We spent 5 days in Marrakech visiting 2 spa hotels which we are very luckily reviewing for the Daily Mail, thanks to Anabel.
We arrived by train on Sunday afternoon and checked into La Sultana http://www.lasultanamarrakech.com/ a luxurious 5 star hotel with 21 rooms created out of 4 riads. We were given the "Tigre" suite with a bathroom much bigger than our cabin on Irony! On Monday afternoon we went down to the Spa to have a hamman (a traditional steam room) where we had 2 girls rubbing us down with fragrant soaps. I then followed that with a oil body wrap and we both had relaxing massages. It was a struggle that night to drag ourselves out to a restaurant, although Nic was entertained by some pretty bellydancers!
After 2 nights we moved to Dar Les Cigognes http://www.lescigognes.com/ smaller with 11 rooms and not quite so lavish (we planned it the wrong way around) but still great. Again we had a hamman and massage and sensibly had dinner in our hotel. It was specially cooked for us and we were alone on the roof terrace under a full moon, very romantic.
We managed to do some sightseeing although we are slightly od'd on carved cedar ceilings, tiled courtyards and ornate plasterwork, as beautiful as it all is. We hit the souks and did some present shopping. Marrakech also has some more expensive "designer" shops and I weakened in one! The famous Djema el Fnaa square was a little disappointing perhaps due to it being Ramadan. It is still quite a sight at night, packed with people and the storytellers and entertainers are there but it is very touristy and we had dry, tasteless kebabs from one of the foodstalls.
We returned by train to Rabat on Thursday afternoon, always an interesting experience as there is a distinct lack of signs or announcements so it's a guess where you are stopping and a challenge to get out at the right station!
Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ironylondon/5DayTripToMarrakesh
We arrived by train on Sunday afternoon and checked into La Sultana http://www.lasultanamarrakech.com/ a luxurious 5 star hotel with 21 rooms created out of 4 riads. We were given the "Tigre" suite with a bathroom much bigger than our cabin on Irony! On Monday afternoon we went down to the Spa to have a hamman (a traditional steam room) where we had 2 girls rubbing us down with fragrant soaps. I then followed that with a oil body wrap and we both had relaxing massages. It was a struggle that night to drag ourselves out to a restaurant, although Nic was entertained by some pretty bellydancers!
After 2 nights we moved to Dar Les Cigognes http://www.lescigognes.com/ smaller with 11 rooms and not quite so lavish (we planned it the wrong way around) but still great. Again we had a hamman and massage and sensibly had dinner in our hotel. It was specially cooked for us and we were alone on the roof terrace under a full moon, very romantic.
We managed to do some sightseeing although we are slightly od'd on carved cedar ceilings, tiled courtyards and ornate plasterwork, as beautiful as it all is. We hit the souks and did some present shopping. Marrakech also has some more expensive "designer" shops and I weakened in one! The famous Djema el Fnaa square was a little disappointing perhaps due to it being Ramadan. It is still quite a sight at night, packed with people and the storytellers and entertainers are there but it is very touristy and we had dry, tasteless kebabs from one of the foodstalls.
We returned by train to Rabat on Thursday afternoon, always an interesting experience as there is a distinct lack of signs or announcements so it's a guess where you are stopping and a challenge to get out at the right station!
Pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ironylondon/5DayTripToMarrakesh
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