Magical Marrakech!
The direct flights from Manchester make a long weekend possible and we did just that travelling Saturday to Wednesday. On arrival the sights we saw whilst driving the twenty minutes to our hotel, you knew you were in a very different part of the word - donkeys and carts walking next to cars, motorbikes and buses – the hustle and bustle - just what I was expecting!
We stayed at the Club Med Palmeraie around twenty minutes from the centre of Marrakech and very comfortable it was too. It is built in authentic Moroccan sand stone and there was something for everybody. Going all inclusive means that you don’t have to think about money, you just eat from the extensive buffet and it would have been rude not to partake in the odd cocktail whilst lounging by the pool.
We quickly settled in and had a tour of the hotel to check out all the facilities, there really is so much to do, you can do as much or as little as you wish, and being that short distance from Marrakech centre, you can take the courtesy bus into the town whenever you wish and visit the many sights Marrakech has to offer.
Aquafit was next – and wow were we worked hard? The temperature was around 33 degrees when we were there so a welcome cool off in the pool was the order of the day. Club Med has an adults only Riad in the grounds of the hotel, on entering the walls of the Riad, you were swept along by the instant calm which surrounds the resort, misters spray cool water over the covered bar, a very welcome cooling down after a game of tennis or work out in the gym!
Evening meals could be taken outside at the main restaurant or you can eat as we did at the El Kebir tent canopied tables were the setting for our traditional Moroccan feast!
Quad biking with the Atlas Mountains as a backdrop! Very special memories of our quad safari through the desert will stay with me forever and to relax our aching muscles we treated ourselves to a luxurious massage in the Cinq Mondes spa – superb.
I’d particularly wanted to visit Marrakech to visit the Souks – the expansive markets where you are expected to bargain with the traders; in fact they are disappointed if you pay the asking price! We had great fun working our way through the never ending passage ways and came away with plenty of slippers, leather goods and many scarves which we didn’t know we needed!
Club Med has another sister hotel in Marrakech, just on the edge of the main El Fna Square – the Club Med Medina, super tiled rooms in typical Moroccan style, inviting pool and you are just away from the busy square, where horses, people and traffic go about their everyday life – the atmosphere was palpable! We took a Caleche – a horse and cart around the square and it was just amazing to see the street traders selling just about anything!
I had a look at ‘Riad’ whilst I was in Marrakech; a Riad is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. Such a treat lay behind the door of Riad 58 Blu. I’ve been in touch with the owner, Paulo before for clients, so I contacted him and he was very pleased to show me around his lovely home. I wouldn’t hesitate to visit Marrakech again in fact I am already looking forward to my next visit!