While in Morocco, we've been staying in a variety of riads. We've received a few questions about what they are, so here goes:
A typical riad is a guesthouse, built around a central courtyard. These can be several stories tall, with a common area on the ground floor and a roof terrace at the top. A fountain at the core of the building is considered important, but not always necessary. A dar is a smaller version, with fewer rooms and no fountain. We have stayed in places with as few as 3 guest rooms and as many as 15. Riads are inexpensive and easygoing. The hosts/owners are almost always on-site.
Because we prefer it, we have booked riads with breakfast included. It's easier to face the day knowing where your first meal is coming from. Breakfasts have been ample and interesting, usually delicious. Fresh juice is almost always served, squeezed on the premises. Moroccan tea for me, coffee noir for Brian. Often eggs are available, also fresh fruit, vegetables, and a wide variety of breaded items - sometimes pastry, sometimes a sort of injera, lots of others. (If you're interested, this site gives a good rundown on the topic: Breads of Morocco). There are spreads to go with the breads: honey, jam, marmalade, and amlou. Amlou tastes like peanut or almond butter, since it is made with almonds, the ubiquitous argan oil and honey. I need to do a bit more research, because while in the US everyone uses argan oil for their hair, no one here thinks that is normal. It's used either as food or cosmetic, but for skin and not hair. There appear to be two versions of argan oil for sale, one is edible and the other is not, and it is unclear what the difference is.
The downsides of riads are pretty minimal. There can be some sound bleed because all of the rooms face the central courtyard which is open to all of the floors. There are often windows in the rooms that only face the interior courtyard as well. But as the building is masonry it is more often than not quiet. Moroccans believe in fresh air and windows and doors are not tightly fitted. We've had our bathroom windows open to the roof terrace, the breakfast space, and the stairs. There's a bit of forced intimacy in that! They are also built for warm weather and we've had to turn on heaters and ask for extra blankets a few times. Another small downside is that we are off-season traveling so there have been paint fumes twice as they take the quieter times to spruce up their spaces.
Another (small) quibble: smoking. People tend to limit their smoking to the roof terraces, but that is where you're eating and relaxing. While in Spain we were dismayed that they have one of the higher rates of smokers in the EU. The guests we've encountered have run the gamut: French, Spanish, Russian, American, etc., with the majority seeming to be French. And the French are smoking. At breakfast. Gross.
~Lucy
