MARRAKECH
Table of Contents
Marrakech is the travel hub of Morocco every year hundreds and thousands of travels comes to this place to enjoy the culture of Morocco. When people come to stay in Marrakech the first things which hits them most is where to Stay and what activities you could do? Today I will tell you about the former one and will discuss all about how to plan your Stay in Marrakech effectively without losing your hard-earned money. So, without wasting any time lets just jump into it.
Now the stay in Marrakech is purely depends upon the experience if you want high service and wanted to Stay in luxury rooms with WIFI, T.V and air-condition than it is very obvious that you have to pay the price to it. There are some places like in old town where you can get a cheap residence on some Riads which is usually 2-bedroom villa with lawn inside the house. But before choosing Riad to Stay one must know about what Riad is?
KNOWING ABOUT RIADS
The riad is basically and Arabic term means Garden and it is usually associated with traditional morocco homes which was built with garden inside the 4 walls of the house like in center of the house. Today in morocco most of the Guest houses are considered as Riads but the original ones can be found in Medina (Old part of the city).
Before you gets excited and prepare your mind to stay at Riad I want to tell you that only stay there if you want to gain true Moroccan experience otherwise it is not suitable for families specially the one who have toddlers with them. Basically, you can have the following problems while your stay at Riads:
Water and Sanitation issues
Marrakech is very old City and its old part which is called Medina is older than the City itself so you can expect plumbing issues at any time with out any reason and some time it takes days to resolve the issues. Also, there are Sanitation issues although some riads are clean but most of them are not.
Insects
Insects at Marrakech Riads are very common like lizards, mouse, ants, cockroaches and mosquitos etc. It is usually because of water and Sanitation and because of the old town which is medina and in most clean Riads or even hotels you may find cockroaches. They usually try their best to solve this issue and once a year they spray the whole area to kill these insects.
The Call to Prayer
If you are a Muslim than you will not find it a problem but for those who are not may find it weird because you will hear call to prayer 5 times in a day because Muslims Pray 5 times in a day. Some people deal with it and embrace the culture and religion but other may not accept it specially in Medina there are lots of Mosques.
Now as by now you may ask what Medina actually is and why it has so much importance in the City. So, lets discuss about the medina.
Medina Facts
Do not mix it with the holy city of Medina which is in Saudi Arabia. Medina is derived from the Arabic language which means City but in Morocco is it known as the old walled part of the city. Medina covers a large area of Marrakech and usually, you will find many tourists there exploring the culture of Marrakech by buying souvenirs and local potteries or by staying at raids and enjoying local foods.
There are lots of residential homes in Medina so you will find many shops, boutiques, Gyms, restroaunts, workshops and banks and bakeries there. People usually afraid to live in medina because of its hustle and busy streets but once you get inside some riad and spent night you will be amazed to see the calmness. The best thing in my opinion about staying at riad is its cost effectiveness because you would not have to pay for taxis and you will save all your transportation cost because everything would be available at walking distance within the medina.’
THE KASBAH
Another great place and alternative to Medina is Kasbah and many of my friend grew up there. Although it is not the first choice of travellers because it is little far and detached from the traditional medina so you will find less visitors there but it does not mean it made the Kasbah less attractive you will find all the things like shops, Riads, workshops there it is just a hidden gem of Marrakech which I believe everyone should explore.
Jewish QUARTERS (The Mellah)
The word which is used to describe the residence and colonies of Jewish is Mellah. If you want to see how the local jewish Moroccans live you should visit this place and would be surprised to see how well Muslims treat their Jewish brothers considering that they have strong tiff from centuries.
AGDAL
When you travel to south of Marrakech towards Atlas Mountains and the Valley of Ourika you will find the city of Agfal near the Gardens of Agdal. The land there is not so expensive so you will find very large hotels there and every hotel has their own separate swimming pools and Car Parking facility. The only downfall is its distance from medina but it falls under the radius of the city so you can take a taxi and go to the medina.
Palmeraie of Marrakech
Just outside of Marrakech you will find the Palm oasis and you will find may hotels, shops and some golf courses there but the biggest disadvantage there is its distance from the Medina because you have to pay around 200 to 250 dirhams to reach at the city center so it would not be cost effective but yes if you want to gain royal Moroccan experience than its definitely worth it.
Some Outside Choices
If you want to stay outside of Marrakech than there are many options there although many of the resorts and hotels which are outside of the city claims to be in Marrakech but actually there are not. Just pay attention to their address it would be clearly written that they are 30, 40 or even 50 km outside of Marrakech.
I Believe that staying outside in Marrakech would not be a good idea because the travel cost would eat up your budget. So, if you are ready to pay than I prefer to stay near the Agafay Desert and enjoy sand surfing, Quad biking and camel Riding along the way.
I Hope this article helps you and gives you some idea about where you should stay when you arrive in MARRAKECH this time.
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