WHERE TO STAY IN MARRAKECH: RIAD PTIT HABIBI

PTIT HABIBI

Where To Stay In Marrakech

I’ve been so excited to share my Morocco travels with you, I’m not sure I’ve ever taken so many pictures and brain stormed so many content ideas.

A November holiday has become a little tradition of ours in recent years, there’s something about that last bit of Sunshine before the festivities kick in and a chance to unwind properly after an inevitably busy summer. The Sunshine is even more appreciated when you’re coming from a London winter too. After doing Thailand and the Philippines last winter, we wanted somewhere a little more affordable and closer to home but still with that Indian summer we were so desperately longing for. Having been to Morocco once before perhaps six years ago, I was keen to visit again and this time see a little more to the country … so after finding some seriously good flights we decided to book up and start planning.

I used to sit on a sun lounger 24/7 for 14 days straight but with so much to see and so many blog post ideas we’ve really started making our trips more adventurous and making sure we visit not just multiple boutiques but also different parts of the country. This trip we’re exploring Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains and Essouria. You’ll have already seen a good sneak peek of some of our travels on my Instagram but for now I wanted to share with you the beautiful Riad we stayed in during our three nights in Marrakech. From the decor, to the staff to the location, everything delivered and is so recommend it to anyone wanting to stay in Morocco without having to shell £450 a night for some of the more known Riads.

After trawling reviews, our go to travel sites and a little bit of Instagram we settled on a Mr & Mrs Smith Riad called Ptit Habibi. We paid roughly £140 a night for bed and breakfast and trusted the boutique would deliver based on lots of other trips we’ve booked through Mr&Mrs Smith.

The Riad, just like most Riads in the Medina, was a sanctuary from the souks hidden behind a tiny little door at the north end of the Medina. One of the things I love so much about the Moroccan hotels is their unique and quirky decor and the nooks & crannys, rooftops and courtyards all the Riads are infamous for. The decor at Ptit Habibi was beautiful, understated and incredibly welcoming and comfortable – designed in part by the Norwegian owner with touches of scandi simplicity but with all the Moroccan goodness and touches you’d expect. There was a little cubby for watching movies, a gorgeous seating area in the courtyard, four or five separate roof top snugs to watch the sunset from and a lovely area to eat in front of a log burner downstairs.

The rooms were cosy and traditionally decorated, making you feel instantly at home and safe. But it was the hotel staff just took our stay to another level, the generosity and helpfulness was like no other. From our banquet at the Riad on our first night (and in fact our favourite meal on our whole trip so far) to the delicious home made breakfast every morning the service and staff were incredible.

But it was the extras that really made it special, for example every evening the staff would walk us to our dinner venue to ensure we got their safely and knew the route home well. They organised all our travel and reservations (including travel to and from our next stays too), and when I forgot my camera charger (huge drama, I know you’ll appreciate) they found someone local for me to borrow one from for my stay in Marrakech and when I found someone to borrow one from for the remainder of our trip (a lovely guy called Rachid at the Marrakech film university offered to lend me his for two weeks) Abdel our hotel manager promised to meet us at the airport to return it on our behalf. The list goes on, but nothing was too much and it really made the stay all the more lovely.

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Overall our stay was perfect. In fact we all wished perhaps we booked to stay a little longer too! I’d highly recommend Ptit Habibi if you’re looking to visit soon.