malgudi

Would be very helpful to get hotel recommendations from folks who've been to Casablanca. I will be flying into CMN and spending a day in town (everything I've read thus far seems to indicate that there isn't much to see ... apart from the Hassan II mosque. Please stop me if I'm wrong) before taking the train to Marrakech.

Re: transit from the airport, should I pre-arrange for the hotel to pick me up? I ask because our flight arrives at 1AM.

On the way back, we will take a train from Marrakech to Casablanca. Unfortunately, the airport shuttle train doesn't run 11PM (IIRC) and our flight is at 2:30am. Any suggestions on getting to the airport from the train station?

Cheers!

SkyBuck

On the return, take the 17:00 train from Marrakech to L'Oasis. There is no need to go all the way to Casa Voyaguers for the connection as the web site suggests, as you would just retrace the route through L'Oasis anyway. This will give you a 12 minute connection to the airport train, with two later trains to the airport if the incoming is delayed (not unusual).

malgudi

Thanks for the tip, most appreciated.

Still looking for hotel recommendations ... thanks!

stimpy

There are lots of good hotels in the center. My favorite is the classic Colonial Le Meridien Royal Mansour. Make sure to book a hamman session! It's well worth it and a specialty of Morocco. There is an excellent seafood restaurant just a 5 minute walk away, called the Dolphin something.

I only go there on business, but I have seen some shopping bazaars in the center. And there are fun nightclubs along the sea.

aerosmith

I shall use this thread instead of opening a new one for my query.

I will be at Marrakech and need to head to Casablanca (CMN) Airport. My flight departure is at 1430hrs. I understand I would need to take a train from Marrakech to Casa Voyaguers, then take an airport train to CMN.

There are 2 train departures which I am looking at departing from Marrakech, 0500hrs and 0700hrs. With the train ride taking slightly more than 3 hours, will I be safe taking the 0700hrs departure in order for me not to miss my flight? Any forseeable issues which I might face at CMN, e.g. stringent security checks that will drag the time?

Some side questions, what is the frequency of the airport train from Casa Voyaguers to CMN? Hourly? half-hourly?

Thanks in advance for your response.

stimpy

Personally I would either rent a car or hire a car and driver. I've made the drive myself several times and it's quite easy. But if you don't wish to drive yourself, ask your hotel concierge what the cost would be to hire someone to drive you to the airport, then armed with that knowledge, ask around for someone who will do it for half that price. Or if you want to be really cheap, I'm sure there is a direct bus to the airport.