A Couple's Guide to Romantic Morocco

Azdean Elmoustaquim (00:00)
Welcome back to another incredible episode of Destination Morocco podcast and we have Ted with us today and this episode Ted would you please share with us the content of this episode with the listeners and viewers please

Ted Cragg (00:15)
Sure. Well, it's a topic that we haven't covered before and what, three, coming up on four years we've done this podcast. We've never done a dedicated episode on basically travel for couples. So if you're on your honeymoon or even having a wedding, but you know, any of that kind of, ⁓ first, absolutely romantic type theme, know, when you're, you want to escape to an exotic kind of destination. we really wanted to do an episode that focuses on some of those ideas and options and.

would really entice you to come to Morocco because it's a great place to do that.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (00:47)
Absolutely, I totally agree.

may sound like biased, but I agree.

Ted Cragg (00:53)
Uh-huh.

I would think so. ⁓ so yeah, we've got a few topics, ⁓ ideas to cover, ⁓ starting with, you know, well, luxury for sure. And where can people find the kind of comfort and luxury that might come to mind, you know, when you see, when you think of them all, you can see it in the pictures there behind you on the wall, right? Like, the beautiful designs and the architecture and, ⁓

Azdean Elmoustaquim (01:15)
Yes.

Ted Cragg (01:19)
So where can people find that? And I think the starting point maybe is to find some beautiful riads. So can you tell us a bit about what people can expect in staying there, especially as couples, right? If you imagine you're on your honeymoon. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (01:25)
Yes.

Absolutely,

absolutely. Just to give you a little bit of perspective, a years ago, I think I forgot the name of the magazine, they did a study in terms of wedding destinations in Morocco. This is in 2022. Morocco ranked number one. Then France was number two, then Greece was number three. So this might sound kind of surprise again to the North American audience, travelers, because Morocco is super popular.

in Middle East, super popular in Europe, super popular in Australia, New Zealand. ⁓ But it's not quite there, especially when it comes to honeymoons, especially when it comes to ⁓ destination weddings. So one of the best places we always recommend you stay is riads. And again, whether you're booking through us, that's the number one choice that you'll go for, riads, unless there's none, for example, in Casablanca. And then... ⁓

Ted Cragg (02:11)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (02:27)
because that's the experience you're gonna only have in Morocco. There's no riads anywhere else except Morocco and it's worth it. The riads are not created equal so you might find some in fast are better than some in different parts of Morocco which is rightfully so. The best riads in Morocco are absolutely in fast, most of them. Then you have Marrakesh, incredible. Then you have Inoshef Shawin, have Sawara, you have the southern part of Morocco. They are

very unique to also to the quarter of that specific city ⁓ so I highly recommend them especially for couples

Ted Cragg (03:03)
And just give us a bit of background

too, like, I mean, the definition and how did riad's come to be as tourism, as accommodation options, because they're all family homes, right?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (03:11)
Oh, that's

a really good question. Okay, this is a while back, we're talking a century or so ago. The Moroccan family was different than what the Moroccan family looks today. Today, you see a single family, you see parents, kids, maybe grandparents, and that's it. And back then, at that time, you'll see a family, first wife, second wife, maybe third wife, whatever.

or multi-families, ⁓ uncles and cousins and brothers living in the same. So you have first floor, have second floor, you have a third floor, and it looks, ⁓ it's big. And then inside of it, most of them, they'll have a water fountain. Some they'll have some trees, normally banana trees or a small palm tree, but that's an issue. ⁓

But normally that's what the riads would look like. Now, with the time goes by and so forth and so forth now, ⁓ when the King Hassan II passed away in 1999, a few things changed in Morocco, which is ownership. ⁓ The riads at that time, only, you know, I had friends who lived in riads and I've been to riads before. They are very unique. It's just like my house and your house. They're going to look different. It's not the same, you know.

