I write to say a very big thank you for all your efforts in planning such a superb trip for Barry, James and I to Morocco in November. We had a truly wonderful adventure and talk about our experiences, the sites, smells and tastes often. It was a perfect holiday and Morocco served as a stunning backdrop for our reunion.
Driver
We were picked up by Ahmed from Marrakesh Airport and had the pleasure of his driving, local knowledge, company, friendly demeanour and smiles, and assistance until he left us in Fes. Ahmed was one of the highlights of our holiday. Nothing was too much for him and he went out of his way to make our experience extra special and greatly assisted us in translating and even helped us to buy train tickets that we required after our official tour ended. He was very caring when one of us became unwell. He was polite, punctual and left a lasting impression on all three of us. We would highly recommend him. The car was also very comfortable and was clean throughout.
Tours
Our guide on the first day in Marrakesh was nice and informative and we enjoyed his orientation of the city. We very much disliked being taken to the carpet sellers and being given the hard sell. This experience should be explained more clearly before being taken there as we felt quite uncomfortable trying to leave and we assumed that the guide was to receive a commission. We were not interested in purchasing a carpet and definitely not on the first day of a ten day visit. Our guide in Fes was lovely and was very open to all our questions on food and specially tailored our visit to the food markets to provide us with more information and tastings. We can still picture the camel and cows heads on display! He and Ahmed were very obliging in finding us a non-Moroccan restaurant for our lunch.
Accommodation
We absolutely loved Dar One in Marrakesh- it is very well located, appointed, the staff were very friendly and helpful and the breakfast was delicious. We really like the two rooms we stayed in- very modern but retained authentic features and furnishings. Dar Daif was gorgeous. We received such warm hospitality, the room was very clean and the meals were a real treat especially the three course dinner. We loved our experience of sleeping in the ‘luxury tent’ at Auberge Dunes D’Or, the stars once the generator was turned off were so special. We found the service there quite strange, very slow and the lack of people around made it feel quite eiry. The room where we stored our bags and showered was below average and could have been nicer for the money we spent on the experience. Having said that we had a wonderful time visiting the dunes and very much enjoyed the quiet of the desert. Dar Attajalli in Fes was lovely and again a fantastic location to explore the Medina. The room was a very generous size for the three of us and had lovely furniture. The hospitality was very welcoming and the rooftop garden a special place to relax.
We knew our drive to and from the desert would be long but Ahmed’s driving was relaxing and he was very considerate about making rest and food stops. He took us to some very interesting places along the way to break up the journey including Alt Benhaddou, the Todra Gorges and Ifrane.
Special Experiences
A few highlights of our experiences:
– Filming of Sex and the City in Marrakesh
– Lunch on the first day at Chez Lamine Haj Mustapha. The couscous and bestila were the best we had on the whole trip.
– The tea and biscuits served at Dar Daif upon arrival
– The spectacular dunes of the Sahara and experiencing them at sunset
– Visiting Ifrane and feeling like we were in another country in the middle of Morocco
– The food markets in Fes
– The tanneries in Fes
– F Bar in Fes. A great place for a relaxed meal and drink. It was recommended by our riad and the food was delicious.
– Being in Morocco for Eid and observing such a culturally different religious holiday (although it may have been useful to be informed prior to our trip about the public holiday and that the country would not be running- including the trains!- as it may have influenced our travel decisions)
Thank you again for all your hard work in planning this trip for us. We found you a real pleasure to deal with and very much appreciated your quick responses and willingness to accommodate our special requests particularly the changes to the itinerary and accommodation. It was fantastic to meet you in Fes and put a face to the name. Thank you also to the rest of the team both in Morocco and the US for helping us with our arrangements.
If you would like any further information on any of the comments I have made please do feel free to get in touch. We would most definitely recommend Experience It Tours to anyone planning a trip to Morocco.
With thanks and wishing you a very happy new year and successful 2010.
Aviva.
(November of 2009)