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t I r GREEI( ISLANDS Blockbuster beaches
All-si채l
l/IETNAI,| Hanoiand Saigon, headliners again
MOROCCO The kingdom in
prime time
NEW YORI( Hoopla on the Hudson
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have facials, massages, and various Moroccan treatments (44 - 44 -09 -26; tiadenlja@
cybernet.net.ma; The cheery salmon-pink Riad Noga has Internet access in each room and a solarheated lap pool. Two chefs concoct delicious couscous and take requests for other
6-70; riad noga@iam.net.ma; doubles, S132 $192). French architect Christian Ferrö restored the Riad Kaiss, a red-and-white l9th-century house in an alley near the Dar Si Said
.net.ma; doubles, $260-$342). Just the southern gate, the new Sofitel Mog: has a large pool, a gym, and a thala.. apy center. Rooms are conventional. you've been staying in riads, yolumt; . conveniences such as room service,90-00; www.sofitel.com; doubles, S I
international cuisines (44-37
and miniseasons that any time of 1,ear brings something green. April has vistas of wildflowers.
Temperatures remain warm :rLtrurh lor sunbathing and swimming into r].-t..rber in Marrakech. By mid-January, the ::edinas and desert landscapes are delight:'u111 empty, but ask your concierge to check
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Museum of Moroccan Arts. The eight rooms are smallby riadstandards, but some have private terraces and the scale is comfortably human. Tall plants and linen-cov-
ered chaise iongues 1111 one of the more beautiful riad courtyards (phone and fax, 44-44-01 -41 : doubles, $ 1 2G$ I 67). La Mamounia has recently replaced many
hether roads are clear of snow before driv-
of its Moorish details with faux-Art Deco
into the Atlas Mountains. To get around, I used planes, trains, rented cars, and private long-distance taxis. A driver costs $50 a day on top of the car hire, rnclusive of his food and lodging (which he f,rranges). , Tlrc country codefor Morocco ß 2 12. )
fixtures. The best rooms still overlook the pool and I 7-acre garden (44-44-89-8 1 ; www .mamounia.com; doubles, $169-$a06; &). Twenty minutes from town on the road to Otarzazate, the Amanjena has colonnaded arcades and vast reflecting pools- {eliberate references to mosque architecture that leel kin§ meshed with Aman's cult of hedonism. But maybe that's the point at this bubble of seven vil1as, 34 domed pavilions, a
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MARR,AITECH The government crackdown on touts has made solo medina wandering possiblg but rou'll save time and headaches by hiring a guide for initial forays. Yow riad host or hLriel concierge can book a certilied guide rtor about $15 per half day). Guides earn i\tra money lrom commissions on your .hopping, helping you with bargaining that ,-an involve written negotiation. If you don't i,. .lnt to shop, make that clear from the start. The trick with rlad stays is not to get lost. E''3n taxi drivers änd the winding alleys .-rntusing. so ask your riadhostfor airport ::;kup as well as an escort when dining -' :r -ri hich you may not want to do, since -::r>l rrildshave excellent kitchens. The Riad El Cadi has 12 rooms offadjoinprtios and a courtyard with a tiny poo1. T:.: Chechaouan Suite is named after its ::._i
- :::-centurl painted-cedar ceiling; the )..rinla Suite has a separate loggia(44-37-
.:--<i. ia\ -8+78: doubies, $75-$100). A silk
-.::i.ant
and
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members of his family once
i: ::r lhe Riad Eniia, which now has just : ::: :-it§- Eclectic and traditional Moroc-.- ^.::.c '*irh arant-garde European de' -=, ,: ::. "summer house.'' set among ba-:r: ir:i: ::d date palms. and the "winter - --- .i:--J: h.is Fez-st11e cut-tile mosaic .
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high-tech hammam, and an excellent restaurant, with its privileged, privacy-seeking crowd (44-40-33-53; amanresorts.com;
doubles,$700 $800). You need reservations for Yacout, the medina restaurant where Bill Willis's interpretation ol Moroccan design is the main point of interest (44-38-29-29l. prix fixe, $54). Iobsil, another see-and-be-seen p1ace, puts a nouvelle spin on royai Moroccan cuislne (.44-44-40-52; prix fixe, $46, including wine). Expats rave about the cooking at Dar Marjana, in a medina house (44-38-51-10; prix fixe, $50, including wine), while young Marrakechis flock to the Parisian worid-fusion scene at Le Comptoir, in the modern
§t-rod-beamed ceilings.
.
from town (44-47 -59-34; mimosas. .
.
Frederic Damgaard, of the Damga: Gallery, shows self-trained local artis:, as Mohamed Tabal, a Gnaoua trance. cian who's had shows across Europ:. Mohammed VI is a client (44-78-l-The king is also a patron of 40-ye.,.Abdelrahim Harabida, whose smal. lery, the Bab S'baa, is in a stairwell .: 18th-century Bab S'baa gate (44-78-11
-'
TANGIER The Kasbah, medina, and Art Deco c, ter around the Avenue Mohammed \' ..the center of mythic Tangier, anc Mooresque Hotel Minzah is the best ba..
exploring. Ask for guide Moham::' Bouzian at the front desk (39-93-58-85. -45-46: doubles, $110-S140). On the ti: Cap Spartel, between the sea and a p. forested mountain, Le Mirage is a ,g:, choice for summer, with 25 whitewas:. villas and a landscaped garden overlook: a vast white sand beach (39-33-ll-31. -34-92; doubles, $1 16-$503). Le Marquis, near the medina, has gc seafood, especially the sautöed shrimp u garlic, and a devoted clientele of octo: narian former fashion modeis (39-9432; entr6es, $10).
suburb of Le Hiverna ge (44-43-77 -02; prix flxe, $24-$30). But my favorite tagine was an hour out in the High Atlas, on the terrace at the Kasbah Toubkal, which has a 360-degree view of Berber mountain villages. It also has simple guest rooms, if you want to
European interior decorators sourMoroccan material at the Boutique Majid the medina. Owner-collector Abdel Irl. jid-who is on a first-name basis with Yr, (Saint Laurent) and John (Malkovich, u hung out here while lilmtngThe Shelteri,' Sky)-keeps museum-quality Fassi we. ding curtains and other embroidered te:, tiles packed in painted cedar trunks (39-9: 88-92). The Delacroix Art Gallery, acro,
attempt a dawn assault on 13,665-loot
from the Hotel Minzah, showcases your:
Mount Toubkal, Morocco's highest summit (44-48-56- I 1 ; kasbahdutoubkal.com; doubles, $30 $50; day-trip from Mar-
Moroccans (39 -93-21 -34).
rakech, $85, includinglunch and hiking).
The riads arebigger here than in Marrakec: (with tiled courtyards rather than plante. gardens), and the decor looks back to th, 19th century. At the Dar El Ghalia, ten room and five suites surround a soaring double
ESSAOUIItA
roofs. hand-carved
nini-spas. ri'here you can
art and Berber artifacts (44-7S-l www.riadgyvo.com; doubles, S50: :. saouira has few taxis, so you'll need ., stay at Dar Mimosas, a collection oi a garden in the mimosa forest fir;
doubles, $275-$3 15;
Lrrocco has so many microclimates
seumlike space filled with conter:'.
A former
storage depot for almonds, the
Riad Gyvo has been transformed into a mu-
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