Hotels on a Morocco tour

In the tour in Morocco we will spend the night in a variety of establishments - from tents nomads to quite decent hotels. The level of comfort in them can differ significantly. We notify tour participants in advance about possible inconveniences and changes in accommodation conditions in order to avoid unpleasant moments during travel.

This article provides examples of hotels in which we stayed during a tour of Morocco in the spring of 2019. This is not at all means that next time the hotels will be exactly the same. On the contrary, they will almost certainly be different. However, after reading this opus you will be able assess the general level of accommodation facilities and understand what to prepare for.

Briefly: do not count on luxury hotels or even the level budget Europe. Morocco has its own specifics, and simply put, a lot mess. Even the most decent hotels may not have hot food. water, towels or decent linen. I dare to advise you regard this as part of the local exoticism and “don’t worry.” Otherwise In this case, it is better not to go to Morocco at all. Almost the same approach to mine The view should be applied to issues of nutrition and program changes.

Imlil

In the process of preparing for the ascent to Toubkal and immediately after it, we spent the night in Imlil, in some nameless place (i.e. without a sign, reception or pages on Booking.com) private boarding house. It is located at the top village away from the main road. In bad weather the minibus cannot drive up to it and you have to walk (and carry your luggage) around kilometer

The boarding house is a small three-story house. On the ground floor floor there is a kitchen and other utility rooms. We tried not to go there walk so as not to embarrass the women in the kitchen (after all, it is a Muslim country). On the ground floor there was a small hallway where we left dirty boots (they walked around the house in their slippers or sandals), dining room, 2 bedrooms and a shared bathroom (toilet and shower). On the second floor there were 4 bedrooms (from There are only 2 of them with their own shower and toilet) and another hall.

The bedrooms varied greatly both in size and in the degree of “destruction”. B several rooms had wide double beds, they accommodated married couples. Here is an example of one such room. Looks pretty in the photo It's nice, but it's probably one of the best rooms in the house. Others were more modest and smaller. In one of the rooms there was actually a gap to the street and it I had to plug it with a piece of polyethylene.

Yes, there is no central heating (or even a stove or fireplace) in the house. B the dining room and also in the halls of the first and second floors there were gas heaters. They worked all evening (leave them on at night impossible!) and we managed to dry our shoes, towels and hair in front of them, wet after shower. In the dining room, when the whole group was going there it became very warm and you could sit comfortably in a T-shirt.

But it was cold in the bedrooms. The thermometer showed about 12 degrees heat. Almost everyone slept in sleeping bags, and many also covered themselves on top sleeping bags with local blankets. The owner of the boarding house gave out several small electric heaters for heating bedrooms, but the wiring could not withstand loads and the lights were constantly turned off. More information about the weather on this route read here.

There were not enough sockets for recharging equipment - maximum 1 per room (take a small tee). There is no Wi-Fi in the guesthouse, mobile Internet The fishing is very unstable.

Hot water comes from a gas water heater suspended in the attic, so it takes a significant amount of time for her to get to the shower and the water gets there a little less hot than I would like.

The food at the boarding house is traditional - tagines and couscous.

Shelter Toubkal

The shelter is a solid two-story stone building in a mountain valley on altitude 3200 meters.

At the shelter we spend the night in large common rooms for 20-30 people. Free There is practically no space in the room - everything is filled with two-tier beds and backpacks. At the entrance there is a small shelf where tourists They also stuff stuff in.

When we go climbing, we leave extra things in the room right on the beds. The room is not locked, so it is better not to keep valuables scatter at random. And in general for your luggage (and rental equipment) need to be looked after - in the mess that reigns in the bedrooms in the morning (imagine - 30 people simultaneously start packing backpacks in a cramped room) it’s not surprising to lose even an elephant.

The rooms are usually warm but humid. There is flowing (and dripping) along the walls and ceiling on sleeping people) condensation.

In the basement of the shelter there is a common bathroom: 4 toilet stalls (queue!), 1 shower with cold water, several washbasins.

There is a fireplace room with sofas for relaxing and a dining room where we are fed.

There is no Wi-Fi in the mountains; there is virtually no mobile reception. Electricity It works only during the day - after lights out the generator is turned off. Better for sockets don't count.

Ouarzazate

In Ouarzazate we stayed in the pretentious Ouarzazate le Riad Hotel **** (yes, 4 stars!). One of the advantages of this hotel is the beautiful area with palm trees and two swimming pools, as well as a convenient location - 500 meters from the old town (fortresses). There are also disadvantages - the water in the pools is ice-cold, but the showers are hot The water appeared only in the morning.

