[Dec. 2025] In Casablanca, Morocco, we stayed in a regular hotel for the first time on this trip.
Up until then (and going forward), we had always stayed in riads.
The hotel was the Melliber Appart Hotel, located very close to the Hassan II Mosque, the city’s main tourist attraction.
As I mentioned before, the travel agent selected and arranged all the accommodations for this trip.
We had checked the hotel’s reputation online, though.
This hotel is quite old, but our assigned room, 702, was very spacious.
It even had a small kitchenette and a dining table.
And there was a large floor space, enough for my husband to practice his Tai Chi for a bit.
However, it seemed to be on the outskirts of the city, with nothing around.
Our driver, Youssuf, suggested a walk along the beach, but although the rain had stopped, the wind was still strong, so we decided to have a rest day and ate at the hotel.
But this was a mistake.
I had beef tagine, and my husband had fried chicken with cheese, but my tagine, in particular, seemed like it had been pre-made and simply reheated.
And, although I had somewhat hoped they would have wine in such a city, there was still no wine.
The next morning, when we went down for breakfast, it was extremely crowded.
It was such a chaotic breakfast that I don’t even remember what I ate.
And then something even worse happened.
Finally, when we went down to check out, the elevator we were in suddenly stopped and shook violently.
For a moment, I held my breath, thinking we were going to fall, but then it started moving again as if nothing had happened, and we safely made it down to our floor.
Regarding hotel elevators, we had a terrible experience in Venice, Italy, a long time ago, and I also remember encountering a minor malfunction in a hotel in Milan.
My husband was even more unlucky; he was once trapped for a long time in an office building in London.
I never want to experience something like that again.
We complained at the hotel reception and also told Youssuf, but I’m not sure if it had any effect.
I felt like they just brushed it off with a “these things happen” attitude.
In Casablanca, we also stopped in front of Rick’s Cafe for about a minute to take pictures.
Rick’s Cafe is famous for being the setting of the classic film “Casablanca.”
However, that was fiction, filmed in Hollywood.
This restaurant in Casablanca, however, is said to be a real restaurant built in 2004 by an American woman, faithfully recreating the image from the film.
Its popularity hasn’t waned, and I’ve heard that it’s quite difficult to get a reservation to eat there.
