“KONICHIWA KONICHIWA!” Our virgin hours in Marrakesh consisted of being shouted at in Japanese (which I don’t speak), dragging our luggage around in circles in the medina because we were lost and being completely awed by the very lovely hotel we had decided to stay in. Good choice.
Owned by Nelly, who is French, Riad Vanilla Sma is beautifully designed, clean, contemporary and unbelievably comfortable. Dude, there’s even a hot tub on the roof. Nelly has amazing attention to detail. There are only 6 rooms in the hotel, so book early!
The rooms
We stayed in Suite Sma (I’m inclined to believe that sma means sky in french). I didn’t take photos because some things are meant to be enjoyed at the present moment. Ok this is bullshit. I just forgot to take photos. Here’s my screenshot from their website.
The room made me feel like I had just died and gone to heaven. *faints* It looks even more beautiful in real life. My favourite thing was actually the smell. I don’t know what it is but something about it just makes me feel so relaxed!
The room was clean and spacious, I really had no complaints.
The common areas
As if the amazing room wasn’t good enough, the common areas were even more beautifully decorated.
The view of the pool in the lobby.
Why does morocco have such beautiful lamps?
The lounge/dining room is perfect for a romantic evening or a good book.
Breakfast was delicious as well.
Service
The one thing that stood out the most was the service!!! Nelly (not pictured) and Reda, who is the manager and Nelly’s right hand were the warmest and nicest people ever. On a particularly slow night when all the guest had gone out for the evening, the four of us snuck out for dinner. They showed us around and brought us to their favourite restaurant and we just hung out!
I had also told Reda about my slight (read: intense) obsession with tagine cooked foods and my distaste for the bargaining in the souks. If you have seen me bargain before, you would know that I’m terrible at that.
“How much?”
“Thirty-five dollars”
“THAT’S TOO MUCH THAT’S TOO MUCH”
Basically, I just start yelling and freaking out. I also have no idea what is the base price so sometimes I cut too low like 90% kind of low and piss off the shopkeepers. So, no. I do not like bargaining.
But back to the story, Reda was so nice that he offered to buy the Tagine on my behalf so that it would be “local price” and I wouldn’t need to bargain. I had never been happier in my life.
What I didn’t know was that he had bought it for me as a gift and had refused to take my money for it (!!!)
Reda and Nelly really made me feel at home in Marrakesh for the 4 nights I was there. No I’m not saying this because Reda bought me a tagine. I really felt that this was one of the best hotels I have stayed in in my life. Even better than the 5-star Riad Fes by Relais and Chateau.
Riad Vanilla Sma is only about 400m away from the main square and was as easy enough to find as anything in the medina (not very easy, given the nature of the labyrinth). For this reason, I would advise you to book their airport transfer service. Stupidly, I didn’t book this service because I thought I would save the 15 euros. Not only did I end up paying 20 euros for the cab ride, we were horribly lost and harassed in the medina.
The rooms are reasonably priced at 110 euros, the rooms are immaculate and the service is perfect.
BOOK NOW: http://www.riadvanillasma.com/
