Marrakech ‘oasis’

In connection with a short trip to Marrakech to see one of the last remaining medieval North African walled cities, I stayed at Riyad Al Moussika (62 Derb Boutouil, Kennaria, Marrakech-Medina, Morocco; phone +212 [0] 44 38 90 67, fax 44 37 76 53, www.riyad-al-moussika.com).

This is a beautiful small hotel (three suites, two doubles, one single). The property is at the end of a long narrow alley and is entered through an anonymous doorway. Once inside, you enter a private world with an interior patio decorated with orange trees, a marble fountain with roses floating in it and complex Moroccan tile paving. There is also a small tiled swimming pool, a rooftop garden and a music room. Breakfast and lunch are served in the patio.

The riyad is owned by Giovanni Robazza, an Italian who divides his time between Marrakech and Tuscany. He merged two preexisting houses and completely redecorated them in updated traditional Moroccan style. Doors and many other surfaces are painted in the styles used in Moroccan palaces.

Breakfast (included in the price) consisted of orange juice, yogurt, croissants, toast, butter, jam, honey, crepes, eggs any style and coffee or tea. Lunch, also included, was excellent and varied from day to day.

The riyad is a 5-minute walk from the Jmaa el Fna, and it was a welcome respite from the hustle of the souks to have lunch in the cool, quiet patio.

Giovanni chats with all his guests at breakfast and/or lunch and will provide helpful information on finding your way around the medina.

He echoes the advice of guidebooks that it is preferable to tour the medina without a guide. All guides, including ones licensed by the government, get commissions from the shops they take you to, and the shops jack up their prices accordingly. Also, the shops you visit are the ones where the guides have connections rather than the ones that you find on your own and which may have items of better quality.

Of course, you need a good sense of direction and a good street map (although the streets are not marked).

The riyad’s staff all were very friendly and helpful in arranging dinner reservations for us and excursions out of town. One restaurant they recommended, Dar Zellij, was excellent, with tables set in an inner courtyard. However, don’t try to find it on your own. It is on a pedestrian street several blocks from the nearest parking area and its front door is unmarked. The taxi driver walked me to the restaurant and picked me up later when the restaurant staff phoned him.

My meal included soup, salad, bread, main course (tajine), a glass of wine, tea and 500cc of water, and the bill, including tip, was 485 dirhams (about $58.30).

The medina of Marrakech is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the main square, Jmaa el Fna, is identified as part of the “oral patrimony of mankind.”

The square, whose name is thought to mean “assembly of the dead” or “assembly of the nobodies,” is an irregular area of approximately 10 acres with an exotic collection of snake charmers, acrobats, drummers, dancers, storytellers (if you understand Arabic), men in exotic costumes who earn their living from tips for allowing you to take their picture, vegetable and fruit sellers and any number of odd performance artists. Perhaps the oddest denizen of the square was a man selling human teeth and artificial dentures. In the evening, a large area is filled with tables where barbecued dinners are served.

Several people have asked me whether I sensed any danger, referring primarily to terrorist-type activities. This probably exists, but there were more ordinary dangers that added a frisson to the experience. No cars are allowed in the central parts of the medina, but there are lots of mopeds, bicycles and donkey carts that created a sense of danger. There are pickpockets, but I was lucky enough to avoid them.

Perhaps the most annoying hazard is teenage boys who hassle you for money — for taking pictures of their donkey, for helping you to find your way or maybe just because you look rich. There are plainclothes “tourist police” who patrol the areas frequented by tourists and arrest people who sell things aggressively on the street, hustle for money or push guide services. I was hassled a few times, but no tourist policeman showed up.

I arranged my March ’07 stay in Marrakech through a British travel agency, The Best of Morocco (phone 011 44 1249 467165, www. morocco-travel.com). Janine Hewett was very helpful and made flight and hotel reservations for me. I was traveling alone.

The total cost for air from Heathrow airport, four nights at Riyad Al Moussika and transfers to and from the Marrakech airport was $1,730. Airfare from Boston to London was $487. Since this was an air/hotel package, I don’t have the hotel price broken out, but I estimate that it cost me about $330 per night, including breakfast and lunch.

RON RATNEY

Boston, MA