Morocco Beach Hotels

Morocco Beach Hotels

The Morocco beach hotels are excellent places for travelers to base themselves when a break from the mountains, the desert, and the country's city streets is in order. Moroccan oceanfront lodging is varied, and travelers can choose between a hotel or a vacation rental. A beachfront villa is understandably attractive, as is a beachfront apartment. For some, staying at one of the beach hotels in Morocco is the way to go, and booking a room is usually easier than trying to secure a vacation rental.

Morocco is blessed with a long coastline, and on the country's northern side, the beaches sit on the Mediterranean Sea. The west coast of Morocco offers Atlantic Ocean beaches, many of which are simply ideal for surfing and windsurfing. For travelers who are coming from Europe, the Morocco beach hotels that can be found on the Mediterranean side will be more convenient. Tangier boasts some pretty good beaches, and some of the city's best hotels can be found within close proximity of the water. The Hotel Rif has long been one of the most popular beach hotels in Morocco, at least for those who can afford the relatively high rates. Recently renovated, the Hotel Rif has regained some of its past glory, and the rooms offer a number of modern conveniences.

While there are some chic seaside hotels in Tangier, many travelers who are looking to relax on the beach in the northern part of the country head to Tamuda Bay. This resort destination is very family-friendly, and it boasts some good beach hotels. For those who are interested in a resort hotel, the Sofitel Thalassa Resort is worth keeping in mind. In addition to an excellent location, the Sofitel Thalassa also boasts some very comfortable rooms and a range of facilities for guests to enjoy when they're not engaging in watersports activities or soaking up some sun.

Another beach destination of choice on the northern coast is the town of Saidia. The Morocco beach hotels in destinations like these range from upscale establishments to the more affordable mid-price and discount hotels. As a side note, there is a campground in Saidia that is just a block from the sea for those who really want to save on lodging near the sand.

While the northerly beaches of Morocco attract their fair share of visitors, some travelers prefer heading further south. This can be an especially good idea during the spring and fall shoulder seasons, as the weather will be more conducive to beach time than it will further north. Agadir is home to some of the most popular beach hotels in Morocco, and these include the Riu Tikida Beach (pictured). Considered by some to be the best of the beachfront Agadir hotels, the Riu Tikida offers direct access to the sand, and its lush gardens are a joy to wander. An excellent spa can be found at this relatively upscale hotel, and the nightclub is arguably the city's best. The Agadir hotels can fill up fast during the summer season, and rooms also tend to go quickly around Christmas and Easter.

The beach hotels in Morocco are many, and most of these hotels offer a good amount of amenities. Since Moroccan oceanfront lodging is relatively expensive, travelers can look to save by staying further inland. In Agadir, for example, the Hotel La Petite Suede is cheaper than the Riu Tikida or the Sofitel Resort. The walk to the beach from this affordable gem only takes about five minutes. In other words, you will pay elevated rates when it comes to Moroccan oceanfront lodging, in which case those who wish to save on accommodations can opt for an inland base.


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Beaches in Morocco, Africa

Beaches in Morocco, Africa
 

The coastline in Morocco has miles and miles of top quality beaches and most of them are a lot cleaner than you would expect. There are 120 beaches from Saidia to Tangiers (Mediterranean zone), 238 from Tangiers to Essaouira (north Atlantic) and 54 from Agadir to Dakhla (south Atlantic).

A recent government study (2005) found that 90 per cent of Moroccan beaches are safe for swimming and only 10 per cent should be avoided due to high pollution rates.

The water quality has improved quite considerably from 2004. Two places to be avoided are Rabat and Sale. Swimming here might actually cause disease.



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Our Morocco tours

Our Morocco tours will take you into the heart of the country. Travel Morocco with Journey Beyond Travel to enjoy the trip of a lifetime. We set the standard of excellence with expert guides and top-notch service. Don’t be tied down by a group. We’ll customize any of our Morocco holidays just for you. Review our itineraries to see the types of tours we do. Check out our various activities and trekking routes. And, gain exclusive insight in our Morocco blog.

