Staying At A Riad In Marrakech: My Favorite Travel Experience

One of my favorite parts about traveling and blogging is trying out different hotels around the world. Each place I’ve traveled to has a unique hotel style. My favorite style of hotels have typically been in beach destinations such as Santorini, that is until I visited Morocco! Morocco has some of the most stunning hotels (and architecture) I have ever seen! I started my week in Morocco at Riyad El Cadi in Marrakech and immediately fell in love.

Marrakech is one of the most beautifully chaotic places I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. To start the trip, my friend Dante and I got picked up by the hotel’s shuttle on arrival at the Marrakech airport. We drove about 20 minutes through Marrakech city and into the heart of the Medina, where Riyad El Cadi is located. Even before getting out of the shuttle I was already in love with Marrakech and knew it would become one of my favorite places in the world.

We were dropped off in the Medina’s main plaza and then guided by one of the hotel employees to the riad. We walked through maze-like streets until finally arriving at Riyad El Cadi. My thoughts during this time were “wow this place is beautiful” and “wow I don’t think I can leave the hotel… I will never be able to find my way back.” When I say it’s like a maze, I am not exaggerating. Thankfully, Dante has better orientation skills than I do so he guided us through the Medina (and the rest of Morocco).

Inside the riad things were no different – beautiful and equally as labyrinth-like! We stayed at Riyad El Cadi for 2 nights and got lost on about 20 different occasions. Just when we thought we had the right staircase to get to the room or the exit, we were proven wrong by the Riad. But hey, that just added to the experience! I love getting lost while traveling and this place definitely catered to that hobby.

Riyad El Cadi has 14 rooms, a gorgeous pool area, restaurant, patio, and a rooftop terrace! I had the pleasure of staying at their Palm suite which is one of the largest and most luxurious suites in the riad. The suite felt more like an apartment than a hotel room since it had separate bedroom and living area, along with a private terrace. Everything was decorated to perfection, feeling equally cozy and luxurious. It’s the perfect place to unwind after long days getting lost in the chaos that is the Marrakech medina. Each night I looked forward to coming back to my suite and sharing a bottle of Moroccan wine (it’s delicious, btw!).

Apart from the room, I really enjoyed exploring the rest of the Riad and spending time on the rooftop terrace and patio. We enjoyed a traditional Moroccan breakfast each morning which consists of Moroccan breads, goat cheese, jams, honey, mint tea (I drank so much of this throughout the trip!), strong coffee, and orange juice. Oh, and everything is fresh and homemade. Soooo delicious! I am still thinking about this breakfast (and shedding off some weight from going overboard with the delicious bread, oops!)

I loved my stay at Riyad El Cadi and hope to be back in the near future. I know Marrakech will be a place I come back to over and over again, for the food, chaos, riad, and souks shopping. Riyad El Cadi is the perfect place to experience everything Marrakech has the offer!

Have you been to Marrakech? Did you stay in a Riad? If not, would you like to? Let me know in the comments below!

xx, Karen