Need Morocco accommodations? Stay in riads!

Are you researching your Morocco trip and looking for places to stay? Before I left for Morocco, I had researched and planned my trip for several months. Whenever I plan trips, I do tons of research making sure that I have the best experience whether it’s my accommodations/hotel, eating or excursions. When I researched this particular trip, most of my friends had recommended I stay in riads, which are traditional Moroccan homes or places with a courtyard or garden in the center. As much as I love staying in nice hotels, I also wanted to experience a more authentic Morocco. So riads are where I stayed!

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Here are some of the riads I stayed in throughout Morocco:

Marrakech

When I was looking at which riad to stay in for Marrakech, I was overwhelmed with options. There are thousands of places to stay in the Red City. I had recommendations from friends not to mention upscale hotels. In the end, I chose a riad by the name of Nesma. I was attracted to the property because it had a soaking pool on the rooftop which sounded ideal in the September heat.

After my stay, I couldn’t recommend it more because of its ideal location in the medina. We were a short walking distance from Place Jemaa El Fna, around the corner from Bahia Palace, close to an extended parking lot (we had a rental car), as well as the Jewish Quarter. Everything was very close! Sure there are fancier, more Instagram-worthy, hipster places but the kind and super friendly staff are what makes my memories of it so great.

Read reviews for Riad Nesma On Tripadvisor here

To book our riad in Marrakech, click here.

The courtyard inside Riad Nesma

My room

Details are everything

This was the courtyard on our floor where you’d often find me connecting to wifi

Our yummy breakfast which we ate on the rooftop!

Rooftop vibes

Under the hot Moroccan sun

A small soaking pool

Essaouira

For Essaouira, I wanted to be in the medina and close to the water so we could have an Atlantic ocean view. In the end, we actually didn’t spend so much time on the rooftop of our riad but I did love the French owners. Our room was super cute and the breakfast which was included every morning was so delicious!

We parked our rental car near Bab (Gate) Marrakech and walked with our things to the end of the main road in the medina. Heading back we hired a man with a cart to help us with our things because we had gone shopping.

Read reviews on Tripadvisor for our Essaouira Riad 

To book our riad in Essaouira, click here.

 

 

 

Our triple room in the riad

Breakfast of pastries, homemade yogurt, fresh fruit, coffee/tea, and fresh squeezed orange juice

The central courtyard in our riad

The view from our riad’s rooftop

Skoura

After Essaouira, we drove towards the Sahara Desert. I wanted to stop in the middle somewhere so we could split up the intense drive. Heading to Merzouga takes two days even if you are a proficient driver in a country like Morocco. After researching so many towns along the way, I found Skoura. And in Skoura one of the well-rated riads was Chez Talout.

Our drive to Skoura was pretty intense. The Tizi n Tichka Pass was pretty crazy and of course adding in stops to eat, gas, etc. By the time we got to Skoura, it was dark and finding Chez Talout was a challenge. When we got there my brother and sister in law ate the dinner that I had pre-ordered. On the web, there were many reviews about the fabulous dinner. Sadly, I had gotten sick in Essaouira so I only nibbled on a few things only to have it go straight out. Sad horns.

In the morning I was devastated to see how awesome the property was and that we were leaving to go to the Sahara. If I could go back I would love to just hand out here for a few days. Because we arrived so late at night, I was unable to shoot photos of the room.

Read reviews on Tripadvisor for Chez Talout, our riad in Skoura

To book our riad in Skoura, click here.

We arrived at night to Chez Talout

Our delicious dinner. My sister in law said it was her favourite meal in Morocco

Chez Talout is in the middle of an oasis!

A super cool chill zone

Up for some pool in the middle of an oasis?

The swimming pool which I did not dive into?

Merzouga

While we didn’t really stay in a riad in Merzouga (Sahara Desert) because we did an overnight camp with Sahara Berebere, we did leave our car and our belongings at Ksar Bicha. The next morning after camping we were able to use the facilities to shower and change and relax a bit before heading back on the road. The pool looked awesome and I wish that we could have stayed an actual night here.

Read reviews on Tripadvisor for our Merzouga riad here

To book accommodations in Merzouga, click here. For a desert trek with Sahara Bereber, click here.

A serious gate at Ksar Bicha

Anddddd another pool I didn’t swim in :/

Chefchaouen

Because we had a mishap on the road (we had to double back to fetch something we left in a town near Merzouga), we actually only stayed in Chefchaouen for one night. I had a reservation at Casa Perleta but hey that’s life right? It’s super cute and had high ratings on Tripadvisor. We didn’t spend too much time here since I was trying to shoot as many photos as possible in this beautiful blue city. I did enjoy the rooftop and met some other travellers from the USA.

Read reviews on Tripadvisor for Casa Perleta here

To book your accommodations at Casa Perleta, click here.

Photo courtesy of Casa Perleta

Someone loved Casa Perleta :)

Where breakfast is served and a chill out area

The view from the rooftop

And those are the Morocco riads and accommodations I can recommend. Because our plans changed to unforeseen circumstances we did not stay in Fes. Instead, we ended up staying a night in Midelt as well as in Meknes. Both accommodations were very last minute made on Booking.com and nothing to write home about so I won’t bother sharing those riads!

Let me know which riad(s) you stay in Morocco!

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 Booking.com