Riad Lamya Marrakech

After a lot of research, I chose this place for the value and the location. It is just inside the medina and a 3 minute walk to the main road. We arrived late at night and we had arranged a private transfer from the airport with the riad. It was a 15 minute drive and we were taken aback by the look of the area and actually wondered what we had booked! It's definitely a culture shock on entering the medina. The driver was chatty and welcomed us to Marrakech, assured us it was safe and walked us to the riad which is tucked away down a small alleyway. We rang the bell and we were greeted by Safwan, given a tour of the riad and shown to our room. The riad is beautiful and our room was a great size, with a really comfy bed! Great water pressure from the shower, hairdryer, complimentary products and fresh towels every day! The air conditioning was also really good. The riad has lots of seating areas on different floor, great wifi and an amazing rooftop which we sat on every evening! On the first evening we chucked our cases in the room and went straight up to the rooftop to drink our 'duty free' wine. (Yes, you can drink alcohol in the riad). The rooftop has sunbeds, table and chairs, comfy cushions in the tent with views over the city. (The lights go off around 11.30pm) We spent every evening up here watching the sunsets and listening to the call to mosque which is enchanting from up there. At this point we were a little concerned about what to expect in the morning and how we were going to feel going out! We had a great nights sleep, the bed was so comfy, shower was good and we were met in the morning with a lovely breakfast consisting of orange juice, coffee, teas, yoghurt, omelettes, pancakes, breads and crossiants. It was enough to keep you going all day. We still did not have any cash, but the car from the airport and local tax can be paid whenever you get some dirhams. There are a few ATMS and exchange offices. We used both. It doesn't really matter what you use as it's the same rate (10 to the £). However, we did exchange some US Dollars that we had from a previous holiday and we did get a higher rate (12 to the £) We then went out and headed towards the main Jemaa El Fna square which is around 15 minutes if you walk in a straight line through the souks. However, within 10 minutes we were distracted and making our way through the alleyways with cars, bikes, donkeys, trolleys loaded with leather and lots of people! It's crazy but in an exciting and wonderful way! Everyone is friendly, people will say 'Bonjour' and you will see other tourists, so you will feel safe as the day goes by. We spent our week wandering the souks, taking in the spice markets, eating out and making friends with some of the locals, the children especially who wait in the alley for you to come home because they want to know all about you and talk English (we bought them all sweets on our last day). We did visit the Majorelle Yves Saint Laurent Gardens, we were goin

Sindibad recommended lamya since they were full. Very kind owner. Our room was quite small and the rooms are relatively noisy. But the rest is lovely - nice roof terrace. We used it as a place to stay before flying back home. Parking in the vicinity. Reliable. We had trouble buying stamps - we gave them money to buy stamps and asked them to send the cards which they did. First one has arrived!