So and that's basically what those were. So in the past, King Hassan II, it was against the law for any foreigner to own anything or land ⁓ or things like that in Morocco. You have to have ⁓ a partner, a Moroccan partner, 51 or 50 percent. I can't really remember the division. But then after he passed, King Mohammed VI changed that and gave the right

⁓ for foreigners to own land and properties in Morocco and one of the first things that you know ⁓ Got really hot in terms of the real estate market was the riads. ⁓ And again when I when I I speak specifically for countries, I would say France I'll say Germany I'll say Spain but mainly France because ⁓ because of our relationship because of our history ⁓ and also

Ted Cragg (05:18)
Okay, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (05:34)
In terms of tourism, they used to send a lot of the French tourists to Morocco. stay in hotels and there's logistic issues. There's hospitality, probably issues, maybe customer service issues. I'm just saying this with no data. just probabilities just to be on the safe side, but that's what we have seen. So it made sense for them to start buying riads, sending those tourists.

to riads. So French and based in Paris, for example, I have guests traveling to Morocco, I want to send them to my riads. It makes sense. It's a little bit cheaper than the hotel. It's like the Airbnb before Airbnb, basically. So and then what happened in terms of property,

Ted Cragg (06:18)
Yeah, that's a point. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (06:24)
The French people, especially what I would say the foreigners or Europeans in general, started buying those properties. So those properties at that time, and this is what we're Marrakesh, and this is one of the reasons that it caused Marrakesh to blow up in terms of tourism, to blow up in terms of becoming expensive and very big city. what happened is supply and demand. The first riads was sold maybe $50,000.

The second one, 100,000, then they start going up because there's not so many of them. So now people are selling them. We're talking in the millions, 200,000, 500,000 and so forth. So and what that did is it really, affected hospitality industry, hotels.

Ted Cragg (06:57)
Yeah. Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (07:14)
They have less customers, the expenses are there and so forth. So they went through a crisis for quite some time. Now the effect of that is most of the riads were owned by foreigners, were owned by Europeans. Then it created a really, really big challenge. Now everybody started coming to Marrakesh, moving to Marrakesh and then Marrakesh started getting bigger and bigger. Then...

the government decided that they need to expand the city and they build kind of a city, small city in the outskirts of Marrakesh because Marrakesh became really expensive for the locals to live and they have this idea that they're going to move some of the locals to that other city, Tamansort. But that project eventually failed. But then Marrakesh never stopped expanding in, you know, on the north side, the west side, the east side, the southern side. So it's a ⁓ that's

really what kind of started the whole you know tourism to boom in Marrakesh those riads now nowadays you see you know 20 years later 30 years later you see some of the riads are still owned by you know europeans but others are owned by Moroccans. ⁓

Ted Cragg (08:31)
So when you stay at a riad, the local, well I guess, it is to the local owner, but maybe regardless, is there someone who lives there permanently, or is it only for tourists that actually stay there?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (08:43)
That's a really good question. ⁓ I've never seen anybody living in a riads, you know, the owners. This is number one. Number two, ⁓ when you go into a riads, you cannot tell who the owner is because the staff are 100 % Moroccans. You may see a manager who's a foreigner, or European or American, but everybody else is just local. ⁓ Now, yeah, it is.

Ted Cragg (08:50)
Okay.

That's interesting. I kind of assume when we

stayed like when we were there and I'm thinking in Fez, yeah, Fez is good example. I don't know. I just kind of assumed that like the hosts were like lived on site and they had their own room or suite or something like that, but that's probably not the case. Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (09:24)
No, they

don't live there. I mean, you have the staff and the staff they'll have their own rooms. But the owner, he has his own house or, yeah, own place to live, yes.

Ted Cragg (09:33)
⁓ Okay.

Well, the point is, you know, coming back, if you're, if you're a couple, right. And I mean, it's the experience for sure. Part of it is, is meeting other travelers and locals. But I mean, if you want to have some privacy, of course too, like how big, what's the capacity of most riads and are there going to be a whole bunch of people around?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (09:53)
Oh, that's a good one. The reason why riads again are very special, very, very unique and intimate because of the size that they have. In some riads, they'll have seven rooms. And again, it's mom and pop owning it and it's easier for them to manage. Some of them I think, I've seen some all the way to 23 rooms. And again, keep in mind the riads, really do fill out very, very quick.

The hotels, it's a different story. They have more availability, especially for groups. Now, when we have a group sometimes and they want to stay in riads, we have to split the group into two. the other thing is, again, if we're looking at Tangier, Tangier gets busy a little bit different than Morocco. When it's a little bit quiet in Morocco, Tangier is still very hot. Like right now, the riads, you have to book them at least six months prior.

to you traveling to Tangier. So, and they have some really, really, really nice layouts.

