bhrubin

mczlaw

Another excellent luxury hotel thread. Thank you one and all. First Marrakech visit coming up early October.

After narrowing between Royal Mansour and Amanjena for my five nights, I booked into the latter via FHR, in part because of a 4/3 deal that brought the effective rate down well below €600/nt for the 175sqm Pavilion Basin room and in part because the only accommodation available on the RM website was a 3BR villa--a bit large for a solo traveller.

Despite a taste for finer places, I was reluctant to book this Aman as my only prior experience at one--January 2016 @ Amanusa--wasn't especially stellar in terms of either service or accommodation. Perhaps part of the problem was being bowled over in both regards at the brand new Mandapa just previously. In any event, should one of you regulars be willing to PM me with the contact info for Amanjena's GM, I would be pleased to introduce myself and note my awareness of his many fans here in this forum.

Beyond that, most of my trips have a culinary focus. A nice hotel meal or two is fine, but I do enjoy mixing it right up in the middle of main part of town for well-prepared local food. If that's possible for a non-French or Arabic speaker, I would appreciate your recommendations... either for places to try or guides who really know their stuff.

The only other question is regarding a possible day trip to the coast. It looks, frankly, like getting to Essaouira is kind of a pain...no train and 2.5 hour drive. Alternative ideas?

Appreciate the help, once again, as my planning has lagged.. I've been spending a lot of time recently working on a couple other upcoming trips (return to Tokyo plus first visit to Osaka) early September and next week's last blast of summer in London and Amsterdam with the daughter before sending her back to college.

nkob

early okt temperature is a bit lower then
alternative close by is majorelle, fitna square
ourika valley
waterfalls of ouzoud a bit further away
food
marocans always say the best food is made bij familie
we live here allready 8 years and its trough
advice iff you want a tajine the best will take 2 hours off more off slow cooking
nice tajines chicken almonds /chicken prunes and egg /tajine koffte/berberpizza ingredients and taste depending city and cook .
itsa pity that you stay short otherwise i could give you a tour in my village
its round 7 hours driving south passing quarzazate [moviestudios ]
greetings
kees

A4K

You can't really go wrong at Amanjena, although far from the best Aman you will find, the rooms and property are very good.

One warning that I assume you already are aware of is that Jena is well outside of town. It is about a 15-20 minute drive and taxis are not as cheap as one would expect. I think they charge 200-250MAD from Jena into town. Coming back should be able to get it for a little less.

I believe Nicolas Ilickovic is still the GM there. Nicolas is an Aman vet and should take good care of you.

I do not know the city well enough to make dining recs but there are plentiful options in the city so I assume others can chime in.

scented

Pierre&Cédric

Kagehitokiri

presumably other maison jardin has more space? 2 or 4? (2 or 4 maison without jardin)

beachfan

Hi;



I'll be at the Farimont, I thought 2000 MAD RT for transport for 5 people in a Mercedes Viano to town for dinner was pretty steep (especially since I'll be going to Marjorelle in the AM, which will be a separate 2000), but if things are 200-250 one way for a cab into town (and will need two cabs), maybe it's worth it?

Thoughts?

Anyone have recommendations on an SUV and driver for the day if the hotel price is high vs. the market?

beachfan

I normally am pretty strict about no raw food in places I can't drink the water. Sometimes I let up a little on the last couple of days.However, the Morrocan cuisine seems pretty heavy on the salads as starters, which normally I love

Have have you folks with delicate stomachs handled salad at dinners at the upscale places like the high end ones La Mamounia (la Marocain), Royal Mansour (le grand table Marocaine), Fairmont (Al Ain)? (I will also be dining at Al Fasia.). Any misfortune.

scented

SilverSpoon

Just had dinner at Le Grande Table Marocaine. It was exquisite and one of the highlights of our trip.

beachfan

If you google the question then all the articles that come up say "don't drink the tap water" because the local bacteria in the water, while safe, may cause stomach distress if you aren't used to it. Similarly "don't eat the salads". There are always some blog entries that say "I never have a problem" but I find those entries for everyplace (except for perhaps India). I have gotten sick in Morocco before, one of my worse bouts (two days of 103 degree fever) when I visited Tangier about 20 years ago (only ate in the hotel restaurant and in the ferry over from Spain).

Here's a typical article:
https://theculturetrip.com/africa/mo...nk-in-morocco/

I'll be staying at the Fairmont Royal Palm and eating there as well as the places I mentioned.

beachfan

Did you eat the salad?

Thanks!

vuittonsofstyle

I did and it was perfectly fine, as were the salads at Amanjena, Four Seasons Marrakech, Royal Palm, Villa des Orangers, Royal Mansour, Mandarin Oriental Marrakech etc etc.

SilverSpoon

We have the tasting menu which included salad type items but I didn't have a whole salad. My husband and I were fine.