Marrakech and Essaouria
I was one of 40 Travel Counsellors hosted by the Moroccan Tourist Board to a fam trip here, my first time anywhere in Morocco.
Our trip started in an unfortunate way with easyJet having to switch aircraft at Gatwick once we had already boarded, but after a two hour delay we were on our way and three and a bit hours later landed at Marrakech’s smart new Manara airport. That Marrakech is known as the red city is immediately apparent from the buildings around the airport and the drive into the city.
Our base for the first three nights was the Movenpick Hotel, located centrally by one of the nice wide boulevards in the city. After a late lunch and familiarising ourselves with the hotel layout, it was off to the famous Marrakesh souk. Fortunately we had an expert guide with us who knew every alleyway there, otherwise it would be so easy to get lost in the maze. The sights and smells of all the local produce being sold is amazing and all the small shops and stalls seemed crammed with stock.
At sunset, our group were taking to the roof terrace of the Riad Almaha for drinks and this overlooks the famous Jamaa El Fna square where Marrakesh’s street vendors and entertainers come and ply their trade. A fascinating mix of local cultural activities to say the least ! For dinner we were hosted to the Salama restaurant for our first experience of Morocco’s mezze food. And very nice it was too. The restaurant was very busy apart from our group, and yes, came with belly dancers as entertainment.
A sunny but chilly morning greeted us next day for our visit to the Royal Palm hotel, which is around 15 minutes outside the city. The hotel has a superb gold course, set with the snow-topped Atlas mountains in the background, and also features private villas, and excellent leisure facilities for a relaxing break away from the city centre. After a tour of the various room categories it was off next to the incredible Royal Mansour hotel, featured in the recent TV series on the world’s most desirable hotels. This property is a series of two storey Riad’s, each coming with a private courtyard surrounded by luxurious rooms. Not surprisingly, heads of state and Middle Eastern dignitary make up the majority of the guests. A superb lunch was laid out by the newly redesigned pool and garden area, but was hastily moved to the main indoor restaurant due to the cool weather. Our time spent at the hotel was simply awesome. The afternoon saw our group having a choice of activities – either a Moroccan cooking class or a trip to a local karting track. I opted for the karting, something I’ve never done before. Whilst I enjoy driving generally, I quickly found out I’m no Lewis Hamilton in the making round a tight karting course. We reconvened at our hotel and were taken for dinner at the superb Le Palace restaurant, again a lively affair made all the livelier but our group in high spirits and the music being played.
Another bright cool morning greeted us next day, and today it was a visit to the Ouirgane valley in the foothills of the high Atlas mountains. Marrakesh’s superb dual carriageway roads leading out of the city gave way to more twisting roads as it snaked it’s way up a valley until at around 1000 metres up we arrived at a track that leads to the hideaway boutique L’Amandier hotel and villas. Chill-out hotels and locations don’t come much better than this, with just 6 rooms and 9 villas, divided by scented gardens and paths lined with orange and lemon bushes. The closeness of the mountains, with the snow line at around 1800 metres, provides a dramatic backdrop. The utter peace and quiet here was astounding, the only other man-made sounds was the distant hum of exited children from a small school down the valley and a call to prayer from a mosque some distance away in the hills. We felt privileged to experience and be hosted by such a property in such a location. All too soon it was back the hour and a half to Marrakesh and dinner this time at the superb Jad Mahal restaurant.
Next morning our group checked-out of the excellent Movenpick hotel for the trip down to Essaouria on the Atlantic coast, some two and a half hours away. En route, we saw the famous goats grazing in argan oil nut bushes, some balancing on seemingly impossibly thin branches to access the nuts. Further along the road, we stopped at an Argan oil cooperative and were shown how the oil is extracted from the seeds and processed into all manner of cosmetics and soaps etc. As the drive towards Essaouira continued, the countryside became noticeably more fertile and greener, and soon the Atlantic came into view and the city of Essaouira. Our hotel for our last night was the Atlas, right across from the wide beach and around half a mile from the medina and souk in the city centre.
After a visit and hosted late lunch at the Sofitel hotel & spa, a couple of miles outside the city, we had time for a visit to Essaouira’s medina and beach area, before our Atlas hotel treated us to a sunset party at their beachclub annex. Our last night’s dinner was at the lovely L’heure Blue restaurant where the time came to thank our brilliant Moroccan Tourist Board hosts for a wonderful trip. It was a pre-dawn start next morning for the trip back to Marrakesh airport and our this time on-time flight home.
It was a fantastic trip very well put together to sample the best of the best in the area. I’d thoroughly recommend Marrakesh and the hotels & restaurants we visited.