Marrakech winter report

Old Dec 1st, 2006, 03:38 AM
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Marrakech winter report

Marrakech in winter

Surfing around Fodors.com there appear to be few stories about Marrakech and I also noticed that while Fodor’s sees Morocco as being Africa in many ways, as a country boarding on the Mediterranean, it behaves in someway like a European country and is of course easily reachable from Europe. Finally it is one of the “winter warmth” countries worth visiting from Europe and so I thought I should update you on my week’s holiday there. In November 2006 it was 25 to 29C during the day and slightly jumper chilly at night. Rain for one day in seven.

The country lacks transferable currency and so all money has to be changed at the airport/banks or ATMs. Money is freely available. The Dirham was worth about 1 euro= 10 Dirham, local small taxis cost about 100 to make the 15 minutes trip to central Marrakech.

Haggling is the second thing you come across. Some things have prices easily published such as restaurant meals but for the rest you have to agree the price before you consume. Hence taking a taxis starts with the price before you get in. The Lingua franca is French though you will find many people speaking English, German, Dutch and Italian in reality the majority speak Berber and then Arabic to start with.

The country is a kingdom and the relatively new King is promoting tourism as a major industry. Hence the irritation of small boys begging has largely disappeared. The city falls into two parts, the old medina a labyrinth of souks and the new European city to the West. It is also possible to chill out in recently developed old forts which exist up in the High Atlas Mountains within 50 miles of the city. We decided to stay in the new part but there are a large number of small traditional hotels in the medina with the old design improved by modern plumbing and a high quality of service. Our hotel El Andalouse on Av President Kennedy is a perfectly nice 4* hotel with 20 minutes walk of most fine sites.

In the old days eating out in Morocco was based around couscous or tagine (slow steaming) cooked stringy old meat. Fortunately the tourist money has allowed a wide range of restaurants to open. These divide into the more traditional “local” food available in the central square, the classy, old style decorated restaurants hidden away in the Medina and the restaurants in new town. Obviously restaurants come and go but I give a brief outline of those we found

1. In the central square, home of snake charmer, orange juice salesman and jugglers
a. Chez Chegrouni offer clean cheap sensible food in clean facilities. You have to write down what you want to reduce the cost of providing multi-lingual waiters. A good view of the square. For new visitors this would be a good safe place to hang out in the area. 8/10
b. Terrasses de l’ Alhambra. Directly opposite Chez G but is not as clean and suffers from fly blow. 6/10
c. Pizzeria Venezia. Just off the main square and 4 floors up you get a great view of the second square which is just off centre. Great Pizza, good staff and the price medium. The best place to see the main mosque. 8/10
2. In the Medina are some luxurious restaurants built in old mansions, entrance is often down dark alleys with turbaned staff to guide you to the building.
a. Narwama hidden away in the rue de la Koutoubia. A roofed in courtyard with ancient decorations and dark suited snooty waitresses. A good Thai menu but some of the smallest servings I’ve seen in 5 continents. Odd that such great facilities should be ruined by the management. 4.5/10
3. In the new city
a. Alizia, Italian restaurants hidden behind a bank opposite Comptoir. Good quality, large portions and clean. 8/10
b. Comptoir, so hip you need three legs. Polished black plaster, dark night club, sexy customers and pretty good food. Very popular but pricy. 7/10
c. Kechmara, white equivalent of Comptoir. A café in the day but pudding had run out by 7pm. 6/10
d. Catanzaro. Packed local Italian, you have to book and we got the last table on a Friday night. Heaving and must be hell in high summer. Actually very good 7/10
e. Rotisserie de la Paix. Startling garden restaurant. Staff useless food moderate 6/10
f. Bagatelle. Step into a 1950s French Restaurant. Why? Well it is almost a pastiche and the food works 7.5/10

Shops, well obviously the souks. Often only 4 metres wide and maybe 10 metres deep they cover a wide range of objects and while some is the sales from central factories a fair proportion is made in tiny units in front of you. This is the true medieval factory. Here you have to bargain and for some this is difficult. The best way seems to be, work out what the product should cost in you own country. The salesman will try to start above that price (x2 or x3) they smile and explain how nice they/you are. Your job is offer below what you would have paid and move very little. If you get to the point where every one stops moving then decide do you want it. If so walk away saying “too much” they will either move or not. If you don’t want it best not to start talking price. You have to be prepared for the sales man to stop smiling but that does not mean they are unhappy they just know buyers worry as the relationship seems to break down.

