In short
A riad in Essaouira is an old medina house built around a courtyard, with a handful of rooms and a roof terrace. Choose it for where it sits in the medina and whether the courtyard is glassed over, and check that the room is heated if you are coming between December and February.
If you have stayed in a riad in Marrakech, put that picture aside: this is not the same house. Essaouira is a town of wind and sea mist, built on a rock facing the Atlantic, and its houses are designed to keep the weather out rather than to open up to it. The courtyards are smaller and usually glassed over, and the real living room is the roof.
The medina was also laid out on a grid in the 18th century, with two straight streets running through it. Which means you can find your way back to your riad. In Marrakech, you can't.
Here is how to choose one.
Riad, dar, guesthouse
Booking sites use the three words interchangeably. They don't mean the same thing.
- A riad, strictly, is a house around a planted garden courtyard. The word comes from riyad, garden.
- A dar is a courtyard house without the garden. Most of Essaouira's "riads" are really dars: there isn't the space, and little grows at the bottom of a narrow light well in this climate.
- A guesthouse is simply a house that rents rooms, courtyard or not.
What matters to you isn't the label but three things: where the house is, whether the courtyard is covered, and how many rooms it has.
What you gain, what you give up
| You gain | You give up |
|---|---|
| The location: everything on foot from the door | A pool, with rare exceptions |
| Breakfast on the roof among the gulls | A lift: you climb narrow stairs |
| A handful of rooms and hosts who know your name | Driving to the door, impossible in the medina |
| Far lower prices than the hotel equivalent | A 24-hour desk: many lock up for the night |
Six questions to ask before you book
This is where a good stay is decided, far more than in the photographs.
- Is the room heated? From December to February the temperature drops and thick walls hold the cold. A heater in the room changes everything. An extra blanket doesn't.
- Does the room face the courtyard or the street? A glassed-over courtyard carries every sound in the house, including the 8 a.m. breakfast. A street-facing room hears the town, the gulls and the dawn call to prayer.
- How many floors up is it? Riad staircases are steep and narrow. With a big suitcase, a bad knee or a baby, ask for a low room.
- Is anyone there at night? Many small houses have nobody after 10 p.m. If you arrive on the last bus, tell them, or you'll be ringing an empty bell.
- Is breakfast served on the terrace? It's the best hour of the day here. Ask how late it runs, too: the town gets up early and the wind arrives around midday.
- How do you get there with luggage? A good riad sends someone to meet you at the medina gate. Otherwise a porter with a handcart waits at Bab Marrakech or Bab Doukkala for a few tens of dirhams.
Which part of the medina
The medina is barely a kilometre across: a quarter of an hour on foot from end to end. The quarter still changes the feel of the room.
- The port and Skala side, against the sea walls: ocean views and the sound of the waves, but the full force of the wind and damp.
- Around Place Moulay Hassan and the kasbah: the most restored, most central part, two minutes from everything. This is where we send a first stay.
- The mellah, the old Jewish quarter to the north: quieter, cheaper, streets still under repair, and fine houses at small prices.
- Towards Bab Doukkala, to the east: the everyday medina, market and neighbourhood cafés, handy if you arrive by car or coach.
For the full picture of quarters, the seafront and the countryside, read our guide to where to stay in Essaouira.
The riads we'd suggest
We don't give scores or stars. These are houses we know, or hear good things about year after year. Check live prices and dates yourself.
Riad · Medina
Riad Al Madina
Mid-range
A large, historic riad in the middle of the medina, with a courtyard café.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Riad · Medina
Villa Maroc
Mid-range
A warren of terraces and small courtyards a minute from the port, just inside the walls.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Riad · Medina
Riad Mimouna
Mid-range
Built into the sea walls of the medina: you fall asleep to the Atlantic.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
We earn a small commission on some bookings. It never changes your price.
