Donkeys squeezing through tiny alleys, scooters buzzing around them, sparks flying around a blacksmith welding and a group of boys playing football right in between. I loved the Marrakesh Medina at first sight. At the second sight, I was pretty exhausted. We had spent the last weeks travelling through different Moroccan cities, and had constantly been surrounded by this hustle and bustle.
So for our last stop, we decided to treat ourselves with some peace and quiet just outside the Marrakesh Medina.
The area
Les cinq Djellabas is located in the Palmeraie, a 15 minutes drive from the city centre. While the Medina is crammed within the old town walls, the Palmeraie is a massive garden of palm trees, where you can wander around and will meet camels instead of scooters.
Don't worry, the hotel offers to drive you to and from the city, so you can still experience the Medina, while having a quiet night seeing the stars.
The design
This luxury boutique hotel is basically a giant garden with cactus plants, a huge pool, a reception building, a restaurant and ten eco-lodges. Since there are only ten rooms, there won't ever be more than twenty guests, making sure it will never feel crowded.
We entered through the lobby, which is decorated in a beautiful contemporary North-African design: zebra skin, clay walls and everything.
From there we got to the one hectare garden, with small paths leading to the lodges. Surrounded by palm trees, we felt like walking into a fata morgana.
What immediately caught our eye was the massive pool in the middle of the garden. Apparently, it's raining for about three days a year in Morocco, and we were unlucky enough to be there just then. So we didn't play in the pool, but hung out in the pool house instead, which has a fireplace, so that's not too bad either, right?
The room
Designed by Thierry Isnardon, the hotel is combining contemporary design with traditional Moroccan craftsmanship.
The lodges feature wooden surfaces, details picked out with love and a bathtub with a view over the garden.
My favourite part was the wooden roof, which gave the whole room a cosy and still modern atmosphere.
Obviously, you can also make me very happy with a canopy bed.
The food
The first night, we had dinner in the hotel's restaurant. When we arrived, we were surprised to have the whole room to ourselves, again next to a fire place and under lights, that create little stars on all the walls in the room.
We went with the Tajine, probably one of the most traditional Moroccan meals, which we both had had many times before and still loved.
We decided to have breakfast in bed (did I mention, that I love canopies?), so the super friendly staff brought it to our room every day.
The people
Like everywhere in Morocco, we were greeted by the friendliest staff, who insisted on carrying my backpack, serving breakfast just minutes after we ordered it and arranged transport for us every day.
When we sat down in the pool house for just a minute, someone came running to light a fire for us.
We felt like coming home after just a few minutes there.
Over all
we loved staying at Les 5 Djellabas. It's perfect, if you want to have a few relaxed days, while still enjoying the Marrakesh Medina. We'll have to come back to try out the pool, which is definitely one of the highlights!
Oh, by the way: A Djellaba is a traditional Moroccan shirt :)
Where:
In the Palmeraie, next to the golf courses
How to get there:
a taxi from the city will be around 100 Dirham during the day and 150 at night.
How much:
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Full disclosure: We didn't pay for our stay at Les cinq Djellabas. Thanks for having us, guys!
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