For the most part, I'm not a fan of huge hotels. I travel a lot for a living and in order to feel more at home, or not to miss home too much, I gravitate towards smaller hotels. I've found that for the most part, I also get more personal service. I also avoid staying in the 'center of town.' To me that signals 'touristlandia.'
Choosing a place to stay in Marrakech, I applied the same principle. After surfing online, reading travel sites and online reviews, I booked a room at Riad Azoulay and kept my fingers crossed.
As a background, Riads are traditional Moroccan houses or palaces with an interior courtyard or garden. The Riads are inward focus which allowed for family privacy (particularly for women) and harsh weather of Morocco. According to Wikipedia, the entrance to these houses is a major transitional experience and encourages reflection because all of the rooms open into the central atrium space. In the central garden of traditional riads there are often four orange or lemon trees and possibly a fountain.
We landed at dusk and after staying in line at immigration for an hour, K was starting to feel anxious. Even worst, when we got off the prearranged taxi from the airport and met by the Riad's staff on a street corner, instead of in front of the hotel, K and I looked at each other and he asked me what have I done this time? Then a walk in a narrow, dim alley. Hearts beating, the hotel staff knocked on a door and...
The genie came out of a bottle and gave us a gem! Peace and quiet, simple beauty, an oasis!
Riad Azoulay is indeed a very pleasant surprise. Riad Azoulay, a 9-room house used to be owned by a rich Moroccan landlord, has been carefully restored by its new Italian owners to its former beauty. Sandro (architect) and Massimiliano (interior designer, hotelier) together with their local Moroccan staff, and their two lovely dogs, and turtles, treated us like royal guests from the moment we walked into their Riad. We were captivated and it was hard to get out.
The pool at the center of the house and the open roof provide a cooling effect. What genius the Moroccan ancestors were for inventing a natural air-conditioning system!
The attention to detail - inside the room, the service and the food - is excellent. To top it all, because K is naturally curious about architecture, we became fast friends with the owners, Sandro and Massimiliano.
Next time you visit Marrakech, I highly recommend you stay at Riad Azoulay.
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