Ted Cragg (10:54)
Well, what should people look for if you are looking for ⁓ privacy and ⁓ opulence and comfort, luxury? Are all these riads essentially the same kind of standard, like very nice luxurious standard? do you have some that are certain stars and others that are a bit more basic, that kind of thing? What do people look for?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (11:16)
Well, in the riads, people are looking for, they want to be, it's quiet and they're all quiet. Some riads are better than others in terms of the way that they are built, the design, the decoration. But again, some they look newer than others because they are still being built actually. So it just, it depends, but you will not be disappointed with the riads.

Ted Cragg (11:40)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (11:45)
because again, when you have that low expectation, anywhere you go, you will enjoy it when it comes to riads. So, and they all have air conditioning just in case, by the way, because that's one of

Ted Cragg (11:57)
Yeah, talk a bit about what's

included. Like there's air conditioning, like that, but also meals and any other services, laundry maybe.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (12:04)
⁓

Basically, others are good ones. ⁓ When you book with us, breakfast is always included. So lunch, it's normally done somewhere in the city while you're doing your tour and we either make recommendations for you or the driver or local guide will make recommendations for you, which is easier that way. Lunch, it depends where you go. costs between, it can be 10 bucks to 50 bucks. That's a big one.

But it's not really that expensive. Now if you're traveling to the southern part of Morocco, it's including, let's say, the Atlas Mountains, let's say, Dades Valley, Aït Benhaddou, Merzouga, ⁓ Midelt, those, Zagura for example, your dinner is included as well because there's no other place you can go to and have dinner. It's your breakfast and dinner are included. and breakfast in riads are very different, you know.

what they serve you in Fes is a little different than what they serve you in Marrakesh, a little different than what they serve you in the southern part of Morocco. it varies.

Ted Cragg (13:10)
And is it fair to say that aside from the desert, we'll chat a bit about that, but you know, desert luxury camp, that's a whole thing. But aside from that, like if you're just, you know, looking for accommodation, whether it's in Marrakesh or don't know, or Chefchaouen, like unless you really want to stay in a hotel, is it kind of like the default is a riads or are there other options too for accommodation?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (13:34)
There are a lot of other options, but riads is definitely the one that comes into mind for most travelers. Now let's me, I'll give you an example. There's Airbnb in Morocco, and I highly recommend staying away from it. So the next level, let's say, for example, I'm going with my family. There's 10 of us, for example. Just an example. And we're going to stay in Marrakesh, and we're going to stay, let's say, for one week. ⁓

Ted Cragg (13:39)
Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (14:01)
We're not going anywhere else, just Marrakesh So I would recommend looking for an apartment Which is going to be little small for 10 people The other thing that I would recommend is a villa The villas, they can be 4 rooms, 5 rooms, 6 rooms and they all have different prices That's the other thing that I would recommend You know for 10 people, you need one maybe for 5 rooms, split rooms

It's very private. It has its own access. It comes with its own housekeeping. They'll prepare breakfast for you every day. If you need dinner, they'll do the same thing. They care to you basically. It's very private, beautiful, and you'll have your own swimming pool as well. That's what I would recommend. If you're just going to go to Marrakech and they do trips, for example, to the Atlas Mountains and back at night, to Essaouira and back at night,

to Agafay and back at night, know just in Marrakesh and back at night so that's what I would recommend for a medium-sized group of travelers so exactly yes yes yeah because everything the riads is going to do for you ⁓ it's better to do it on the villa so it's less restrictions you have more flexibility and you have us with you you know literally 24-7 so

Ted Cragg (15:05)
Yeah, that's a good example then for like a wedding party type thing, right?

Yeah, if it's that size.

