Great trip to the Moroccan Kingdom
Morocco
|
Mar 26 - Apr 6, 2023
Original Travels (Abdellah and Said) arranged a wonderful trip for us. They quickly and easily made the minor changes that we requested for the itinerary prior to booking. There were no surprises with the booking itself.
The trip went off without any significant hitches. Our driver, Ilyace, was great. From the pick-up at the airport through our last day in Marrakesh, he made sure that we were always taken care of. We appreciated his knowledge of Morocco and his clear love for his country. His English was excellent. We were so grateful to have a driver - the traffic in the cities was crazy. We would not have enjoyed the trip nearly as much if we had been trying to navigate everywhere that Ilyace took us.
Our accommodations were lovely overall and when food was included, it did not disappoint. Kashbah Titrit near Ait Ben Haddou was a lovely facility with gorgeous rooms, a beautiful terrace, and an amazing (and affordable) dinner menu. However, the jacuzzi needs to be shut down. It was moldy and made the entire pool and common area smell bad. We just didn't use the jacuzzi, so it wasn't a problem for us. Hotel Xaluca Dades had an expensive and very underwhelming buffet dinner that we would not recommend. Hotel Movenpick Casablanca also had an expensive buffet dinner on the 16th floor, but it was worth every penny. Dar Jasmine in Chefchoauen was probably our favorite - the setting on the hill was breathtaking. Their dinner was inexpensive and delicious.
Our activities were well planned and most were exactly as advertised. The guided tour in Fes was somewhat disappointing - while we saw the things that were noted, it felt like a good portion of the tour was going into shops where we were often sat down to get a sales pitch. It doesn't help that we had no idea the actual value of many of the items that were being offered so bargaining (which is expected) was difficult. Along the trip, we figured out that shopkeepers are likely often starting at twice the price they are willing to accept. Sandboarding in the dessert was nonexistent. A single sandboard was available at our hotel. It was actually an unwaxed snowboard, so it did not fit well over regular shoes and did not slide down the sand. If waxed, it may have been fun. I get the impression that the hotels just have the boards available and you can grab them, so I would not ask for this to be a special activity.
We skipped our planned Food Tour in Marrakesh because our guide let us know that most of the places she liked to showcase were closed for Ramadan. We appreciated her honesty and the company treated us to dinner on the square instead, which seemed like a very appropriate response.
Unfortunately, it rained on the day we planned to do the hot air balloon ride, so it was cancelled. The company refunded that expense without hesitation.
Overall, we loved the trip and were extremely satisfied with the support from Original Travels through kimkim. I would consider booking another vacation with kimkim in the future. It was definitely more expensive than most of our vacations, but it was also the most pampered and luxurious vacation we've taken.
Hotel Reviews
This was a really cool experience. If only all camping was this luxurious... The staff here was really kind and enthusiastic. The food was delicious.
The actual hotel and rooms were very nice, but nothing special in particular (especially when compared with some of the riads). However, it was clean and convenient. The restaurant on the 16th floor served a really impressive buffet dinner. The selection was excellent and everything was delicious. It was about $40 per person, which was more than we were expecting but there was nothing else open in the area because of Ramadan. Thankfully it was really good. We did not realize that the main floor also had a restaurant that I bet was also good and less expensive.
This was probably our favorite hotel during our trip. The combination of the character and the view over Chefchoauen made it so peaceful and serene. I would love to go back and stay there for a week or 2. The staff was excellent and the food (inexpensive dinner and the included breakfast) was really good.
Lovely Riad in Fes. Our rooms had beautiful stained glass windows in addition to the gorgeous decor. The included breakfast was very good.
This was a nice hotel. It felt much more like any other hotel outside of Morocco as it was significantly larger than the other places we stayed. The buffet dinner was really underwhelming and overpriced for the quality of the food. The included breakfast was good.
This hotel is really great. I'm only giving it 4 stars because the jacuzzi is really bad. It has mold on the ceiling and makes the whole common area smell bad. This was unfortunate because the pool area was otherwise really nice. This hotel has a fabulous rooftop terrace as well. The restaurant served us one of the best dinners we had, from the beautiful presentation of the meal to the delicious food. It was also very inexpensive. If they just drained and shut down the jacuzzi, this would be 5 stars.
This hotel was just recently completely redone and it is modern and beautiful with the classic character of the riads.
Activity Reviews
The hotel had a 'sandboard' for guests to use. It was a snowboard that was not waxed. Because of this, you did not slide down the hill. There was only one board, so if it had been working, we would not all have been able to go.
Ameena was amazing. She took us shopping in the souks for the vegetables for our chicken tagine. Her home was lovely and the instruction was great. The completed meal was delicious and I'm so glad we learned how to make chicken tagine!! It was a privilege to spend time in her home and to meet her family.
Ali was a member of the hotel camp staff, so he also sang with us in the evenings. He drove us into the desert and we had tea in a nomad tent. We had berber pizza and got to see a fair bit of Merzouga. The shops that we stopped at here did not feel as pressured as in Fes.
This was so much fun!! The Quads were high quality machines and we had a great time racing around the desert. Really a blast. The only hiccup was that we were a bit confused about when it was supposed to happen - nobody told us in the morning that we'd be doing it at the end of the day. It worked out just fine though.
This was pretty cool. We had the bath and scrubbing with the black soap. We then had time to relax followed by a massage. It was a busy place so it felt a bit like we were being moved through (because we were), but it did not feel rushed.
The mosque is beautiful. The tour is a larger group and our particular guide was a bit difficult to hear as the group was large. It felt a bit rushed, but was still very interesting and worth the time.
