During conversation I’ll often pipe up saying “The other day in the Times…” and then spout some fact I’ve picked up during my morning read. I was reading the Travel section on the way home from work today and took interest in the ‘Wintersun for a song‘ article. I was surprised and happy to read the following:
“And, whereas Marrakesh has more than 500 foreign-owned riads, Fez has no more than 20. Michael Cullen, of the hip-hotel website i-escape.com, has just returned from a trip to see them all. He recommends the American-owned Dar Roumana, where you’ll be greeted with lavish interiors, panoramic views of the medina and palatial suites.”
Dar Roumana is where we’re staying at the end of our Morocco trip over Christmas and New Years. A little further research on the i-escape.com site dug up this quote explaining who so far has been staying:
So far it’s mostly young couples from Britain and continental Europe who’ve done a bit of internet research to find a friendly Anglophone riad in the heart of Fes and who’ve come up trumps.
That quote pretty much exactly describes what happened. I have an inbuilt distrust of mass market travel sites which seem to be the only option when booking hotels these days and spent quite a while searching for a nice place to say. I do have to admit that the English speaking hosts also influenced the decision, Keryn and I not being the best with foreign languages. Anyway, I hope our brief stay matches all the reviews.