Yeah, okay. Good. Well, that's interesting options then. mean, so I guess the takeaway is if you are a couple or maybe a small family, then absolutely stay in a riad. And it's if you're a much bigger group that, you know, really wants to do a lot of those activities together and group excursions and ⁓ other kinds of, again, laundry and other kinds of stuff, right? Then have your own private villa might be the best way to go.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (15:56)
Yes, you did ask me about the laundry and I do apologize. Normally, ⁓ in regular circumstances, we move from city to city to city. Let's say we started, for example, in Casablanca, you know, three days later, we're in Fes, but then you have some clothes that need to be laundered. So what do we do? You have two options. ⁓ The riads can do it for you, which costs a little bit more. Or when we take you, let's say we're going to drop you off in downtown to meet your local guide.

the driver will get the laundry bag from you, then he takes it to the dry cleaners, he drops it off, and then ⁓ at the end of the day before he picks you up, before you finish your tour, he'll pick up the laundry for you, and then once he picks you up, he'll give you the laundry bag. It's all clean, yeah. So normally that's how we do it within Fes, within Marrakech, and stuff like that, yeah.

Ted Cragg (16:47)
Okay. That's good to know. Yeah. It's practical things, you know, I mean, you're there to relax and have fun and have adventure, but you still have to do laundry. Okay. ⁓ let's bring it back to couples and the romantic experience. And of course things that come to mind are like the spas. Can you tell us a bit of a difference? think people can get confused. I've been certainly about this. Is there a difference when people say, at least in Morocco,

Azdean Elmoustaquim (16:55)
Absolutely.

Ted Cragg (17:16)
The spa versus the hammam, is it the same thing or is there a difference and how do people talk about it there?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (17:22)
Okay, ⁓ just like we did with the riads, I'll go back in terms of the name, you know, a few decades, then bring it back to the present. ⁓ Growing up, there were no spas. If there was a spa, it's just in luxury hotels. ⁓ There were nowhere else. They did not exist anywhere else. when, as kids, we go to the hammam. and... ⁓

Ted Cragg (17:28)
Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (17:50)
There's a traditional hammam in every neighborhood. You'll find one, you'll find two. And the hammam basically, ⁓ there's one only for men and one only for women. Now, for example, in the old, old days, especially in the Medina, there's only one hammam and it is split between men and women. For example, from 6 a.m. to 12, ⁓ it's women from, for example, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. it's men. And that's how...

That's how it is. This is we're talking, you know, hundred year old neighborhoods and hundred and fifty to hundred year old neighborhoods. So back back in the day. So in my when I grew up, when I grew up, this is how it was. Separate men, then women and it's traditional. And when you go inside the hammam, you will see in some three chambers in some you'll see four chambers. Normally when you go when you pay, it's you know, now the price has increased.

you pay then they give you an assigned place where you can put your clothes and you go the first chamber normally it's the coldest it just feels you know just almost room temperature just a little bit warm then the second one will be a little bit hotter then the third one or the fourth one depending how many chambers they are you'll see the one we call tough now which is the one where you go in and fill your the water it's very hot so

⁓ That one is super hot, if you think the sauna is hot, this is like twice as hot. it's very very very hot. You cannot be there for probably more than five minutes. ⁓ So ⁓ again, that's the traditional hammam that we grew up knowing and using. And you go in and you scrub your skin exfoliate and all that stuff. do shampoo, everything. And then you leave.

now with everything being modernized and kind of touristy a little bit more ⁓ they become a little bit more luxury so in terms of the tourism the hotels ⁓ started having a little bit of kind of luxurious way if you would they started instead of just the spa experience they have hammam experience added now it's even if it says spa

It is also including hammam. But if it says hammam, may not include the spa.

Ted Cragg (20:16)
And Hamaam again, just like the difference in least Morocco between the experience Hamaam and spa. Spa is the, would suggest a massage.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (20:25)
The spa only means massage. And again, just like here in the US, there's different packages for the massage. And also for the hammam, there's different packages in terms of the product that they use in the exfoliation process and the herbs and the organic herbs and stuff like that. ⁓ when we say the hammam, we're talking modernized hammam, not like the traditional one. So there's no...

chamber 1, chamber 2, chamber 3 there's just one place where you lay made out of marble basically I think we've shared many many pictures and that's where they scrub you and they clean you and everything so it's I always recommend the hammam before the spa so it's very relaxing the hammam experience normally lasts I would say about 45 minutes the same with the spa experience as well about 45 minutes and then

⁓ They pamper you with know, cookies, Moroccan cookies, Moroccan mint tea and you know, it's really really nice that the resin area is very beautiful.