And, contact us to explore the magic of Morocco’s Imperial Cities, the rolling dunes of the Sahara Desert, or the peaks of the High Atlas Mountains. Our experts will help you tailor the perfect tour.

Journey Beyond Travel is made up of expert local and foreign staff who know Morocco best. We have years of experience and hundreds of rave reviews. We pride ourselves in being a local, sustainable, and responsible tour operator. We'd like to invite you to travel Morocco for an experience you’ll always treasure!




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Visit the Berber Museum at Majorelle Garden

Visit the Berber Museum at Majorelle Garden

 

Located in the heart of Marrakech, the Majorelle Garden is an oasis in a busy city, and one of its most popular attractions. In addition to enjoying the beauty and tranquility of nature, visitors can learn some fascinating facts about the Berbers of Morocco when visiting the Majorelle Garden at the museum which displays the personal collection of Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé, who until recently were the patrons of the garden created by French artist Jaques Majorelle (1886-1962).

Pierre Bergé was long fascinated by the rich culture and art of the Berber people and identified with their need to have their culture, including their language, acknowledged and preserved. The new Moroccan Constitution which was adopted in July 2011, officially recognized and formalized the Amazigh language of the Berber people, reconfirming the thoughts of His Majesty King Mohammed VI in a speech in Mar 2011 where he state that the plurality of the Moroccan identity is united and enriched by its diversity, which includes the Amazigh, the common heritage of all Moroccans.

Imazighen, or Berbers, form the foundation of indigenous North African people, with their origin believed to stretch back more than 9,000 years. They are unified by their language and culture which they have maintained over the centuries, despite some tumultuous times. The culture has a sense of community, a strong bond to the earth and a deep relationship with the sacred. The recognition afforded it by the new Constitution of Morocco will help ensure the Berber culture is preserved into the future.

Jacques Majorelle beautifully captured the emotions, colors and spirit of the Berber culture in his artworks, many of which are displayed at the Berber Museum. Other items on display include traditional handcrafted items in leather, pottery, basketry and woodworking. Decorative geometric patterns are very evident in household and decorative items, as well as those used in rituals. Ornaments and jewelry on display include intricately crafted headdresses, brooches, necklaces and earrings. Materials and techniques used in creating jewelry are varied, with filigree, engraving, carving, enamel-work and molding producing unique items. Depending on the region and local availability, jewelry incorporates silver, coral, amber and amazonite.

A section of the museum is devoted to displaying traditional clothing worn at various festive occasions such as weddings and moussems. While certain aspects are uniform, and therefore readily identified with the Berber culture, there is room for great diversity, with jewelry and accessories reflecting personal tastes. Certainly, a visit to the Berber Museum at the Majorelle Garden will provide much insight into this fascinating and ancient culture.




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THE MARRAKECH BIENNALE

THE MARRAKECH BIENNALE

The city of Marrakech is normally associated with bartering for sparkly slippers and ceramics in the world famous souk; clamouring across the road, life and Moroccan rug in-hand, dodging death-wish scooters and supping mint tea whilst reclining, a la Talitha Getty, on a leather pouffe.

But these clichés, as I discovered on my trip hosted by Angsana Riad Collection, although true, aren’t, as they say, the half of it.

Marrakech is a city of stark contrasts and contradictions, as in-your-face as the insistent male street sellers, and as striking and ambitious as the fastidiously neat little girls on their way to school.

And the fourth Marrakech Biennale is the perfect embodiment of all these elements. Last Wednesday, at the Riad El Fenn, Vanessa Branson ( Richard’s sister) launched the event to a packed crowd of press and artists.  Running on ‘ Moroccan Time’ ( ie late )  she passionately explained why she started the festival, which has attracted the likes of Zadie Smith and Kim Cattrall.

“There was a terrible miscommunication about the Islamic world, and I wanted to do something about it,” she said. “ I had always had a wonderful experience, what they were saying wasn’t my experience. I wanted to create a platform for Morroccan artists and artisans, not just introducing Western art to Morocco.”

