Riad Miss Caracal

You have to take the Riad Miss Caracal for what it is: an address where the room counts less than the roof. The terrace is the real living space, and it is generous: daybeds, low benches, straw parasols, cacti and potted olive trees, and a hot tub from which you watch the Kasbah rooftops. That is where you take breakfast, close the days, read in the shade. The hot tub, to be precise, is an inflatable model set in a wooden housing, not a masonry spa. It bubbles for real, but better know it so you do not expect something else.

The second asset is human. The house is run by Miriam and Youssef, two hosts present day and night, and they are the ones travellers cite first, for their tips and their availability. That earns the address one of the highest welcome scores of the quarter, on a meaningful review count, which is more reliable than a flattering score on a handful of comments. You feel a small hand-run house, not a structure.

That leaves the flip side, worth saying clearly. There is no pool, only the roof tub. And most of all, the rooms are plain and small, some without an outside window, with limited soundproofing: you hear the house, the other guests, the court. Not a hidden flaw, but the very model of the address, which puts everything on the roof, the welcome and the price, and nothing on room comfort. On this point, the house is the exact opposite of a boutique hotel.

You come to the Riad Miss Caracal for the roof, the welcome and the price, provided you know it: this is then a very good pick at under forty pounds. Anyone who needs a spacious, bright and quiet room, or a real pool, will be disappointed - here, the room only serves for sleeping, life takes place on the roof.