Riads, riads, riads....

Riad Fellousia

I have had a small obsession with riads for many years. Everything from staying in them, stealing design ideas from them, to buying and doing one up has been considered. It is therefore with a pleasure to live 60 kilometres away from the medinas of two Imperial cities. We don't need much of an excuse to go down to the big smoke and test out different riads. So far we have been to sunny Riad Maison D'a Cote and formal Riad 53. Tempted by the thought of Christmas shopping and a break from the quiet of Ifrane we were thrilled to find an absolute bargain $40 stay at Riad Fellousia in Meknes. 

Maison D'a Cote

Riad 53

The Meknes medina is far smaller than the one in Fes and we have been told by many people that it is prudent to browse in Fes but purchase in Meknes. Prices are lower and the hassle far less. As this is our first Christmas at home in four years we are keen to take lots of local gifts back home. Partly because it's more original and partly because no present is worth going out looking for on Christmas Eve in the UK, the first full day we are back.

Set against the fortified wall of the medina Riad Fellousia has five suites and is a warren of little doors and steep staircases. Three of the rooms are situated around the small garden courtyard, the others up on the second floor sharing a lounge and with balconies into the courtyard. Decorated with local arts and crafts it is more on the traditional side than the other riads we've been to, but in a low-key Berber way rather than a ridiculously grand and fussy way as is often the case. 

For $40 a night we weren't expecting too much. We couldn't believe it when we saw the place. the location was so good that from the roof terrace of the riad it was possible to sip Moroccan tea while watching the shamens and snake charmers at work. Our room was a suite with an old converted section of a hammam for the bathroom. A hammam is a traditional bathhouse. Although only a few are still used, and now act more as spas than a way of life, these bathhouses were once the social centre for all women. Important for men as well, as there was often no place to bathe in the home, they were traditionally more valued by women as they were the only occasion that they were allowed to go out of the home and interact with people. It would have been usual to go and spend a whole day bathing, getting scrubbed and stretched, relaxing and gossiping surrounded by other women. Now people have bathrooms and go there only as a treat. Our converted hammam was a low ceiling arched bathroom with a toilet cubby that had a door frame that came up to only chin height and a slightly misplaced pink glow. The blue tiled shower was big enough for about ten people. 

 

As well as being a great place for much cheaper riads and a calmer medina experience than other Imperial cities, Meknes boasts the claim of having more pubs than any other city in Morocco. We saw quite a few but I’m not sure how relatively unknown and un-touristy Meknes can beat places like Tangier, Marrakesh and Casablanca. Having had our fill of tajine and Moroccan food we went to the highly recommended 'Le Pub'. Here it was a relief to see men and women out socialising and having a drink. This place is ruled by coffee shops. The majority of which will not have a single woman in them. It really isn't that sexist here, it just seems that way when you're in search of a café. Anyway, it was a pleasure to eat and drink in an almost pubby atmosphere with a roaring fire, beer, seafood starter, amazing blue cheese steak and red wine for under $40.

After our success at Le Pub we decided to carry on and investigate some of the other recommended drinking establishments in the area. Our next stop was the somewhat suspiciously named Novelty Bar. This was one that had been recommended as a great place to visit by a number of websites. There are two levels to this bar and when entering we were shepherded upstairs by a slightly bemused doorman. Upstairs was low ceilinged, smoky, neon lit and full of men. Not quite to our taste we went for the downstairs option. Upon entering we had one of those experiences you always read about. All chatter ceases and all eyes stare. We made it across the room full of Moroccan men before we decided that perhaps this wasn't a drink we really needed to have and turned and left. There it was, white woman in pub of Moroccan men, instant heathen. 

The rest of the trip was quite uneventful. I was called a Berber three times when shopping. This was on account of the fact that I have learnt to haggle the Moroccan way and managed to get most things at quarter of the price. Which is somewhere close to the real price. The only one annoyance of the trip was as we were leaving where we encountered the most aggressively begging child I’ve ever come across. About five years old and clothed nicely she lived in one of the houses along the alley from the riad. So angry and demanding for a Dirham, she grabbed, pushed and ripped at clothes. When I told her to stop she just laughed and pulled harder. She was not in desperate need and found it highly entertaining to harass the foreigners. Standing and shouting at kids in the street is not how we planned to end the trip.

Riad Fellousia http://www.riadfelloussia.com/

Riad 53 http://www.fes-ryad53.com/

Maison d'a Cote http://www.riadmaisondacote.com/riad_meknes.php