“Perfect Riad to Explore Essaouira”

Wow! Our 2nd visit of the year to Riad Zahra and already booked to return in 2025. Why? This Riad is a wonderful place to stay. The location is perfect - 2 min walk to the beach and a 20 min walk in to the Medina along the promenade. Ideal for exploring the town. The staff at the Riad are frie… more

Wow! Our 2nd visit of the year to Riad Zahra and already booked to return in 2025. Why? This Riad is a wonderful place to stay. The location is perfect - 2 min walk to the beach and a 20 min walk in to the Medina along the promenade. Ideal for exploring the town. The staff at the Riad are friendly, helpful and very efficient. Breakfast starts the day off brilliantly and we ate in the restaurant on 3 occasions - each meal was delicious accompanied by a selection of fine local wines. I could go on, however, the review written by Epicurus in September 2024 covers everything needed to know about Riad Zahra. See you in 2025

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“A perfect oasis”

This beautiful riad is situated one block away from the beach and 15 minutes walk from the medina making it a beautiful, quiet and peaceful oasis of calm. The place is spotlessly clean, the room (#11) spacious and airy with the benefit of two balconies, the bed very comfortable (particularly help… more

This beautiful riad is situated one block away from the beach and 15 minutes walk from the medina making it a beautiful, quiet and peaceful oasis of calm. The place is spotlessly clean, the room (#11) spacious and airy with the benefit of two balconies, the bed very comfortable (particularly helpful for my aged back) and the ambiance sublime with art, plants and mood lighting everywhere. The large swimming pond is perfect for relaxing and has a variety of sun beds and tables and also a large seating area in a cabana for those that want total shade. It even has its own resident tortoise to add to the luxury! A veritable forest of bougainvillea adds a splash of colour. Breakfast is plentiful (pancakes, cake, breads, cheeses, juice, yoghurt, honey, jams, coffee, teas and a choice of freshly cooked eggs) and can be taken indoors or on the delightful terrace overlooking the pool. The restaurant is a lovely space with a large choice of local fish, steak and some vegetarian options. The wine list is well balanced and competitively priced. The riad also offers a quick and cheap laundry service, ideal for long stays. Finally, the staff. What a delightful band of helpful, smiley, efficient and professional characters. Right from check-in (thank you Selma) through housekeeping and bar, restaurant and breakfast staff, they catered to our every need with a smile, charm and grace. We are regular visitors to Morocco and have at last found a riad in Essaouira that we will have no doubts about booking next time. 100% fabulous!

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“Art and fish burgers”

This is a large, pristeen riad, approximately three quarters of a mile down the promenade from the medina, and just one block back from the beach. Its location means it's relatively tranquil - a benefit given the regular late-night bands and early morning muezzins at the other end. it's also at th… more

This is a large, pristeen riad, approximately three quarters of a mile down the promenade from the medina, and just one block back from the beach. Its location means it's relatively tranquil - a benefit given the regular late-night bands and early morning muezzins at the other end. it's also at the end of the beach with the (kite)-surfers and camels. The riad is beautiful, fantastic artworks adorn the walls, the rooms are clean and spacious, the (unheated) pool is large, and there's a couple of excellent-looking, high-class restaurants. Essaouira surpassed our expectations - a lovely place to wind down after the chaos of Marrakesh - and so did this riad. Other suggestions: Mogasurf (almost in front of the hotel, opposite the beach) gave the kids an excellent two-hour surfing lesson; Supratours coaches are a punctual way of getting from Marrakesh to Essaouria - and much cheaper if booked directly on their website. Food highlight, especially for the kids, was Fishburger (see Instagram etc).

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“Beautiful Riad in Essaouira, the perfect place to stay”

This is such a beautiful riad, we would thoroughly recommend staying here! The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. They arranged a taxi from the airport (there isn’t really an airport bus — the bus stop is about 2km from the airport so taxi is really the only option). We were allowed to … more

This is such a beautiful riad, we would thoroughly recommend staying here! The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. They arranged a taxi from the airport (there isn’t really an airport bus — the bus stop is about 2km from the airport so taxi is really the only option). We were allowed to check in early as our room was ready. The breakfast was really delicious, the room was very comfortable, good WiFi, and the street outside was quiet. We loved the art and decor of the interior. There is a really pretty garden with swimming pool (shallow/deep ends) and a tortoise wandering around! The beach is about 3 minutes walk from the riad, the harbour, medina (and bus station) are about 20 mins away. There is a Carrefour supermarket about 15 mins in the other direction (with alcohol section). We did not eat in the hotel restaurant for lunch or dinner but the food that other guests were having looked amazing. Riad Zahra is a brilliant place to stay in a fantastic town!

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