Marrakech Day 1: The Riad 5 Sens
The sound of my shrieking could be heard all the way back home to Manila. At the very least, it’s permeated the old medina where our riad is conveniently located. Finally, my family has arrived in Marrakech after their 3-day sojourn to the desert! I’d been alternately missing and loathing them while they were away on their Saharan adventure and I was slaving away at work.But now they’re finally here to rub it in my face some more! :) Good I was just so happy to see them that I didn’t care.
Hanging out at the rooftop to enjoy the breeze
For the rest of the night, we don’t stop talking about how much fun they had and about how nice our riad is.
Logo of Riad 5 Sens
Staying in a riad, which is a converted old house, is a definite must when you’re in Fes or Marrakech. These riads are just looooovely and ours was designed in a modern Moroccan style which was just perfect. I told Yotch to take loads of pictures so she can just exactly copy this for my future home.
Night view of the pool
Day view of the pool
Foyer of the second floor
Room #1: Mille et Une Nuits
Room #1: Mille et Une Nuits bathroom
Room #2: Arabesque
Room #2: Arabesque bathroom
Room #3: Alchimie bed and bathroom
We had a major-domo, Abdullah, who’s the go-to guy for everything… the porter, concierge, receptionist, doorman, bellboy, waiter and even exfoliator extraordinaire (don’t ask). Our very own Oompa. :) He couldn’t speak English very well, which is a definite struggle in this country, so either travel with someone French or bust out any French you may have learned, no matter how barok. I had to argue about the A/C in French which caused me to break out in sweat and forced me to dramatically improve my “Charades” skills.
Some tips: For Morocco, make sure to go to the French page as they will often have lower prices than the English version, even if it’s on the same site! I found this riad through espacemaroc.com which has some other really nice places as well. The reviews on 5 Sens though were just terrific. And it didn’t hurt that they give me a €20 discount per room per night just for asking.
Also, don’t try to cheat and lower the number of people per room. The beds here are really small and when they say single bed, they mean it. It’s so narrow that unless you sleep curled up in a fetal position with one person on each end, there’s no way to fit.
And try to find a riad with good food as you’ll be having more than fair share of meals there. Ours always had a fabulous breakfast spread, always something French (baguettes, crepes, pastries…) and the famous Moroccan orange juice (sweetest thing ever!). And for dinner, the poulet citron is to-die-for. I think we even licked the oil off the tajine.
Happy, smily faces at the dining room
The only annoying thing was having to pay in CASH at the end -- and they only accept in euros or dirhams. Oh, and the shower didn't drain until we figured out you had to squat while showering! Mild annoyances but it was an overall very positive experience. For more pics, click here.
posted by moan @ 1:00 AM
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