Riad Dar Dialkoum, Marrakesh

Advantages: Rooms and food are great, very relaxing
Disadvantages: Location, location, location!

...We have just returned from spending the Easter weekend at Riad O2 in Marrakech. Prior to visiting Marrakech we had good email contact with the riad, and we confirmed with them that we would like to be collected from the airport and have dinner in the riad on our first night. We then arranged to pay the outstanding balance by bank transfer. We arrived at Menara airport after a really easy three hour flight, and we were quickly met by one of the riad's drivers, Hamid. He helped us to his car with our bags and we set off for the medina. Having read a couple of reviews on other sites before leaving we were a little wary of the area that Riad O2 is situated in, and unfortunately on arriving I have to admit our worries were confirmed. Hamid pulled up at the end of a road near Sidi Ben Slimane, and we then walked for three or four... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Peaceful, pretty with wonderful owners and staff. One of my favourite places ever.
Disadvantages: No tea making facilities. Early morning call to prayer gives a swift awakening

...What kind of traveller are you? Do you like to spend your holiday budget on a luxury villa somewhere, with all the mod cons, or do you prefer more Spartan accommodation, on the basis that you're just renting somewhere to rest your head at night? Usually, I fall into the latter category - as much as I like luxury, I cannot justify spending large sums of money if I'm visiting a city in order to get out and about, and discover the culture and meet the people. However, I've just returned from Marrakech, and found a happy medium. Riad Dar Sbihi is in the northern part of the Medina (old city) in Marrakech. A riad is a traditional Moroccan dwelling. It is laid out around a central courtyard, with the rooms communicating with the courtyard, but not with each other. The result of this design is that you step from a bustling (and dusty... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A really foreign experience
Disadvantages: Too hot in July

...Jaded with trips abroad? Fed up with touristy jaunts? Try out Marrakesh for a real taste of what travelling must have once been like. We went on a 2 week package to Agadir, and, growing tired of the beach culture yet not wanting to buy into a packaged bus trip, we booked ourselves on the (real) bus to Marrakesh for a few days - really cheap, 70 dirhams, about £4.50 each way. The trip was easy - about 4 and a half hours on an air-conditioned bus, dropping us at the bus station on the outskirts of the Old City. We were mobbed by petit taxi drivers offering to take us to our destination, and took one of them up on it - a 'riad' (meaning old merchant's house which has been done up) just off the famous square of Djema el Fnaa. The taxi was bargained for and cost just over a pound to take us to the hotel. We had to go down... Read review

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