Culture and Monuments Morocco
Morocco
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Jan 29 - Feb 6, 2024
Kimkim put us in touch with Morocco based Travel Experts Abdellah and Said who arranged our entire travel and kept in touch with us through out the trip to look after us.
They were receptive to our needs and special requests regarding locations we wanted to see, places we wanted to stay and travel modes we wanted to use (we covered a part of our journey from Fes to Marrakesh by train - an interesting experience).
We also dealt with our friendly and "on time" and professional Driver Soufian [English Speaking] - who spent a number of days driving us all over Morocco.
Guides Hafiz (in Fez) and Hannan (In Marrakesh) added to our knowledge of the History and Monuments that we saw.
All were fluent in (Moroccan) English and communication was perfect.
Hotel Reviews
This Hotel Deserves a Full 5 star rating EXCEPT for -- see below. It is ideally located -- Near the central restaurant area of the Chefchaouen, and also car transport when coming into the city can drop you real close to the entrance of the Riad. It is really beautiful and clean inside and well staffed. No worn out or excessive draperies etc. It had a pool and other miscellaneous services (like Hammam) are probably available- we did not use them. Excellent Breakfast and Breakfast nook with a real log fire. As Riads go -- one encounters narrow and sometimes winding staircases with triangular steps to navigate curves and turns in the stair case. Something to make note of as it may be physically challenging for some. (This is something common to many Moroccan hotels) The one thing I didn't like was how our luggage was handled. The Hotel sent personnel to take our luggage from the car to the Hotel reception for which they get 10/10- but instead of putting suitcases in a luggage cart, they simply lugged our suitcases over stone lined cobble stone streets - like conducting a Consumer Reports Stress test of our luggage wheels. Thud Thud, rutt tutt rutt thud - Definitely not worth it -- if your your luggage wheel breaks off -- the rest of your Moroccan and return journey across airports will be "Hell" with broken off wheels. We saw in other places in Morocco how Hotel staff does use Luggage Carts to carry your suitcases.
Stunningly Beautiful. Great Location for the Fes Medina access. Decor inside the hotel and the room is great. Not the fault of the hotel - but a stale putrid smell is present in the streets of the Medina the hotel is located in. Inside the hotel no problem - but you can fell it the moment you step out in the street.
It is like any good hotel in the USA -- to come here after your stay in various Riads of Morocco, one feels a great sense of relief. You can breathe, eat, walk. Everything functions as it is supposed to. Large verandahs, great views, access to the Boardwalk Promenade and of course to the Beach and the sea. There is not much to do in the town itself. Shop the Souks and Handicrafts. The hotel does exchange your money to local Moroccan Dirhams - a great convenience for a bit of loss for the convenience. Taxi is available at the front door, so one does not get the feel of being trapped, like in Caribbean resorts.
It was a Riad with the most Beautiful interior we had yet seen in Morocco. It felt like we were moved back in History and time. It's location with respect to the Central Square Jemaa el Fna is prefect. Access to Qutubia Mosque was also convenient. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful. We would have preferred a bit more lighting or brightness level in our room -- but it was what it was. Dim lights. This Riad did not have a TV in the room - but the internet Wifi was strong - so who needs TV.
Activity Reviews
Rich in History and Monuments we enjoyed Fes a lot,
Our Tour Guide Hannah from Kimkim gave us a wonderful tour. She was good with her English fluency and answered our queries very satisfactorily.
The Arrival process is easy and efficient.
We had no desire to pursue this activity but the Kimkim office bearers wanted us to -- don't know why - may be the Government wants every traveler to go here. After having seen Roman ruins in Rome, Greece, Turkey, do you need to see one more
Visit to an actual home in Fes Medina was a delight. A family opened its doors to us and met us with Grace and love. We really appreciated it. The only handicap is "Language" - wish we had an Arabic speaker with with us. The family's young son Hatim was fluent in English but too young to realize his much needed role to translate and facilitate conversation.
I loved my ride on the train from Fes to Marrakesh. If needed I would do it again. You meet travelers - some like to engage with you in conversation, some don't - its the travel experience.
A trip to Agadir after going through colorful Morocco is like a relief valve. Agadir is not like "the madness" of various Medina's full of vendors and tourists shoulder to shoulder full.
