The Marrakech Holiday Guide: for services, attractions, eating out, accommodation & shopping.

When walking through the old Medina of Marrakech today, imagine your surprise, if you came face-to-face with a Hippy. A genuine throwback, from that past era, when Hippies and Marrakech were synonymous. Given the opportunity to enjoy a brief encounter you would smile, inwardly, at the regular use of the term “my friend” and when you spoke of when and where, you would start to believe you were there with him, during those times. A generation of people who sold their worldly possessions and sought a bohemian paradise. With a chuckle, you shake his hand and make your way, through the winding souks and back to your accommodation, you can’t help but wonder “just how many ... have walked these same steps” and consider in disbelief that some, from then, are still to be found today.

Born in 1959, the daughter of a German Architect, Beate Prinz was 18 years old in 1977 a teenager of the Hippy era.. One of the "Beautiful People". At the age of six Beate told her father that she was going to marry a Frenchman and live in France. A comment, only capable, from a post-war German child, living in a new age. From age 20 to 40 Beate realised her childhood dream and moved to Provence running a Bio-dynamic Auberge, a guesthouse, a restaurant and bringing up a family. Her childhood destination dream had become a reality and a bohemian lifestyle carved out. The “St. Tropez set”, movers of the day, were her most regular visitors and two decades of bliss proved to be the happiest days of her life.

Ten years ago, failing to understand the ending of the Paul Bowles 1949 novel “The Sheltering Sky”, a chance encounter, during a flight to Morocco, culminated in an invitation to “take tea” at the house of a Gentleman living in Marrakech. As Beate arrived , at 9.00am, in the tiny Derb where the house was located she happened across a "monument" of a property. By 5.00pm Beate was key holder and owner of Riad Zina.

300 + years of history, old doors, huge crumbling walls, fabulous hand painted high ceilings and a serene central courtyard was awaiting renovation. On the doorstep of the souks and trapped in timeless wonder in the ancient Medina quarter of Riad Larousse, Riad Zina maintains all the charm that Beate fell in love with a decade ago.

Architecture and Design are in the family blood. Like Beate’s father….. Beate’s brother is also an Architect and Beate herself designs uber-chic clutch bags for boutique outlets across the globe. It is therefore, not surprising to find a “sense of place” for just about every article and object d’art…… not scattered; but objectively placed  throughout Riad Zina. A breathtaking collection, of 1970’s over-engineered industrial age, furnishings give serious contemporary clout to the calm recesses of Riad Zina. A constant reminder of the prevalence of Marrakech’s place in the flower power era. Retro is in fashion and Riad Zina has come full circle but unlike most….. it’s the real deal.

Impeccable English speaking, assisted by a wonderful cook in a fantastic location. From 50 Euros per/person/night. First come gets the opportunity to bag the Pasha’s room! It has been an absolute privilege to finally meet at teenager of the 1970’s who is still living the dream. A lifetime of collections, memories and an enviable music catalogue to enjoy whilst visiting. A retrospective.

Happy 50th Birthday Beate. Happy 10th anniversary Riad Zina. Who said the Hippies “had died alone, a long, long time ago” ? Long may you continue. (The Man Who Sold the World ………. Music/Lyrics David Bowie 1970)

The Sheltering Sky (extract)

“He did not think of himself as a tourist; he was a traveller. The difference is partly one of time, he would explain. Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months; the traveller, belonging to no more to one place than the next, moves slowly, over a period of years, from one part of the earth to another… another important difference between tourist and traveller is that the former accepts his own civilisation without question; not so the traveller, who compares it with others, and rejects those elements he finds not to his liking”….
(Paul Bowles 1949)