MOROCCAN ADVENTUREOctober 16-26, 2005 |
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| I know that many people like to research the hotels before a trip so here are some comments and pictures. The hotel in Casablanca is Le Royal Mansour Meridian. It is about a 20 minute cab driver from the airport, and costs about 250 Moroccan dirham, or $25. | It is beautifully decorated with fresh flowers. The rooms are nice but ours had a slightly musty smell. Busy city streets and a bazaar are close by.
 Renée was delighted to find that the hotel had a "Hamman," the famous Turkish bath. She reported that it consisted of a roomful of naked women. lying around while an attendant threw warm water over them. Then she had a wonderful massage with a rough loofah. She says it is really a lot more relaxing than it seems. For some reason she didn't want me to come in and take a picture of her, though ...
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| In Fez we stayed at the Zalagh Parc Palace. Renée was fascinated by the decoration, even on the bathroom doors! | The room was spacious and comfortable, with plenty of room to relax and write in your journal.
  This is the entrance to the dining room.
| The buffet was very good. We always had good food and plenty of it. There were both American-style and Moroccan choices here.
|  The elevators were slow and cranky, but it was a pleasure waiting for them with such beautiful doors!! | |
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| In Erfoud the Hotel Kenzi Belere is actually constructed of traditional mud brick. | The cottage complexes are beautiful and well landscaped.
| There was a beautiful modern restaurant and pool. The food was becoming more Berber, but cheese, olives and felafel made a good breakfast. Good tea was always available, and the lemons were excellent. | |
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| Our hotel in the oasis of Ouarzazate was Le Berbere Palace. Due to the fact that many film crews stay here, it was thoroughly up to American standards. | Beautiful courtyards and pathways led to the rooms here.
  The buffets here were the best anyplace, featuring pasta to order and carved meats for dinner, and omelets or fried eggs and the best bacon on the whole trip for breakfast.
| Art from movie sets decorates the hotel. This is the cat goddess Bast from an "Asterix and Obelix" movie. I am pretty sure it would have set our Egyptologist guide to spinning!
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Renée enjoyed the Hamman here also. She says it was even more elegant and relaxing than the one in Casablanca.
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| On to Marrakech and the Es Saadi Hotel. This was the closest we came to a modern plastic hotel. It caters to Europeans making short vacations to Morocco to soak up the sun. | The pool is beautiful and a lovely place to have lunch. The food was very good, especially the Croque Monsieur sandwiches. Sadly the staff at this hotel was totally unresponsive to problems and even our Tour Director could not get the air conditioning turned on.
| One more Hamman for Renée. The three that she enjoyed during our trip wound up costing less than one single massage on ship or a spa at home. She said she could really become accustomed to it. But she still wouldn't let me take her picture ...
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