Riad du Rabbin

The Riad du Rabbin hides behind an old Mellah door, at number 105 rue Souika, under an arch that carries its name in full. Past the threshold, a patio with white columns and polychrome zellige, with in the middle a basin edged with benches and, at the back, a wall fountain of blue mosaic. Eight rooms only, over two levels, with names that ring Arabic and European, Khalid, Yunes, Noah, rather than the numbering of a hotel. And on the roof, a pergola terrace that overlooks the tiles and satellite dishes of the medina, the Atlas as a backdrop at sundown.

That leaves the name, which is also the house’s tale. The riad presents itself as the former home of the rabbi of Marrakech, in the Mellah, behind the Bahia, a few lanes from the Slat al-Azama synagogue and its old Jewish life. It is a fine story, and you have to take it for what it is: a claim by the establishment, which we have seen corroborated by no independent source. Nothing in the decor really backs it up, for that matter: the rooms carry no particular Jewish memory, the decor is that of a well-made Moroccan riad. The name places the address nicely in the quarter’s history. It does not necessarily tell its own.

What the house offers, in return, is concrete. A real traditional hammam, on booking, with black soap scrub, rhassoul wrap and argan oil massage. A table d’hôtes in the evening, three courses served on the terrace under the stars, with a menu that changes daily. And the Moroccan breakfast included in the rate, orange juice pressed in the morning. All family-run, which weighs more than it seems in an eight-room house.

The score has to be qualified, in return. The riad is well rated on Booking, but on a limited review count, and TripAdvisor places it clearly lower, in the middle of the pack of the city’s guesthouses. A notch below the surest values of the quarter, then, worth knowing before comparing two neighbouring addresses. Then the noise: several travellers report thin partitions and rooms that hear the morning, common in restored riads where old walls do not insulate new partitions. And a note on the pool: the platforms show one, but no photo backs it up and the patio basin is decorative. Do not expect anything to swim in.

That leaves what you come here for. To sleep in the Mellah, ten minutes from the square, in a small family house with hammam and table on the roof, at a contained price, the Riad du Rabbin does the job very well. For the rabbi’s story, in return, you leave with a fine name and nothing that proves it: a decent quarter address, not a piece of the Jewish heritage of Marrakech.