Personalized trips to Morocco
for independent travelers

Ahmed, our driver was superb.

The guide in Marrakesh was not a good choice.
He spent most of his time talking to his friends than to attending to us.
other that he, the trip was exceptional. Thanks, Sharon

Activity Review

Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

The guide was an idiot! If i were you, I would not use this guy again.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing trip to Morocco, in no small part due to the service and dedication of the Original Travels team.

We had a thoroughly positive experience with original travels throughout. Our initial trip planning was through Abdel, who was highly responsive, very pleasant to deal with, and rapidly adapted the trip to align best with our preferences, including taking account of our young children (for instance by managing the driving distances for each leg). The same can be said of the point of contact for the trip, Said. Said was also very responsive, provided helpful answers to various ad hoc questions, and also facilitated a pottery workshop midway through the trip, which turned out to be a highlight. Said also ensured two hotel upgrades throughout the trip, which was appreciated.

Turning to our driver/guide, Samir was wonderful throughout the trip. Not only was Samir a fun companion on the long drives, he ensured our every need was met at every stage of the vacation. Of particular note were the small acts of kindness throughout the trip, such as providing snacks and water for our children, securing cough meds, and even helping resolve our kids arguments! We cannot speak highly enough of his services, and would hope to meet again in the future.

In terms of specific points on accommodations and activities, overall Original Travels arranged for very comfortable accommodations and a range of fascinating activities. The accommodations we enjoyed the most was Kasbah Azul in Agdz (fantastic staff, food and ambience), as well as Riad Pachavana in Marrakech (lovely peaceful Riad, with delicious breakfast). We would also highlight Dar Rihana in Boulmane Dades as being lovely and glad we stayed there.

For improvement in the future, we felt that the desert camp (Orient Desert Camp) had a ‘transactional’ feel as compared with other hotels we stayed at. Whilst a lovely location and comfortable camp, it had a less personable atmosphere from the staff. We also much
preferred the atmosphere of the Riad in Marrakech rather than the hotel we stayed in Marrakech’s New Town (which did not give any particular flavor of Morocco and could have been anywhere), so would recommend use of the Riads where possible.

Of the activities we participated in, particular highlights were the pottery workshop mentioned above - the owner was so welcoming and hospitable and we had a fantastic time. Also the desert camel ride was amazing, though it would have been better had we arrived slightly earlier so as not to be rushed onto the camels to make the sunset. We also thoroughly enjoyed our Marrakech food tour, and would recommend that to fellow travellers.

Generally the guides used by Original Travels were very good, though we would note the following slight caveats:
- Our guide in Ait Benhaddou put the least effort in, and generally just took us to a range of stores to buy things from his friends. Was more preoccupied with catching up with his friends rather than actually guiding the tour.
- The tour of marrakech guide did not adapt his general spiel to better fit our young kids
- The guide in Merzouga didn’t speak much English, which made communication difficult.
- We would’ve appreciated if guides took more initiative with taking photos in the moment instead of us finding a spot and doing a posed photo.

That said, all of our guides (indeed all of the people we met in Morocco!) were welcoming and friendly, and did provide special experiences.

Overall, we are extremely glad we chose Original Travels and Morocco for our vacation, and would strongly recommend for other travellers!

Our overall evaluation of the trip was very good Our favorite parts of the trip would be our tour with Zahra in Fea ,our journery into the desert and our hike in Setti Fatma with Mohammad Zahra did an excellant job of showing us all the medina in an effecient and professional manner Her personality is delightful!! Our hike with Mohammad was filled with the beauty of the mountains and his kindness another delightful experience I also should mention our driver Said who was great we loved all our time spent with him and he watched out for us making sure we always had what we needed. We did not think it was necessary however to have a tour of the medina in both Fes and Marrakesh as they were very much the same and honestly the one in Marrakesh was boring only because it was a bit redundant a suggestion would be to explain that to the client whem booking the trip. Another suggestion might be to do a better job of the actual planning piece with the detail of the trip example we didnt realize if we were a bit late to the desert we would miss out on the camel ride to the camp Acutally we felt there were a lot of small details that were left out of the itinerary such as times to meet guides etc Dont get me wrong we loved the trip but our thinking was these suggestions will help you in th future

Hotel Reviews

Merzouga Luxury Desert Camp

Merzouga

the camp was lovely but we didnt really know where and when we were supposed to be places

Authenticity & Character

The camel handlers were very kind

Location

Beautiful setting

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Makassar

the hotel itself could use a facelift ex when usuing the hotels hair dryer it blew up and blew all the fuses

Staff

the staff in hotel were wonderful alway patient accomading and welcoming

Eden Boutique Hotel

Boumalne Dades

this property was so beautiful and could have been in Italy absoutely lovely

Staff

all of the staff were very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Its a brand new hotel and the rooms were pristine

Activity Reviews

Overnight in the Sahara Desert

Morocco

We enjoyed the camel ride to watch the sunset and our camel handler was very kind and patient the itieneray expalnation of this trip however was not informative

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Exploring the Imperial City and Medieval Medina of Fez + Food Tour

Fes

Food

we loved the food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Zahra was the best she was knowledgable fun and took great care of us

Guided Hike in Ifrane National Park

Morocco

this hike was just ok nothing special in fact we at times thought we were walking in circles

Evening Food Tour in Marrakesh

Marrakesh

This was really fun our guide was great and we had a fun eperience in the market eating soup at a street vendor and morrocan donuts a highlight of Marrakesh

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Exploring the Medina and Historical Sites Of Marrakesh

Marrakesh

This was our least favorite mainly because it was very repetitive of what we had already seen and learned in Fes

Day Trip to Ourika Valley: Hike to a Waterfall

Morocco

THis was a highlight our Guide Mohammed was awesome kind and fun the countryside is so beautifu;

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hammam Visit: Traditional Body Scrub

Morocco

This experince was just ok the staff were great but the overall experience was a little to commercial

Guides, Drivers and Staff