Dinner and breakfast are served in buffet format. Assortment of dishes quite sufficient, but without luxury. There are free drinks at breakfast: orange juice, tea, coffee. But in the evening all drinks (both alcoholic and simple ones) you have to pay extra. Sometimes to the food tables there is a queue of Chinese tourists, but this is not critical.

Most rooms have 2-3 beds. The rooms are large.

Desert (Merzouga)

Merzouga is a relatively small area of ​​picturesque sandy desert. B there are several dozen tent camps scattered around it receiving tourists. In my opinion, our “nomad camp” can be classified as "pretty decent" category. It consisted of a dozen sleeping tents, a courtyard with a fireplace and platforms for rest and a large dining tent.

A sleeping tent is such a large tent (about 3 by 5 meters), in which you can stand at full height. The floor and walls of the tent are lined with sackcloth (woven rugs). There are mattresses right on the floor. In every tent accommodates 4-5 tourists. There is no bed linen - it is better to sleep in your own sleeping bag If you freeze (and it’s very cold at night), you can additionally cover yourself with local blankets.

There is no shower in the camp. But there is a normal, flush toilet with 4 stalls (though without latches on the doors) and 4 washbasins.

For dinner, lentil soup, pasta and tagine. Breakfast is very modest.

Each tent has a light bulb, but at night the generator is turned off and it is better to have Have a flashlight handy. There are no sockets. There is no WiFi. Fishes on the nearest dune mobile internet.

Ait Benhaddou

And again we spend the night in a fairly decent hotel Ksar Ljanoub. It is located in two kilometers from the old fortress - the main attraction Ait Benhaddou. Of course, you can’t run around on foot, but we then move on wheels.

The interior decoration of the hotel is in Moroccan style - a lot of mosaics, wrought iron and carpets. Looks nice.

The rooms are spacious, there are towels, the temperature of the water in the shower is unfortunately I don't remember. The food was also not memorable.

There is Wi-Fi, but it is slower than mobile Internet.

Legzira

The beach and arches of Legzira are a legendary place, one of the most recognizable sights of Morocco. But there is a problem with housing here. Decent There are simply no hotels nearby.

We lived in very shabby apartments for 5 people (two on a bed, three on mattresses on the floor). The rooms are damp, the beds feel damp to the touch, we sleep in sleeping bags Not the most comfortable option, but it was less than 50 minutes from the sea meters.

The phone reception is only on the top floor, there are plenty of sockets. Shower - gas column. We used our own towels.

For dinner and breakfast we went to a fish restaurant on the beach, which was also very modest (just a canopy and concrete floor).

Agadir

Hotel Adrar Agadir *** is located on Mohammed V Boulevard (line 3 from sea). This is the central transport artery of the city, which means it’s quite noisy place. But we were lucky and most of the rooms overlooked other, quieter streets. From some of the windows there was a view of a hill with shining letters "Allah, Fatherland, King".

About 500 meters to the sea. You need to go down to the garden, pass by the pool (cold), cross two streets and you are on the endless promenade of Agadir. The beach is sandy, wide and fairly clean. There are paid sun loungers (2-3 Euro).

It was warm in the evening, but the door to the balcony had to be closed due to the attack small, invisible and inaudible, but noticeably biting mosquitoes. Water in the shower hot, but very hard - the hair does not lather at first, and then sticks out like starched.

Breakfast is an unremarkable buffet on the -1st floor of the hotel. We went to the fish market for dinner.

Essaouira

Hotel Sahara * is a very stylish, albeit “tired” establishment. Interiors in colonial style (as I understand it) - red walls, a lot paintings and all sorts of antiques. The hotel is very conveniently located - inside old town, but not too deep and on a wide street where it is easy find. No vehicles go there, so it’s a 300-meter walk to the car. side of the new embankment.

The hotel does not have a restaurant. We went to the embankment for dinner and had breakfast at a colorful pancake house for locals with very low ceilings.

There is Wi-Fi, there are few sockets, you have to wait about 15 minutes for hot water. some rooms did not look white enough and were damp on touch.

Marrakesh

Hotel Corail - located near the bus station (and McDonald's) in new part of the city. To Jamaa el Fna Square and historical quarters It's a long walk - about 2.5 km or 30 minutes at a brisk pace.

The rooms are clean, white linen, hot water, towels and Wi-Fi. Dinner and breakfast is a very modest buffet.

P.S. Once again I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this text is not is a commercial offer. Hotels on your next Morocco tour may be completely different. Hotels may turn out to be better or worse - but this does not affect the cost of the tour in any way! We (the trip organizers), for our part, try to do everything possible to ensure the highest possible level of comfort. But the general principle “Morocco is a country contrasts" is here to stay. A bizarre mixture of luxury and squalor will be obsessively appear not only in the landscapes outside the window, but also in hotels route.

Kirill Yasko, March 5, 2019