So Vanessa and her small team of curators put together a biennale, crossing over and blending many disciplines – visual art, literature, film and architecture. The biennale, consisting of talks, debates and film ran for five days whilst the main exhibition, Higher Atlas, with its main site at the city’s Theatre Royal is on until June.  It’s generated quite a buzz, with its young curators  Nadim Samman and Carson Chan bringing together a host of young contemporary artists, and much of the work specially commissioned and site specific. Rather like the city of Marrakech itself, it’s a mash-up of genres, of old and new, traditional and modern.

It was the first major trilingual ( Arabic, French and English ) contemporary arts festival in North Africa, and the interest it generated is testament to our increasing appetite for a new aesthetic, and our interest in discovering the truth behind different cultures.

Branson, Samman and Chan were at pains to explain how accessible the exhibition is to local Moroccans,  how they’ve engaged with local artisans and students and, crucially, how the biennale integrates with the physical, the bricks and mortar, of the city itself. That said, it seemed that the only Moroccans at the biennale were the rich, liberal elite.

To be fair, advertising inside the Medina is prohibited,  and cultural funding and structures aren’t in place ( there aren’t any art schools in Marrakech -  those with an artistic bent are steered towards graphic design because, with 48% unemployment to tackle, that’ll give them paying job at the end of their studies.)

However, the sentiment, will and ambition of this event will hopefully engage with a wider local audience and help promote North African artists and the city itself to the wider world.

“ It’s an art exhibition that you cannot photograph, “ said Chan, by way of explaining that the works should be  experienced, not read about in a brochure.

With over 30 artists participating in Higher Atlas, 90% of whom are Moroccan,  a spanking new Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels ( where one of the exhibitions, Geometry and Speculation was held ) a modern King, who gave the biennale his patronage, Branson’s ambition to promote Marrakech as a cultural hub looks set to be realised. I certainly came away with the feeling that, despite the backdrop of the Arab Spring, this is a city on the up.

Marrakech Biennale looks North 0

Marrakech Biennale looks North 0


Kicking off this week is the 4th Marrakech Biennale. The opening days will see performances, debates, talks and screenings as well as the opening of the main ‘Higher Atlas’ visual arts exhibition.


“Through partnerships with African and international voices,” the Biennale hopes to “promote the status of the artist and contemporary culture in North Africa and to dynamize the regional creative scene.” Looking at the list of artists participating in the Higher Atlas exhibition, one could get the impression the intended “dialogues that [will] produce new, consensual realities” will most likely reflect a North Atlantic triangular reality with a tiny Moroccan base, since most of the contributing artists are European or American. The Moroccan artists that were included are Younes Baba-Ali, Faouzi Laatiris and Hassan Darsi. South of Morocco, they seem to have only found one artist: Pascale Marthine Tayou. So much for the African voices.

Among the movies scheduled to show in the Biennale’s film section are the dubious ‘I Am Slave’ (from 2010; Basia promises to put up a review soon), Moroccan Narjiss Nejjar’s new film ‘L’Amante du Rif’ but also writer and director Hicham Lasri’s first feature, ‘The End’, set in a postapocalyptic 1999, on the eve of the death of King Hassan II:

In the literature section, we find writers Latifa Baqa, Omar Berrada, Zahia Rahmani, Abderrahim Elkhassar and litfest veterans Ben Okri and Rian Malan.


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Marrakech Biennale

Marrakech Biennale


The Marrakech Biennale - formerly Arts in Marrakech (AiM) Biennale - is a Moroccan festival of contemporary international culture. In February 2012 the Marrakech Biennale will launch its fourth edition, Surrender, featuring key figures in literature, film and visual arts. Public screenings, talks, performances and debates will take place at diverse venues and locations around the city 29th February-4th March 2012.



Photo © ALAOUI moulay abdallah
In 2004 with the rise of global tensions, Vanessa Branson envisioned a cultural festival that would address social issues through the arts, using them as a vehicle for debate and discussion and to build bridges between diverse ideologies. The Marrakech Biennale would become a celebration of creativity in a city that has been the focus of artistic exploration for centuries but until now with limited emphasis on contemporary art.

