Even though you did not arrange accommodations for us in Rabat, clients who are adventurous enough to stay in the old medina—and should not hesitate to do that—might consider the Ryad Dar Karima. This is one of those old private homes, remodeled as a ryad (small hotel), in the heart of the medina. Like most riads in Moroccan city medinas, it looks unimposing from the exterior entrance, but it’s a different story inside. Our room was spacious, the breakfast in the courtyard was very good, and the young staff was warm and helpful. (We did not meet the owner, who was away at the time.)
The Meridien Hotel in Marrakech was as good as a 4-star establishment should be. In the past couple of decades Marrakech has seen a massive boom in tourist construction. I am amazed and somewhat appalled by this, having first visited the city in 1967, when it was a different place altogether. There is a modern mall just across the street from the hotel, not to mention a Chilis restaurant! Clients who like fine accommodation like the Meridien should nonetheless get away from that neighborhood during the day and see the more traditional Marrakech, or what’s left of it. By the way, the son of my old friend in the city would be an excellent city guide for anyone interested. His English is quite good. I can explain more about him for any client interested. Le Littré Hotel in Paris is excellent, and we will certainly consider staying there again when the time comes. As I said on the phone, the hotel is not in the Saint Germain de Près area but further south near the Montparnasse railroad station and that huge skyscraper. The Metro connections from the hotel are very good. There is a little bistro across the street from the hotel that we found very good. It’s called the Petit Bistro Le Littré. If clients walk to Blvd Montparnasse, about five minutes from the hotel, they will find long strings of restaurants on both sides of the street. The Doubletree Hilton in London is very near the Imperial Wharf London Overground line. This line is new to us. The stations are quite far apart, and the lime does not go anywhere near central London. So tourist clients will almost always have to transfer from stations on that line where it intersects with the Underground system. We did not find this terribly inconvenient considering that the Imperial Wharf station is so close to the hotel. The hotel neighborhood is a rather colorless cluster of modern business buildings. We would strongly recommend that clients take the breakfast package because the buffet is inviting and varied and because finding breakfast reasonably close to the hotel might be a challenge. There is, however, a street very near the hotel that has several restaurants for lunch or dinner, including Thai, Japanese, and Mediterranean. We dined at Waterside Kitchen and Bar, which is right on the river. The food was very good and the ambience pleasant. When we departed, we took the Overground to a line that goes to Paddington, where we boarded the express rail service to Heathrow. Much better than taking the Underground all the way to the airport and much cheaper than a cab.
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Martin's Travel and Tours, Inc.
Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.