Contributor Terry Ward just returned from Marrakesh, where she stayed in the uber-romantic Riad Meriem. If you are like me and don't know what a "riad" is, it's simply a traditional type of palace or large house in Morocco. Rooms surround an interior courtyard open to the sky, which makes them an oasis of sorts in the loud bustle of the city. Many are being renovated into boutique hotels and restaurants.
Riad Meriem, Terry reports, was "like a yawning oasis of Zen-like calm in the heart of the medina's eternal drone of commerce and catcalls." In the center of the riad's courtyard is a plunge pool, small but lit romantically at night. Rooms are cozy and dimly lit, and designer/owner Thomas Hays "has a talent for giving traditional African and Asian textiles and furnishings super-stylish presentations that ooze cool."
Opening Friday was the newest riad in Marrakesh, AnaYela Riad. German entrepreneur Bernd Kolb took inspiration from a manuscript found in one of the rooms when transforming this 300-year-old palace into a boutique hotel. Written by a young woman named Yela, it describes the romantic story of her first love. Don't miss the silver doors, hung throughout the palace; Yela's story was inscribed on them by Koranic calligrapher Mohammed Taha.
Profile of Riad Meriem
Pictures of Riad Meriem
Profile of AnaYela Riad
More: Marrakesh & Morroco Hotel Reviews
Image of Riad Meriem © Terry Ward; Image of AnaYela Riad courtesy AnaYela Riad