Ted Cragg (21:32)
Well, is it something in the modern way that couples would ever do together if they wanted to? Does that option exist? You you're on your honeymoon, right? Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (21:41)
It does. Yes,

yes, you can. There is a know, massage couple and hammam couple that it could be done at the same time. So ⁓ and it's highly recommended. So now when we talk about the spa and hammam experience, I just want to give the listeners, the audience a little bit of perspective what to look for, what to do, what not to do, ⁓ because it can it can be confusing. ⁓ When you book with us, ⁓ there are vendors and people that we work with.

Ted Cragg (21:47)
Okay.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:11)
you know, hotels, riads, ⁓ that we book those experiences for you. Also outside the riads and hotels, they just exist as just like a regular business and we book those experiences for you. Now, if you don't know the place, ⁓ don't book it. Do your homework. If you're traveling on your own, do your homework ⁓ because they can be a shady business. So you don't want to have that. So...

yeah.

Ted Cragg (22:42)
Okay. Yeah. Well, it's, ⁓ one of the great benefits of course, of going through you guys is you now have the contacts and you know what to look for. It's all very safe. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (22:50)
Absolutely, absolutely.

And normally when we do the booking, we just do the booking for you and you can pay on the spot for it because there are different packages to choose from and we don't want to pick, let's a $75 package because it's not included in what you really, really want to experience, which is those, you know, the aroma, those spices, those herbs.

you know, so that's maybe cost a hundred bucks so that we just leave that experience to you we book it we make the booking and we'll tell you hey we have you booked at the spa the driver will take you then come back for you and your spa appointment at 7 30 pm or at 6 pm or at 8 pm and sometimes when when when we have a group we shut down the spa it's just we make it a private event so it's just for the group ⁓ no outsiders are inside

Ted Cragg (23:21)
I see.

That's cool.

Well, a question comes to mind then, is there a time of day that's recommended to go to the hammam?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (23:50)
I would say definitely. ⁓ I would say after five o'clock. ⁓ And again, it depends. Yeah, would. Yeah, for me, the reason is because because you're on tour. ⁓ Is it better to do it as soon as you get to Morocco or towards the end? I would say if you can do both, it's better. If just one, just do it at the end, because it's just going to be the icing on the cake for the whole experience.

Ted Cragg (23:57)
Hmm. So it's more of an evening thing.

Right.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (24:19)
because you're

going to get really, really, really tired. And it's very helpful. Yeah.

Ted Cragg (24:23)
yeah, that's a point. If you did it in the morning

then you might be pretty knocked out for the rest of the day.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (24:28)
Yeah, because

you know, you want to feel it, you want to enjoy it, you want to just feel that relaxation, know. Especially you do that when you do it after dinner and it's you know, it's perfect. So, and there are many places you can do the massage, not just in one city, but you can do it throughout your tour.

Ted Cragg (24:32)
Yeah, I see.

Yeah.

Hmm. Okay. Well, that brings us back to, a good tie in, is dinner. So if people are looking for a very, certainly a distinct and, and unique dining experience, but also I'm thinking about what about if as exclusive and private as possible. So do options exist in restaurants? You can kind of get a private

room or a separate dining room type thing? Do they cater to that kind of honeymoon type experience? So you're not necessarily eating, least you have the option, maybe one or two nights, right? That you're not in a big room, it's really noisy and all that stuff. Do restaurants offer that from time to time?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (25:27)
Yes, we can have it managed for you. But the thing that I realized and a lot of people, want to share their experiences with people, especially when you're in Morocco. Moroccans are loud. They love to dance. They love to party. And we've seen it time and again. you go into we make a reservation for you, a dinner and a show. And, you know, obviously we tell the restaurant, you know, the occasion, it's a birthday, it's this or that. And then when we bring the cake, everybody's dancing and chanting and

It's a really really good feeling versus you just want to be by yourself in the room, which we can do as well. whatever the guests want, we'll cater to them. If that's they want to have like their own space, their own room where they can just enjoy their dinner just by themselves and have that experience to themselves. Or we can do it at a restaurant and then bring the staff in. They can they can sing, they can dance. I mean, I've seen it in, for example, Kôya by Safran, the restaurant here in Marrakesh.

And then everybody else having dinner is having a good time sharing you your experience with them and sharing you know their laughter and joy with you as well. So yeah.