For an occasion, two addresses of another order, still inside the walls:
Hotel · Medina
L'Heure Bleue Palais
High-endPool
A grand restored mansion inside the medina walls, with a rooftop pool. The classic splurge.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Hotel · Medina
Madada Mogador
High-end
A small boutique hotel on the port side of the medina, with a terrace over the bay.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
We earn a small commission on some bookings. It never changes your price.
What about a riad with a pool?
It's the most common request and the hardest to meet inside the medina. The houses are tall, narrow and share their walls: there is simply no room for a pool except on a roof, and barely there. Where one exists it is small, in shade for part of the day and rarely heated — and an unheated plunge pool in January, in the Essaouira wind, is not a holiday pool.
If the pool matters to your trip, three options:
- A big seafront hotel, ten minutes' walk from the medina, with a pool and parking.
- A countryside hotel in the argan hills, where the pools are large and the wind drops.
- A pool day pass: several seafront and countryside hotels sell day access with a sunbed and lunch, without staying the night. It is almost never advertised online — ring reception that morning.
Hotel · Seafront
Hôtel Des Iles
Mid-range
A 1948 landmark at the gates of the old town, facing the sea and the port.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Hotel · Seafront
Le Médina Essaouira Thalassa Sea & Spa – MGallery
High-endPool
A big seafront hotel with a thalasso spa and pool, a short walk from the medina. Easy with children.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Hotel · Seafront
Atlas Essaouira Riad Resort
Mid-rangePool
A five-star beachfront resort with two pools and a spa, about ten minutes on foot from the medina.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
We earn a small commission on some bookings. It never changes your price.
And further out of town, for doing nothing at all:
Hotel · Countryside
Le Jardin des Douars
High-endPool
A garden hotel in the hills behind town, with pools and a spa. For doing nothing, not for the medina.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
Hotel · Countryside
Domaine de l'Arganeraie
Mid-rangePool
A countryside hotel among argan trees with a big pool, a short drive from town.
Check prices & datesBooking.com
We earn a small commission on some bookings. It never changes your price.
Prices, and when to book
Three levels, breakfast included almost everywhere:
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Small guesthouse | A simple, clean room, sometimes a bathroom on the landing, a family welcome. The best value in town |
| Mid-range riad | A restored room, a terrace, a proper breakfast, a few services. Where most of the choice sits |
| Large restored mansion | Suites, a spa or private hammam, a restaurant on site. Several times the price above |
The dates that change everything:
- The Gnaoua festival in June: prices can double or triple and the medina fills. Book months ahead.
- August, Easter and the end of the year: a few weeks is enough, except for houses with fewer than six rooms, which go early.
- November to February: this is when the deals are, as long as you check the heating.
Take a rate with free cancellation where you can. Here the wind often decides the programme, and sometimes the dates.
Common questions
What is a riad in Essaouira?
An old medina house, two or three floors around a central courtyard, run as a guesthouse with a few rooms. Here the courtyard is usually glassed over rather than planted, because the Atlantic wind and damp leave no other option.
Riad or hotel in Essaouira?
A riad for the location inside the medina, the quiet and breakfast on the roof. A hotel for a pool, parking, a lift and a 24-hour front desk, which in practice means the seafront or the countryside.
Are there riads with a pool in Essaouira?
Very few. The medina is too dense and the houses too narrow: a handful have a small plunge pool on the roof or in the courtyard, usually unheated. If the pool really matters, take a seafront or countryside hotel instead.
How much does a riad in Essaouira cost per night?
From a few hundred dirhams a night for a simple guesthouse to several thousand for the big restored mansions. Breakfast is almost always included, rates drop sharply from November to February, and they double or triple during the Gnaoua festival.
Are riads in Essaouira heated in winter?
Not all of them. Thick walls keep the cool in all year, which is perfect in August and cold in January. Ask before booking whether the room has heating, not just an extra blanket.
Can you drive up to your riad?
No, the medina is pedestrian. You park in a guarded car park outside the walls and a porter takes your bags to the riad door on a handcart, for a few tens of dirhams.
