Riad Elizabeth, a touch of class - Simon Hawkesley. Date of travel: Jun 2009
When it comes to understanding style, spatial awareness and object placement, Riad Elizabeth is up there with the best. Franco-Italian 50’s decadence meets Abstract expressionism automatically transcends to a setting that Ingmar Bergman would be happy to cast Audrey Hepburn, and the likes of Irving Penn and Norman Parkinson would have enjoyed as a backdrop for Art of Travel 1950’s calendar girls.

Riad Elizabeth continued... - Simon Hawkesley. Date of travel: Jun 2009
The attention to detail is very evident throughout Riad Elizabeth. Even with day-to-day equipment, I found myself staring. Even the air-con, LG Art Cool, a reverse-cycle cassette that looks more like Bang & Olufsen. Bedside iPod docking station alarm clocks, wi-fi, Conti Italian coffee machine etc. all add to the chic experience. John and Elizabeth are not trying to simply attract the Coco Chanel and Mary Quants of this world, on the contrary, at starting room rate of €80 per night, the doors are more than open for all to enjoy. The walls that surround the Medina of Marrakech have openings (Bab, means door), access to Riad Elizabeth is via Bab Kechich (bab ke shish) or as John reminds his clients “it’s Shish Kebab, pronounced backwards”. Bab Kechich is a pleasant double arch entrance which looks vaguely like the McDonalds chain logo on Elizabeth’s hand drawn map which she arms with each client. There is a real community of Artisans busy at work in the vicinity, and souk bashing right up to the D’ Jemaa el Fna is the client's first doorstep challenge. John escorts those who want to gain a sense of bearing before braving it out alone. With Elizabeth one finds a muted overtone of control, steadfastness and composure, a reassuring trait for any individual to possess. This translates very well into the attainment of Riad Elizabeth’s staff and the consequent staff/guest relationship. Elizabeth chuckles 'when Riad Elizabeth was finally built and furnished we were struggling to find staff in the immediate vicinity who demonstrated the strong international language skills, which are vital, for our clients. One day there was a knock at the door and a pleasant young girl with fine demeanor introduced herself. “I am looking for work and I speak English”. Instantly and without hesitation I extended my hand, shaking the girls, and announced "You’re Hired!" Unbeknown to me, that was in fact the only sentence that she knew in English, but she is progressing well and I admire her tenacity'.