvilla.
It is your own private sun terrace with comfortable sun loungers, a large
parasol, a dining table and Jacuzzi.
A small kitchen is on hand to store the ice for the gin and tonic and the
champagne chilled.
Music is available on all
floors and you will find a selection of classical, opera, jazz and traditional
Moroccan CDs.
The holiday on offer is a tranquil haven amidst the exciting and frenetic
atmosphere that is Marrakech.
Although we would like to be there to greet you ourselves alas this is impossible but we leave you in the careful hands of Hisham the house boy, who will meet you at the airport and take care of your every need whether it be a shopping trip to the Medina, a trip to the seaside, booking restaurants, shopping for that bottle of wine, serving your meal or arranging an evening banquet with belly dancer and musician.
Madam Zahra will look after your
culinary needs with a continental breakfast, light lunches and amazing evening
meals, and of course copious amounts of “whisky maroc”- namely mint tea!
Khalib is the third jewel in the
crown and will look after the housekeeping and arrange any laundry requirements
you may have. As the sun goes down
the atmosphere changes. he lights
the candles around the riad to cast a romantic glow and let the shadows dance
around the walls.
Trips available
1) A
visit to Essourira on the coast.
Allow 21/2
hours taxi drive. You can
ride a camel on the glorious sandy beach; experience a delightful seafood lunch
cooked on the side of the harbor.
The town’s craftsmen specialise in woodcarving but there are many craft
shops to view. All the buildings
are a blue and white Mediterranean style.
2) A visit to Ulrika
valley in the mountains buying wild strawberries and herbs en route. In the winter season you can extend this
trip to Okhampton to the ski resort.
3) Into the Atlas
Mountains and berber market
4) Ride around the
Palmarie gardens in a horse and carriage.
5) Visit the golf
club at the golf palace complex.
6) Casino and
cocktails in the jazz bar at LaMaunouria.
7) Stroll around the
Yves Saint Lauren designed gardens.
8) A walk around the man made lake in the Menara gardens surrounded by olive groves.
Riad Zahra
From £500
2 people
From £700
4 people
From £900
6 people
Theses are the prices per week and
include-