Ted Cragg (26:34)
You

were telling me one great option for that very unique and more private dining experiences when you're in the desert. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (26:44)
my gosh, yes, yes, 100%.

Yes. We have done it in the past. And again, this is, just the two of you. We'll have it set up with the camp and basically what they'll do is on a, on like on a hill, a small hill, they'll set up the table, they'll set up the floor, they'll set up everything for you. You'll have some wine, whatever wine you, and again, this is the reason why everything needs to be,

booked early because in Merzouga there's no wine but we have to get it from a different city on the way to Merzouga so whatever you know if it's wine champagne whatever you need we get it ahead of time so when you come to the camp they have everything for you they can make whatever dinner you want they can do that for you and it's a beautiful magical magical experience and again it's just the two of you and it's normally done right before the sunset so it's very beautiful

Ted Cragg (27:17)
yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (27:39)
And the thing is a lot of people they you know when you're in Merzouga the sand really changes colors It does you know it it's it's just incredible so You see it from yellow to gold to orange It's very beautiful very romantic and highly recommended for couples. Yeah

Ted Cragg (27:46)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, that's a highlight for sure. Can do at the Riads now you said they serve breakfast. Do they serve dinner sometimes too?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:10)
The riad has everything. It's just, it just when you're traveling with us, breakfast is included. If you want to have dinner, yeah, they'll have dinner as well. absolutely. Yes. Yes.

Ted Cragg (28:12)
Okay.

Right. You can add that on. But they do,

cause the riads is a good point that the riads have kitchens, fairly big kitchens, right? And all that cooking is done on site, you know, whether it's breakfast or anything. So point is if you're staying in a riads and again, as part of that thing, like kind of the bed and breakfast style that, you know, it's nice to eat with other travelers and see you stay in there is usually whatever three or four other couples. But if you did want to have a nice private quiet dinner,

Azdean Elmoustaquim (28:25)
Yeah, yes. Yeah. Yes.

Ted Cragg (28:44)
basically at home, right, at the riad, where you're not going out to a busy restaurant. Is it reasonable to ask a riad to kind of make you dinner at a different time and perhaps get your own little private, separate dining room or something that's separate from the other group? Like, will they accommodate you like that? Huh.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:03)
100 % yes, I'll give you just

an experience I know you said that we are later we stayed at real rate as well in Fes and we use them I just it's just incredible incredible property so I Highly recommend experiencing dinner at a we are just in case you know with the locals outside It's amazing but also the riads just go above and beyond especially for for a very specific and special occasion for couples so

Ted Cragg (29:09)
It does, yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (29:33)
They served us dinner, just us, at the terrace. And we look in the outside, view of Fes is just amazing, amazing. So I highly recommend it. Yes, yes, it's just incredible. dinner, it's not just one dish. It's one dish after another dish after another dish. So it's just, you will have an amazing, amazing time.

Ted Cragg (29:44)
Yeah, I remember that.

How typical

is a design like that? So we're talking about right? In Fez. And I mean, you have the courtyard, um, and I must've been at least four floors, something like that, four or five. And the top floor is the roof basically. And so you have a rooftop terrace and even that has a higher level. I remember one side and we had dinner up there once. Um, and then in the courtyard, I remember thinking like,

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:02)
Yes.

Yes.

Yeah, it is. It is. Yes.

Ted Cragg (30:24)
Well, is the courtyard just kind of wide open and when it rains and everything gets wet, they had a kind of a glass dome that was somehow retractable. think like they manually, they could retract it. So you get like fresh air, but then they could close it when it rains and also still have some natural light. But I remember wondering like, well, and the other good point too, is that, you know, you're right in the Medina, right in Fez and outside the door, it's bustling and you know, there's all kinds of stuff happening. But once you're inside and especially up on that roof,

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:38)
Yes.

Ted Cragg (30:54)
Again, you're up like five floors or something above the street and you're like in the clouds. You're like in this Oasis above all of that hustle and bustle. Right. So you can kind of observe it. You're, you're, surrounded by it, but you're not like overwhelmed by it, which is, which was a nice feeling, especially with two young kids in our case. But, ⁓ but I do remember wondering like just how typical is this design for a riads? Are they usually that kind of layout, you know, and it's heading. Yeah.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (30:59)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely.

