Dar Zemrane

“Such a lovely experience!”

The Riad is very traditional and there was a real taste of Morocco when staying here, rather than a nameless faceless hotel chain. Mohammed was so welcoming and gave great advice to help us manage around the old town and dealing with people in the Souks. He even shared his amazing tea recipe! The l… more

The Riad is very traditional and there was a real taste of Morocco when staying here, rather than a nameless faceless hotel chain. Mohammed was so welcoming and gave great advice to help us manage around the old town and dealing with people in the Souks. He even shared his amazing tea recipe! The location is right in the heart of the old town, with a 10 minute walk to the main square. It is a little hard to find at first but this is part of the charm of a real Moroccan experience. If you want the real Morocco, then this is a perfect place to stay.

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“Lovely - but please check the exact location before you go”

Reaching the riad was not as easy as we expected - we know Marrakech quite well, and having booked last minute, whilst already in Morocco, we didn't bother to look at where it was exactly (big mistake!), we just saw "bab Doukala" in the address, so we went for it ... But no, it is not bab doukala, … more

Reaching the riad was not as easy as we expected - we know Marrakech quite well, and having booked last minute, whilst already in Morocco, we didn't bother to look at where it was exactly (big mistake!), we just saw "bab Doukala" in the address, so we went for it ... But no, it is not bab doukala, especially when you arrive late-ish as we did, we were hanging around Bab Doukala, but nobody knew where it was ... we found a chap who said he knew (but in fact didn't), and asked us if we had the riad's number - we gave it to him and he called the place, asking for directions. Once we got there, my friend and I looked at each other and thought - we should give him a small tip, at least because he made a phone call and he (seemed) so kind to have walked us there ... but our tip wasn't enough for him, he became very aggressive and threatened us, but we managed to get inside and he walked off. Very scary. But once inside, it all went well, starting from Mohamed, who witnessed the scary man, he offered us tea, and I must say, I am very sorry to be reading some reviews below, because Mohamed was the most polite, not at all intrusive, welcoming, charming man, as many people in Morocco are too. We were obviously quite shaken after the episode with the crook who took us there, but Mohammed told us not to worry, and he offered to walk us anywhere if we wanted to, but we said we were OK. The best of all was the bathroom, its shower gel and shampoo which smelled wonderful. We loved the riad, very different from staying in a hotel (which is our usual choice in Marrakech). I would recommend the place, we met the French manageress too, who is a very polite and welcoming lady. The only thing I can say, though, is - if you want to enjoy the nightlife, or come back late, this is definitely not the place for you. Ideal for a couple of nights, yes. But everyone goes to sleep - including the whole street - no later than 11 PM ... We felt a little like we were "imprisoned", there, with no chance of going out again, but for the 2 nights we stayed, it was fine.

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