I have been to Marrakech many times, and on one longer stay I decided to do something a little different. One year I went riad hopping, and there are what seems like a thousand riads to choose from in Marrakech, each more beautiful than the next in photographs. But I discovered something along the way: you don’t really know a riad until you stay in it.
The photographs show the courtyards, the fountains, the tiles and the rooftop terraces.
They don’t show the little things. The quiet in the morning. Where you sit with your coffee. Whether there is somewhere comfortable to simply be. How breakfast arrives. How you feel when you come back at the end of the day. And that is how I found this one.
Only three rooms, hidden in an authentic part of Marrakech, away from most of the landmarks. It was impeccably maintained, but it wasn’t grandeur that made me fall in love with it. It was the details.
Three little dining alcoves, one for each room, so every guest had a private place for breakfast and candlelit dinners. Robes and slippers waiting in the room. Rose petals. A rooftop terrace where hours could disappear without my noticing.
I stayed in two of the three rooms over the years. And whenever I returned, something unusual happened. I stopped wanting to go anywhere.
I would have breakfast there. Spend time on the rooftop. Read. Think. Do absolutely nothing of importance. Then, in the evening, I would have dinner in my little alcove. The women who cared for the riad spoke almost no English, and I spoke almost no Arabic.
It never seemed to matter. We understood each other.
Once, I was the only guest staying there. After serving dinner, the women finished their work and went home. And suddenly, I had the entire riad to myself. For one evening in the middle of Marrakech, it wasn’t a hotel at all, it felt like my home.
After seeing so many extraordinary places, I remember the smallest details. You can look at a thousand photographs of a hotel. But sometimes, the things that make you want to return are the things no photograph can show.