To Essaouira
MOROCCOWith a laid-back king loosening the bonds of tradition and bringing party-lovers back to Morocco, the windswept fishing port of Essaouira, long a favourite refuge for surfers and backpackers, is netting a new kind of guest.
Where To Stay
LA MAISON DES ARTISTES
19 rue Laàlouj, Skala du Port, Essaouira(00 212 524 47 57 99)
An airy riad that feels more like a friend's home than a hotel. Rooms are stylishly decorated with local finds, but cosy and not overly designed. The restaurant serves great Berber food. Price rating: 1/5
L'HEURE BLEUE PALAIS
2 rue Ibn Batouta, Bab Marrakech, Essaouira(00 212 524 78 34 34)
Built in the 19th century as a palace for the city governor, this grand old Relais & Châteaux property feels more like a private members' club than a hotel.
Bedrooms are discreetly furnished, but it's the suave common rooms - bar, library, billiard room - that make this elegant hideaway seem like a colonial home from home. The rooftop pool is a sunlit sanctuary above the old town, and the leafy courtyard is a wonderful place to read or snooze. Head chef Ahmed Handour gives a fresh twist to Moroccan staples, and the hammam will give you a bracing massage and scrub down; but it's the service that sets this place apart. French director François Laustriat is passionate about his adopted home, and his team provide an insider's introduction to the city. Price rating: 5/5
RIAD CASA LILA
94 rue Medel el Qorry, Bab Marrakech, Essaouira(00 212 524 47 55 45)
Run by a young French couple with a passion for Essaouira, Casa Lila's big, elegant rooms are decorated with contemporary local furniture and fabrics. A delicious Moroccan breakfast is served on the roof terrace. Price rating: 2/5
SOFITEL THALASSA MOGADOR
Boulevard Mohammed V, Essaouira(00 212 524 47 90 00)
This recently built resort hotel sits just outside the medina. It has a nice pool, a large spa and several restaurants. Just across the road from a private beach, it is the obvious choice for families who want to be close to the beach but within walking distance of town. Price rating: 2/5
VILLA MAROC
10 rue Abdellah Ben Yassine, Essaouira(00 212 524 47 61 47)
Morocco's first riad hotel originally catered to surfers but has become a little more serious lately, although it remains a charming, relaxing place to stay. All white and electric blue, with a fabulous roof terrace and rooms spread over three houses, it also has a small spa. Price rating: 1/5
VILLA DE L'O
3 rue Mohamed Ben Messaoud, Essaouira (00 212 524 47 63 75)
Housed in an 18th century building beside the ramparts of the Kasbah, this 12-room riad has been converted into an idiosyncratic boutique hotel by two French sisters who clearly share a keen sense of fun and a sharp artistic eye. The communal spaces are tastefully decorated with sepia photos of the harbour, but the quirky bedrooms are the pièce de résistance. Ask for the Opium Room, with its sunken bath and marvellous beachside views.
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Souk Is the Morocco Mall a Story?
Souk full Mall This is the second floor of the Morocco Mall "souk" was installed. With a typical Moroccan decor.
The Morocco Mall is the largest mall in Africa and it was mobbed yesterday. Open for just 2 months, this stylishly futuristic shopping center, a 20 minute drive down the coast from Casablanca, is still something of a novelty. Inside are hundreds of luxury stores, an IMAX movie theater, aquarium and a musical fountain.
Twelve American journalism students went to the Morocco Mall to see if they could find a story.
How do journalists decide what to report about? I get that question a lot and not just from students. When they first walked into the Mall, the students didn’t see much that seemed like a story. But remember, we’re in Morocco.
A story is something surprising and there’s a lot surprising here. It is surprising to find this mall in a country with the widest income gap in the Arab world. ” [The Morocco Mall] is a stark symbol of the contrasts of a country with 8.5 million people in poverty that ranks 130 out of 186 on the UN’s human development index,” reports the Associated Press. Which raises some interesting questions.
Souk in Marrakech. (Photo: Lonely Planet)
Are people mobbing the Morocco Mall just sightseers or are they buying things? Who is the Mall’s target customer (one has to wonder about shops selling skimpy bikinis in a country where many women are covered, some entirely)? Is the Mall for Moroccans or for wealthy Arabs from the Gulf States (the Mall was half financed by the Saudi Al-Jedaie Group)? Or is the Mall targeting Europeans, who make up the majority of Morocco’s tourists but who are reportedly traveling less, with their countries now in economic crisis? Why would European tourists bother with familiar stores such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren, when Morocco’s amazing souks sell some of the world’s finest crafts from rugs to leather to ceramics?
In its story about the mall, The Miami Herald proclaimed, “So much for the souk.”
Not so fast! We’ll see what twelve American journalism students find out.
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beauty of essaouira
beauty of essaouira
With a laid-back king loosening the bonds of tradition and bringing party-lovers back to Morocco, the windswept fishing port of Essaouira, long a favourite refuge for surfers and backpackers, is netting a new kind of guest.
Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore.
The laid-back attitude, plum accommodation, artsy atmosphere, bracing sea breezes and picture-postcard ramparts make Essaouira a firm favourite on the traveller’s trail. It’s the kind of place where you’ll sigh deeply and relax enough to shrug off your guarded attitude and just soak up the atmosphere.
morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco
With a laid-back king loosening the bonds of tradition and bringing party-lovers back to Morocco, the windswept fishing port of Essaouira, long a favourite refuge for surfers and backpackers, is netting a new kind of guest.
Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore.
The laid-back attitude, plum accommodation, artsy atmosphere, bracing sea breezes and picture-postcard ramparts make Essaouira a firm favourite on the traveller’s trail. It’s the kind of place where you’ll sigh deeply and relax enough to shrug off your guarded attitude and just soak up the atmosphere.
morocco culture,moroccan food,morocco food,moroccan cuisine,morocco beaches,moroccan meal,beaches in morocco,moroccan culture,hercules cave,hercules cave morocco
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