Magical Marrakech

The city of Marrakech offers a fantastic activities which include spending time in the main square, the Djemaa El Fna, at the heart of the city, with its entertainers, food stalls, shops, cafes and restaurants, or browsing the souks, an amazing labyrinth of stalls selling jewellery, spices, textiles, leather goods, wood and metal works, clothing, rugs and babouches. Other activities include visiting the many famous gardens, palaces and museums of the city.

In the evening Marrakech boast an array of high quality and stylish bars, restaurants and clubs to rival any European city. In the daytime there are also a number of beach clubs, which offer large swimming pools, eating and drinking, and lounging facilities to a backdrop of music from live DJs, al under the North African sun.

For accommodation style seekers, Morocco Gateway offers Maison MK, a chic guesthouse created by fashion photographer Paul Hopkins, AnaYela that seeks to offer a “cultural, sensual and mental” experience and Le Palais Rhoul with its fine Romanesque styling in its lush out-of-town palm-grove location.

For the style-conscious on more of a budget, La Maison Arabe, Riyad el Mezouar, Riyad El Cadi and Riad L’Orangeraie all offer high standards of service, cleanliness, facilities, a central location, and double rooms for under €150 a night. Riyad el Mezouar and La Maison Arabe also offer classes on Moroccan cookery, which are always popular with visitors.

For travellers on a tighter budget, Morocco Gateway offer Riad Villa El Arsa, a quiet and peaceful riad with a roof-top terrace offering rooms at €70-80 per night, Dar Attajmil a peaceful, hidden riad with a beautiful patio courtyard, and its own library which offers room for €90 a night.

A stay in a riad in Marrakech can also be easily combined with a short stay in another of Morocco’s ancient cities of Fez and Meknes, or to the famous Atlas Mountains, to the desert region with its mystical sand dunes or Essaouira hotels on the beaches of the Atlantic coast.