Riad Utopia, charming riad in Marrakesh

Best Hotels of the World would like to suggest some boutique hotels that are not necessarily luxury hotels in the range of five stars. I told you the Bliss Hotel Seychelles, today I want to mention my stay in a riad of charm - it's luxury - in the medina of Marrakech, an intimate, almost family, where there a simple but elegant atmosphere, perfect for trips of less than one week: Riad Utopia .

I have traveled the world in all directions but I was never into Morocco, and I do not know Marrakech. In May, and to rest, I chose to explore the city and more specifically its medina which I had heard. Needless to consider a car rental in Marrakech, it would have been a waste of time because everything can be done on foot but it was necessary to choose the hotel strategically so as not to waste time in local transport and enjoy the best of my stay. I surfed, I found: the Riad Utopia had just opened its doors and this newborn was beckoning me ...

The airport reception was warm, almost friendly, with the feeling of being expected more welcoming. It shows you the way some buildings (Sarkhozy Nicolas has stayed here with Carla ", the restaurant not to miss (I did not fail, what a delight!), Major arteries must be identified. Then car is left on a small square filled before one of the gates of the medina, a guardian takes care of right away while my luggage goes into other hands, and here I am guided walk through a maze of alleys to my faithful imaginary: in the heart of Marrakech!

After the noise of the hectic bustle of the surroundings of the medina Now comes the calm of the Riad dressed all in white, elegant setting of a rectangular swimming pool that awaits you. I'm three minutes walk from the entrance to the medina, but I hear no other sound but the birds singing on the terrace open top two floors up and the murmur of the range which gives me no delay a Moroccan tea very sweet as is the tradition. Sitting on a couch with white leather that blends perfectly with the decor decidedly Moroccan, I let go a sigh of well-being: I already know I am going to love this place! ...

The riad is named Utopia of Thomas More, who in 1516 offered the first description of a society and a perfect city: utopian certainly did not experience the medina of Marrakech, but the young owners of the hotel are inspired to create it in their riad atmosphere that is as close as possible to the imaginary happiness.

This little hotel combines seven rooms and one suite around the pond formed by the cool pool that can welcome a dip after hours of exhausting march through the crowd in the medina where you negotiate spices and slippers for a pittance. In this spirit resolutely utopian each room has a name dreamed, His Majesty The Rose (the largest), Arabian Nights for mine ... And each room has a unique design based on a common construction: bathtubs and Showers are created on the concrete floor stained muslin curtains quiver at the slightest breath from the Atlas glimpsed from the terrace on the roof, but the bedspreads, tapestries, paintings and other decorative objects are unique to each room. You feel always a little home ...

The strengths of this riad to share this simple decor and good taste? ...

A breakfast of your dreams! Forget the buffet of gargantuan luxury hotels designed to please all palates. At Riad Utopia they ask you about your preferences and if, like me, you specify that you want to enjoy the Moroccan cuisine enjoys a great reputation, you'll surprise each morning of a new specialty. After the orange juice the day, here is a creamy yogurt for a few treats invigorating desire for a new day trip in Marrakech thick and fluffy pancakes, bread cake and the famous "pancakes thousand holes" well Hot on which you spread a thin layer of butter before adding the sweet honey dripping on your fingers as if you were a child. An happiness! ...

Lunches and dinners can be taken to the riad if you wish, it will inform the sweet Pauline few hours earlier that the cook has time to concoct a fragrant tagine and a salad of oranges she taught me how to prepare Moroccan. Feel free to enter on tiptoe into the kitchen, you will learn some vocabulary and will be exchanging a few laughs with a lady who knows how to prepare tea to perfection. Note also that it has managed to provide me with the sweetest elixir: a small vial of very valuable essential oil of orange flowers with which I use sparingly since my return as the fragrance is developed ... The tip a knife in a teapot, steaming, or five drops added to three tablespoons of water in a spray of perfume and your drink will bring you back to the days when the family pastries perfumed the kitchen and your house will look like ... a Moroccan riad.

I recommend the spa in which the prevailing brown eyes and quick hands of the smiling Roka lavish you with the best care while singing the greatest hits of Julio Iglesias in one of two cabins for guests only the hotel. Ladies and gentlemen, do not miss sitting Hammam / scrub that I already told here . It's a small spa, but with traditional treatments that make you want to try everything, day after day, and privacy.

And then there are the little bonuses of Riad Utopia: the tea that brings you to your room when you return trip and you back on its feet in less time than it takes to take a good shower and bath products that smell ... the local orange blossom. The small plate of sweet pastries and almond crisp makes you regret your good resolutions earlier this year (too bad, you'll plan on returning). The mint leaves scattered in the bathroom and freshen the air. And the smile of Pauline.

They're young, they are brave and they deserve to be highlighted: Pauline and Adel Bessaha not 50 years between them but they have the enthusiasm of beginners related instinctive pleasure to host. Adel will do its best to find the French-speaking guide that should be your first visit to the medina if you want to learn more or to go beyond into the early Marrakech Atlas Mountains, less than two hour drive. If you ask what he did not, he will find it. Pauline is the smile and the sweetness of this riad, the feminine touch that is everywhere, the care of small details, the desire to please you. If you ask a tea it did not you almost want to comfort her as she will prove confusing ... But make no mistake, these two have studied hotel management and have little experience of year since they started in the hotel of parents of the young woman in Le Touquet. And they ensure the smooth operation of what is undoubtedly one of the nicest places in the medina of Marrakech as soon as word-of-mouth has done its work.

I wanted to finish the year by offering you a pleasant stopover for short trips outside of France, less than three hours by plane and without jet lag. We are at the beginning of winter, get the sun where it is and with a change of scenery, for the moment Riad Utopia is open all year, enjoy. Your hosts are very caring and you will not regret it! Greet them with my hand ...

I liked: the short walk from the medina of Marrakech, the breakfasts are every day a new surprise, tasteful decoration, night lighting cleverly dispersed, the huge roof terrace which Solarium for ten doubles and comfortable chairs and on which we can serve you a romantic dinner for two, spa treatments applied with humor and efficiency, the cozy atmosphere and personalized, the owners smile that makes you want to help!

I liked least: the haze that has shrouded the horizon every other day on the superb view that you can have from the roof terrace, but this is no fault of this hotel or its owners ...

This article contains the keywords: boutique hotel , Morocco , Marrakech , Riad Utopia

This article was published December 27, 2009 at 14 h 58 min in category: Africa . Follow the comments feed: RSS 2.0 .