Alternatively there are a number of more controlled shops worth visiting
1. The Ensemble Artizanal is a great facility made up of small shops under governmental controls with prices only slightly above the best haggled prices in the souks. Variable quality but I went back again and again
2. The Centre Artizanal is far bigger and staff who follow you around trying to sell you massive products you don’t want. Less fun

Other shops worth looking
1. The Opera which has yet to be completed but houses good products and offers you a chance for negotiating practice
2. Akbar Delights in the souk is run a French guy selling the most wonderful stuff from Pakistan. We are talking Euro 500 for a jacket
3. La Maison du Kaftan Marocain. Does exactly what it says on the tin. A massive old house full of you guessed it.

Gardens; many worth painting in sequence of priority.
1. Majorelle. A must see as refurbished by Yves St Laurant
2. Mamouinia
3. Koutoubia gardens (roses grow all the year around in Marrakech)
4. Menara
5. El Harti

Museums in sequence of priority
1. Musee de Marrakech
2. Medersa Ban Yousef (same ticket)
3. Badii Palace (the storks and space)
4. Bahia Palace (the ceilings and internal fountains)

General what to do

Stay in small hotels, visit spas, visit museums, paint gardens, watch local football matches, eat well, visit local sites (loads of tours for tourists and some local buses), walk off too much food, shop and hang out.




bilboburgler is online now  
Old Dec 2nd, 2006, 08:27 PM
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Thanks for posting your trip information. We won't be there until spring, but it's a nice list of places I don't think I've seen posted before. Appreciate you describing the restaurants. We thought it would be fun to have at least one dinner while watching over the Jemaa el Fna. But since we'll be traveling and going to the desert as well, it seems too much to bring very nice clothing in order to go to the more luxurious restaurants.

A quick question: The Ensemble Artizanal - is that in the Medina or the Ville Nouvelle?
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Old Dec 3rd, 2006, 08:44 AM
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Very helpful. Thanks!
We will definitely print this to take with us later in the month!
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Old Dec 3rd, 2006, 10:48 AM
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Thank you so much for posting this great report. Thank you for all of the details. I really appreciate it as we will be in Marakkech in March.
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Old Dec 3rd, 2006, 11:58 PM
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Clifton, in the Medina
bilboburgler is online now  
Old Jan 31st, 2007, 08:41 AM
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I will be going in Feb. What was the temp like? I get conflicting reports.
thanks
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Old Feb 1st, 2007, 12:06 AM
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Aside from a few points I'd disagree with regarding prices and places such as the Artisanal places, there is one mention in your post about Morocco being a "winter warmth" destination.

This is certainly true, a lot of people go to Morocco in winter thinking that they will find warmer temperatures, but in all honesty your trip to Marrakesh took place in November, in Autumn, where it is not unusual for people to have those balmy days of sun with mid day temperatures hovering around the 20s (70°-88° degrees for the Americans). Right now the weather is much different. We have sunny days punctuated by rain, but the average high is no more than 14-16 (57°-60°), with temperatures dropping to near freezing at night (there have been numerous deaths in the country due to people having frozen from the cold!) You also have to consider that this country is not like Britain where there is central heating in every home, many places don't have heating, many Riads, because of their courtyard structure, can't possibly keep the building warm, and many places that say they have heating actually don't (or "it's not working"). Just something to bear in mind! And yes, February will be cold too!
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Old Feb 1st, 2007, 04:01 AM
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Spot on... we were there in late December and it was COLD! We had read up on temperatures before the trip but even then were caught out a little - we expected max temps throughout the day and cold ones at night only. But even in the day whilst it was WARM in the sun, just two steps away in the shadow was pretty cool. Nights were COLD too. Our riad did have central heating luckily!
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Old Feb 1st, 2007, 04:55 AM
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Marrakech is not warm enough in mid winter, but still very nice. Love the information. Have been there three times and really want to get back. Things change and it is good to get updated info.
One dinner in one of the beautiful expensive places in the medina is good to do. More than one and the food is very much the same.
Elainee is offline  
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