Detailed review by taipanlalo
taipanlalo(59)
Los Altos, USA77%
We stayed ay Riad Andalla for 4 nights. You can't find better hosts than Christophe and Andre! Our flight came in 4 hours late and Christophe recommended that we be picked-up by private taxi since was our first trip to Marrakech. It was almost midnite when we arrived at the medina Jemaa El Fna and because the medina was closed to traffic after 5pm, the taxi driver took us on foot across the square and through the maze of narrow alleys to the front door of Riad Andalla, and Andre was there to meet us! Although, it was a tad scary at every turn into dimly lit alleys leading to the Riad, Andre's warm welcome erased all fears while Abdou, the night guard promptly made mint tea to settle our anxieties. It was like showing up at a friend's house - we chatted for a while, we in broken French, and Andre in broke English, but we understood each other perfectly. He finally showed us to our room which had 2 single beds, a shower, toilet, and air-conditioning. By normal hotel standards, it was a small room but this is a riad - the charm and ambience of the Moroccan house outweighed the closed quarters. It was adequate. Breakfast awaits us on the rooftop patio with freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, bread, hot crepes and preserves.
Christophe and Andre are a wealth of information on Marrakech. All you have to do is to ask! I had the privilege to tag along with Christophe and Andre to their weekly hammam (bathhouse) - an abrasive, yet soothing treat for the newly initiated as well as the seasoned spa enthusiasts. Make sure your stay includes a weekend, and you will also enjoy an excellent, reasonably priced hour-long massage by a Moroccan couple who are good friends of Christophe and Andre.
But what made me want to write this review is what Christophe and Andre did to make our stay in Morocco so welcoming and memorable! We planned to be in Essaouira on the coast for 2 nights and was hoping to come back to Riad Andalla for a night before our flight leaving for Paris the next day. Christophe and Andre had actually planned to closed the riad for the entire week after we left for Essaouira. Having learned of our intended plans, they suggested that we come back to Riad Andalla even though they will be gone, and made arrangements for Abdou to open the door for us when we arrive back from Essaouira and be picked up by private taxi the following morning to the airport. We had the whole riad to ourselves and requested only coffee and juice for breakfast which Abdou promptly prepared. What an end to a wonderful stay in Marrakech, and Riad Andalla made it so much more enjoyable! We would stay at Riad Andalla again when we visit Marrakech in the future - Christophe and Andre are like our friends and Riad Andalla is indeed the Jewel of Marrakech!
And one more thing we did not get to try at Riad Andalla. While we were there we keep hearing how good Raja's cooking is but we didn't have enough nights there to try! I am sure we will when we find ourselves at the riad again!
Riad Andalla9