First held in 2005, the Marrakech Biennale is the first major trilingual (English, Arabic & French) festival in North Africa focusing on cutting-edge contemporary art, literature and film. By bringing together artists, film makers and writers from around the world the Biennale aims to promote the status of the artist and contemporary culture in North Africa and to dynamize the regional creative scene. Held every two years, the Marrakech Biennale promotes inter-cultural and inter-disciplinary exchanges through an educational approach that addresses art professionals, students and the general public.

The Biennale has grown to become an internationally recognised event with a thriving visual art, film and literature programme. Past participants at the Marrakech Biennale have included Francis Alys, Yto Barrada, John Boorman, Richard E. Grant, Edmond El Maleh, Tracy Emin, Pieter Hugo, Isaac Julien, Abdellah Karroum, Joseph Kosuth, Julian Schnabel, Sadie Smith and Abdellah Taia.



The Marrakech Biennale is pleased to announce the participation of Roger Hiorns, Rian Malan, Mira Nair, Kevin Macdonald, Hicham Lasri, Geoff Dyer, Anthony Horowitz, Faouzi Bensaidi, Dominic West and CocoRosie amongst others.

In this, its fourth and largest edition, the Marrakech Biennale is in partnership with; Dar al-Ma’mûn residency, Institut Français, Palais de Tokyo, British Council, Puma, Helisud Maroc, Calvert 22 Gallery, Tate, ESAV Film School, On Spot Story, Travel Link Morocco and the Goethe Institute.

Visual arts: As part of the Biennale, Higher Atlas, a major exhibition curated by Carson Chan and Nadim Samman, will take place at the Theatre Royal in Marrakech (29th February-3rd June 2012). High connotes reverie and transcendence. Higher Atlas suggests a cartography of the beyond. All works will be new site-specific commissions, conceived and created on location with local craftspeople and manufacturers. Over twenty-five international artists, architects, writers, musicians and composers will be showing their work, including Karthik Pandian, Aleksandra Domanovic, Jon Nash, Juergen Mayer H and Turner Prize nominated Roger Hiorns. The exhibition seeks to engage in an expansive dialogue with the city.

Co-curator Carson Chan notes: “While trying to curate an exhibition that could become part of a contemporary Moroccan cultural identity, we can also challenge the received methods of biennale making that is routinely practiced elsewhere. Do we have to show art? Why not commission a novel, a symphony, an album or a prayer? “

Film: Alan Yentob, creative director of the BBC, leads the advisory board curating the film programme with discussions, screenings and debates held in Riad El Fenn and the ESAV film school. Confirmed participants include Anthony Horowitz, Dominic West, Lubna Azabal, Faouzi Bensaidi, Kevin Macdonald, Michael Souvignier and Hicham Lasri.

Literature: Omar Berrada, Benedicte Clarkson and Elizabeth Sheinkman organise the literature events which include Rian Malan and Geoff Dyer and take place at the 17th century townhouse, Riad El Fenn. Readings, performances and interventions will also be taking place around the city.


Debate: A series of conversations on art and identity, presented by Dar al-Ma'mûn and featuring curators, editors and critics from the international art world, including Aziz Daki (Atelier 21), Simon Njami (Revue Noire), Khadija El Bennaoui (Art Moves Africa) and Negar Azimi (Bidoun). http://dam-arts.org

Education: In order to promote access to contemporary culture for all ages, the 4th Marrakech Biennale will conduct workshops for children lead by local and international cultural practitioners, in partnership with Zidzid Kids. An internship programme pairing artists with students from the l'Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech (UCAM) has also been established.

Official Parallel Projects: Official Parallel Projects are selected as an integral section of the Biennale, and autonomously organized by the promoting institutes/individuals. We aim to fuel creative production in Marrakech during the Biennale dates with many international and local organisations involved, including Biennale Off, Atla(s) Now and Studio R22.

General: These three months aim to highlight Morocco as a dynamic hub for current ideas and to establish its continued intellectual involvement on an international stage. The biennale’s role, both locally and internationally, has evolved along with the climate of the times. In light of recent events in North Africa, its goals could not be more pertinent. In addition to sponsoring significant and lasting social, economic and cultural benefits for the area and its inhabitants, the Biennale aims to show the outside world that Morocco is an open society that encourages freedom of expression and debate.


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