Riad Samsara

This is a beautiful, welcoming little riad on the northern edge of the Marrakech souk. You get to it down an unprepossessing alleyway, through a narrow door which opens into a little patch of peace. (Note, we found the souk friendly and unthreatening if pretty full-on, so we quickly stopped finding narrow alleyways unnerving.) You’re immediately welcomed by Bouchra, the manager, by a lovely older lady whose name we never caught, and by Luna the cat. The core of the riad has little trees and running water, comfy seats for the outside and (like all riads) long, narrow rooms with beautiful tables, coverings and hangings. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, traditionally decorated. Ours (the Hibiscus) had a wonderful but tapped-off old bath, which was odd, but the shower was hot and powerful. The bed was large and quite (not too) firm. The nights were quiet, once street life had died down around 11. We stayed three nights, ate in the riad one - the food was delicious. And the mint tea was the best we had. Some might want to be closer to the centre of the souk. For us, this was perfect - 20 minutes walk to the centre but a little away from the bustle and noise.