My friend and I are planning on going to Marrakech - any ideas about where to stay and what to do while we’re there? Katie

My friend who organises surf trips to Morocco recommended this hotel to me.

And it's much cheaper on here than the website that I originally booked it!

I think I stayed in the Jasmine room.  The riad has lots of lovely little places to sit down and relax, or sunbathe on the roof - and they will bring you water or a tray of tea and pastries anytime you want - they really look after you - but if you want to eat dinner you normally have to book in advance - as they have to go to the market.  

I stayed there two nights and it's such a lovely retreat from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech.  It’s in the old Kasbah area - still fairly busy - a very short walk to the big government shop where you can go to either buy without haggling or check out prices.

It’s in the old part of the city, near the best preserved of the city walls, but not the bit where the roads are really, really small and a bit scary to walk down.  In the evenings there are a lot of people walking around and so it’s safe then to walk back to the hotel, but when there are less people around I would take a taxi (barter hard!) 

On my first night there I didn’t have any change to pay the taxi driver and he couldn’t break a note, so I asked the lady at the riad if she could let me have some change.  She couldn’t open up the till, so she actually lent me her own money to pay the cab - that’s how lovely they are here.  (And I did pay her back, along with a very big tip.)

It's really safe to walk around by yourself, but everyone will warn you to be careful with your bag, so it’s useful to just sling it across the front of you, or you will be stopped twenty times by people telling you to do so - they worry about their tourists and want to make sure you have a good time!!  

Also, although you can walk around by yourself with a good map - don’t forget that the street signs are in Arabic!!  If someone offers to show you the way they will ask for a tip, which is fair enough but I had this young guy who got me hopelessly lost and I told him that I wasn’t giving him anything for that!  (I mean, I was getting lost perfectly well by myself!)

In the morning you have breakfast in the courtyard - really great strong coffee and pastries - and I chose one table one morning, and the next morning I came down and they had set that particular table with just one setting - for me.  

Also, because you are in a courtyard hotel, other people staying in the hotel are very friendly - when my phone wouldn't work another English couple insisted I use theirs - but if you are sitting in a corner by yourself, reading, people will leave you alone.  

The view from the roof is fantastic, you can hear the call to prayer, and it's unbelievable for sunbathing - but the smell from the tanneries was quite intense when I was there (but it does kill the mosquitoes!) and the only other thing is that there was a ridiculously long queue for immigration - just nasty when we got in.  If you want to see the actual airport it's the one in SATC2!  And I think the souks in the film are the ones in Marrakech too!

There are some photos at the bottom of the photos page if you want to check it out.

One of the reasons that it took me so long to put this on the website as an escape yet is that I had this fab place to stay in Marrakech but I didn’t manage to go to a great spa until March 2011.

For shopping make sure you pick up some argan oil, it’s fantastic - you can also get extremely cheap essential oils, such as rose and orange flower blossom, and perfumes like jasmine in blocks - great for putting in your suitcase. 

I would recommend the Place des Ferblantiers for a quieter shopping experience, where there are great spice shops.  Also some of the more low key small museums / palaces really give you an idea of what they were like when they were filled with orange trees and fountains (unlike some of the ruins which I found a bit disappointing.)

One place I would avoid is the Jardin Menara, which I went quite a way to visit and it was really dull and dirty.  I think my guidebook was a bit out of date too as it listed this as one of the top 3 things to do but I was the only tourist there!

Enjoy, and whatever you do, make sure you get to a hammam - one of the best things about Morocco.