Staying at a riad (or dar) is part of the Moroccan experience. For our two weeks in Marrakech, Fes, Ouazazate and Essaouira, we stayed at 2 riads, 3 dars and had a dinner in a riad where we were too late to make a room booking.

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Riad (رياض) means a type of garden associated with a traditional Moroccan house. The word originates from the Arabic term for garden. Dar has a courtyard instead of a garden. But the meanings of the two words have apparently mutated and merged in English to represent traditional homes which have been restored and modernized, often by foreigners, to operate as intimate boutique hotels.

Our first night in Marrackech was spent in Riad Tawarjit situated in the medina, about 10-15 minutes walk from Place Jemaa El-Fna (see our post about the square here).  It is a small modest property with about 10-12 rooms on two floors and the roof.

We think it is a recent conversion from possibly two adjacent homes.

The placement of the water feature (a small pool for your feet ?) is not in the center of the property and looks like an afterthought. But it does have a small tree qualifying it as a riad.

Our room was on the second floor and very cosy. IT’s room was directly on the other side of courtyard (see photo below).

In our room, we felt like sleeping in a cave because it had a high ceiling, all the walls (not just the bathroom/shower, see below) were smooth with rounded corners and edges, and had a natural not painted grey color. Probably concrete.

Historically, riads were the city homes of wealthy citizens (merchants, aristocrats). They were mostly two or more stories high with a square or rectangular garden/courtyard and a fountain. They typically have two salons at the ground level facing each other across the central open area.

In Fes, we stayed at Dar Al Andalou which has the classical layout. Being the only guests when we arrived, the host allowed our group to pick any room we wanted. It was not an easy decision as the rooms were all different.

DL and family chose the salon on the right and for us, the one at the far end (see photo above). IT chose a room on the second floor.

This property had been nicely restored. They took care to maintain as much traditional details as possible. But the plumbing was not modernized for the 21st century. We were cold and the hot water was not consistent. The manageress was nice about it but the on-site caretaker/waiter was less responsive.

The traditional floor plan was designed to preserve family privacy and reflected Islamic cultural norms. The architecture directs the attention of the dwellers inwardly with windows, galleries and balconies looking back into the courtyard, with the fountain as a focal point.

In older houses there would be no windows in the salons but only two large doors each housing a smaller door. The smaller door is kept open in summer with a curtain for privacy. The photo below shows the double door to our bedroom, neither one were used during our stay. Another set of doors with stained glass and a weak lock was used (see photo above).

The salons are typically elongated with very high ceilings, sometimes carved and painted. This was our bedroom which lacked any outward facing window and was quite dark throughout the day (see photo below).

Because of this inward-looking design, many of such homes in the medina have no frontage and is recognized only by an unassuming door. In a densely populated medina, this type of architecture makes it very difficult for visitors to find their riad in the alleyways lined by high featureless walls with few identifiable landmarks. Losing your orientation the first time is almost fun and feels adventurous, but after that one time, you feel stupid and find the situation annoying when you just want to get back to rest your feet.

Typically, they have a roof terrace for cooking, relaxing and entertaining, but historically, the roof terrace is used for drying clothes and grains, and sleeping when it is too hot.

It has been said that the gentrification of these traditional homes played a role in keeping alive Moroccan handicraft traditions, such as tadelakt plaster (the “concrete” walls we had in Riad Tawarjit ?), stucco decoration, and zellige tiles.

More riads and dars to come …