Tablet Trips combine expert-led, artisanal travel adventures with elevated stays at some of our most soul-stirring hotels. Here are the places you’ll enjoy on our trip to Morocco.
Tablet Trips are here. These once-in-a-lifetime journeys immerse you in a destination through excursions and activities rarely available to visitors, while setting aside time so you can relax and enjoy a selection of experiences at unforgettable hotels — all curated through Tablet’s singular lens.
We’re starting with five trips:
Puglia
Provence
Patagonia
Japan
Morocco
What makes our trips special — other than the unique daily itineraries and small groups — are the hotel stays. Tablet Trips features smaller, more exceptional hotels not usually found on these types of travels. These thought-provoking properties are as much a part of the overall story as anything else on the itinerary. Best of all, the trip schedule is never overstuffed. You’ll be busy, but we’ve built in free time at the hotels so you can take a moment to detach, unwind, and explore.
THE MOROCCO TRIP:
Riads, medinas, desert oases: a symphony of sensations and seductive charm
For all the delights of Morocco’s medinas and markets, many of its deeper pleasures are hidden: in tucked-away riads, quiet courtyards, and private kitchens. During visits to Fes, Rabat, and Marrakech, experience Moroccan hospitality at outstanding riads while exploring the contrast between public and private life. On an optional post-trip extension, stay at a desert oasis and discover laid-back Essaouira.
We’ll begin in Fes, where intricate tilework, carved plaster, and labyrinthine streets reveal centuries of artistic tradition. After a stop in the coastal capital Rabat, our journey concludes in Marrakech, where the spectacle of the souks and public squares gives way to quiet, private spaces. For those joining the optional trip extension, a desert oasis awaits: a North African–style ksar repurposed as a boutique hotel.
Learn more about the Tablet Trip to Morocco. Learn more about the featured hotels below.
Situated in one of Fes’ two medinas, Riad El Amine is a feast for the senses. Classic Moroccan architecture and arabesque design dominate this riad, in extravagant ornateness. The hotel welcomes guests into their quarters with rich, warm colors and tiled floors. Suites feature high ceilings and sitting areas for guests and tea. A courtyard pool’s blue oasis serves as an additional social gathering area. A hammam and spa are available, and Riad El Amine’s two restaurants, Essâadia and El Bahia, promise Moroccan gastronomy at its finest, showcasing local produce leading up to a succulent, traditional tagine, slow-roasted in glazed earthenware.
For Westerners, Rabat feels a bit like a wonderful secret. Less well known than Casablanca or Marrakech but equally mesmerizing, this imperial capital city is a place of architectural treasures and wonders waiting to be discovered. In the midst of this magical place, the Four Seasons straddles both ancient and modern worlds. Set at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, this 12-acre resort was once the summer residence of Morocco’s Sultan Moulay Slimane. Six restored historical buildings entice, while five brand-new ones effortlessly blend old and new. Similarly, the rooms and suites blend the romance of Moorish design with modern comforts.
We liked it well enough when it was just a single small four-bedroom house, but 72 Riad is proof that riad hospitality can scale up without losing its essential charm. In its current incarnation it’s up to 14 rooms, surrounding a pair of central courtyards, tucked into the winding streets in the Marrakech medina. The hotel’s rooftop terrace is one of the medina’s highest, and boasts a 360-degree view of the city and the mountains. It’s a fine place for a sunset drink, or for breakfast, which is served anywhere you like. Meanwhile, for dinner, La Table du Riad remains one of Marrakech’s most sought-after reservations.
If you’re making the effort to travel to the Maghreb, you may as well get out of town and head for the hills, checking into one of the grand old palaces now functioning as hotels. Something like Le Jardin des Douars. Located outside the coastal city of Essaouira, it’s a ksar — a castle, North African–style, consisting of a cluster of traditional earthen buildings surrounded by a high wall — repurposed as a boutique hotel. Inside the walls is a peaceful oasis. Garden paths, lined with exotic flowers and shaded with palm, olive, and bougainvillea trees, meander between sun-drenched terraces and quiet villas, from hammam to swimming pool.
WHAT ARE TABLET TRIPS?
Tablet Trips are curated journeys for boutique hotel lovers. With your specialist trip leader and a small group of Tablet travelers, you’ll meet artisans, insiders, and luminaries to learn about the local culture, with an emphasis on architecture, design, craft, cooking, and cuisine. Then, our unique spin on trips: stays at hotels that tell an essential part of the story, located in the neighborhoods and natural surroundings you came all this way to see.
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