They're all different

and the layout may have been or looked different 10 years ago but they have changed it to what the guests would really really enjoy. and we're very fortunate ⁓ we stayed in a lot of riads that are just like that so it's very typical to have that because it's important to the guests.

Ted Cragg (31:37)
Okay.

Right. Yeah.

The courtyard style seemed pretty common. And then we're a couple who were like that. There was one in Chefchaouen when we stayed at, it may have had a courtyard, but it was a bit more of kind of a multi-level thing, like different sections. And that was cool too. It was so different. It's like outdoor patio, rooftop kind of thing. And we were in kind of a back section of the house. I mean, it doesn't feel like a house. That was part of it too. It was like.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (31:47)
Yes. Yeah.

Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah.

Ted Cragg (32:07)
I mean, you think it's okay, it's a house, it's a Moroccan house, but it's nothing like you see in North America, of course, like a bungalow or something like that. It's really like, yeah, this multi-level, squarish, rectangular, typically style design. ⁓ It doesn't feel maybe so much like a quote unquote house. It's like an apartment building or something like that, but it's all for...

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:14)
Yeah.

Ted Cragg (32:33)
I mean, an extended family, right? But it's, it still has that kind of a private feel to it. So that you think, imagine back in the day, right? This all belonged to one larger family. yeah, it's, it wants to kind of get that, that concept and okay. So this, all this is one, one house. Here we are talking about riads again. You can go on for ages. They're fascinating. Well, that's good. I wanted to cover some basics and I'm sure we'll do more episodes about this, but the point was to.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (32:42)
Yes, exactly.

Yes.

I know it.

Thank you.

Ted Cragg (33:02)
to give couples, know, try to picture what it's like to be there, what to expect, what to ask for, what kind of experiences you can have. So yeah, it's a good point to have that mix of socializing, getting to the locals and sharing, if you're on your honeymoon, right? Sharing that experience with others, they'll be happy to do that, whether they're travelers or locals. But of course you want to have some of that private time and quiet time as well. knowing that those options exist. You had one final point I wanted to bring up, which was that,

What's the most crucial piece of advice you can offer people if they're thinking about planning this type of trip to Morocco?

Azdean Elmoustaquim (33:37)
give Morocco a chance, give Morocco an opportunity. you know, I'm talking specifically to the ⁓ North American ⁓ travelers audience because Morocco, especially this year, ⁓ it is super popular everywhere else except the Americas. ⁓ You know, I don't want to talk bad about Cancun or the Caribbean. I love both destinations. ⁓ But Morocco, you will be pleasantly surprised in the most positive way.

And just to mention a little bit more about the romance in Morocco, the couples, now we do have those romance ⁓ packages, couple packages. ⁓ For example, one of the best places to go ⁓ in Morocco for a couple when it comes to jewelry, when it comes to gold, is definitely Fes, ⁓ next to the Jewish quarter. Then Marrakech ⁓

you know, it's huge. Then the gold in Morocco is different than the US. The US you have 10 carat gold, 14 carat gold. In Morocco we have 18, 21 and 22. So it's little different. So there's so many different ways that you can enjoy Morocco with your significant other and we're here to help. And we're here to make that experience happen for you. And it's absolutely worth it.

Ted Cragg (35:02)
Yeah. And that's not, maybe not as far as you might think. it takes you across the ocean, of course, but it's not like around the other side of the world either. So.

It's maybe more accessible than you might realize. Cool. Well, yeah, that's been good. And cover a few interesting points. ⁓ We'd love to hear people's feedback. Of course, don't forget, you know, if you have some thoughts about this episode or other questions come to mind, you can reach out to as Dean the ⁓ all the links in the notes are in our description for the episode. You can visit destinations, morocco.com and learn more about the options you guys have and.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (35:15)
Absolutely. I totally agree.

Ted Cragg (35:40)
And book a free call. So I like the way you guys do this. If, you know, there's no pressure, of course, if people just have questions and share some of the things they want to do, they can book a free call with you and have someone real. You're not talking to an AI bot or anything like that. You're talking to a real person and they'll give you lots of great advice. So keep that in mind too. Great. I'll see you next time.

Azdean Elmoustaquim (36:01)
Thank you so much. See you next time.