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Both Hipmarrakech and Hipmorocco as well as many of our riads in Marrakech offer a variety of services for clients. All Marrakech riads will be able to organise a tour guide to take you around Marrakesh. In our experience some guides are good and some are awful. Decide what you want to see before hand, and if you do not wish to be taken to a carpet shop then you should say so and be firm. I think it is good to be taken around the souks by a guide, as these are a maze, and you can get easily lost, and miss some of the most exciting parts such as the metal souks.
Moroccan tours (e.g. to the deserts or Atlas mountains, as well as car hire are best arranged through Amanda at www.hipmarrakech.com or www.hipmorocco.com before you travel. Hipmarrakech and Hipmorocco can also advise you on Golfing sites and costs, and make bookings on your behalf.
One of our riads in Marrakech offer Yoga and Reiki Retreats (see Riad ZamZam http://www.hipmarrakech.com/riad.php?id=115, and ask Amanda) at very affordable prices (see below). Last minute tailor made tours of surrounding areas of Morocco such as the Atlas mountains can be organised by some riads (e.g. Dar Charkia, see http://www.hipmarrakech.com/riad.php?id=81). Some riads in Marrakech also offer cooking classes and shopping trips.
Some Marrakesh riads also organise ballooning, white water rafting, Raid Buggy driving (driving licence required), Go Karting, Camel and Horse riding just outside Marrakesh, however, we must stress that Hipmarrakech.Com Ltd takes No liability for these activities.
All riads can organise parties, DJs, singers and Belly dancers, but you need to ask in advance or you may be disappointed.
What do our individual Marrakech Riads offer that is special?
Dar Charkia is run by Lisa and Michael, and who pride themselves on offering a personalised service with a thorough information chat on Marrakech on your arrival and an annotated map for each client. See
http://www.hipmarrakech.com/riad.php?id=81
Dar Charkia is building up a reputation for its personalised shopping tours. Thus, Lisa will either organise or take you on a tour herself to a variety of reputable establishments. They also have arrangements with a number of merchants in the souks who give Dar Charkia clients reduced prices (ie. probably real prices, my comment) and then you do not need to haggle. Frommers 2010 guide to Morocco has a page of “Lisa’s shopping tips” so they seem to have built up a good reputation. There is a retail therapy sheet with all of Dar Charkias’s recommendations in each of the rooms. (My comment, I am not sure what retail therapy involves, but being Male I like it to be brief!!).
Dar Charkia also work with a British lady/guide who has been here for 12 years and knows the country inside out. She organises tailor made tours for the entire country and will tailor her tours to any budget. Dar Charkia recently had clients recently who wanted to sleep for 1 night under the stars in the atlas and she arranged this at the last minute for them – other clients of theirs had an imperial city tour with her and then went deep into the desert with her.
Dar Charkia and also Darhani offer vegetarian menus at their house. Darhani have offered a vegetarian menu since they opened 5 years ago or more (their cook is vegetarian and so she has created a variety of nice dishes rather than substitute dishes that she likes). However, what is unique, and I was not aware of this until I saw the submitted blog is that Dar Charkia have arranged with several restaurants in Marrakech that Dar Charkia can order a vegetarian version of most items on their menus. I think this is an excellent idea since most restaurants only offer Couscous aux sept legumes as the vegetarian option, and it is such a boring dish to my mind ( am not vegetarian but rarely eat meat).
Dar Charkia http://www.hipmarrakech.com/riad.php?id=81 can also organise ballooning, white water rafting, raid buggy driving, camel and horse riding and a full concierge service. Dar Charkia work with two particular cookery schools and can organise a great day cooking at very competitive prices.
Dar Charkia can also organise belly dancing classes!! For Males in their late forties to mid fifties this last class has to be for you!! Yesterday I saw Glenn Tilbrook, a very good friend of mine who wrote the music for the group Squeeze and who were quite successful with a variety of hits such as Tempted, Up the Junction, Cool for Cats etc. Anyway and this is where I digress from Marrakesh, I saw him perform at Blackheath Concert Halls just before Christmas, and as he played a Jimi Hendrix number with his guitar behind his back whilst playing solo (I was gobsmacked actually at his skill, but don’t tell Glenn that) he said to the audience “I am desperately trying to keep my tummy in as I play this” , which had me in hysterics (since being middle aged I could understand his dilemma). Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, well apparently fat middle aged men like me can get Belly dancing classes at Dar Charkia. I am not sure that this is what Lisa intended, I think she was thinking of athletic 20-30 year old females. If you have any enquiries about Dar Charkia please call Amanda on 0208 816 7065 or email us on info@hipmarrakech.com.
