Riad Soleil d'Orient

A house turned towards its patio

Riad Soleil d'Orient is at 131 Derb el Hajjar, in El Jadida's medina, about a five-minute walk from the Portuguese Cistern and about twenty from the beach. Like every riad, it turns its back on the street: life happens inside, around a patio laid out as four gardens, shaded by a fig tree and an orange tree.

The house has only seven rooms and suites, each decorated around a theme and a colour, with furniture made by Moroccan craftsmen. You move from room to room: the Oriental lounge on the first floor, the dining room, the Berber lounge with its fireplace, the library, and the roof terrace, with a solarium, zellige tables (glazed terracotta mosaic) and a Moroccan lounge under a pergola.

The riad is classified by the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism and has held the Green Key label (an international environmental label for tourist accommodation) since 2014; hot water is solar-heated.

Home cooking

Lamia, the cook, prepares authentic and inventive Moroccan food with fresh produce. Dinner is ordered in the morning for the evening, at 290 dirhams (DH) per person, drinks not included, and served in the patio, the dining room or on the roof. A few dishes from the menu: tuna terrine, lamb tagine with prunes and roasted almonds, John Dory tagine with saffron, briouats (small stuffed pastries), farm chicken tagine with olives and preserved lemon, homemade ice cream.

Breakfast is made by Fatima: Moroccan pastries, cakes, viennoiseries, homemade jams, fresh fruit juice, honey from nearby farms, organic scrambled eggs and yoghurt, all homemade.

Our advice: dinner is ordered in the morning; for your first evening, ask for it when you call the riad to be guided to the door.

Which room to choose

Each room has its own décor, from the red and ivory tadelakt (a smooth lime plaster) of Purple Night to the wattle-and-daub walls of the Savanna Night suites, inspired by African huts. For a couple, Purple Night opens onto the patio gardens and has a four-poster bed; for a longer stay, take a suite with a separate lounge, such as Berber Night with its home cinema. For a family with one child, only the Savanna Night and Safran Night suites take an extra bed.

El Jadida for golfers

The riad offers six-day golf packages for groups of four or more: seven nights with breakfast and dinner, six green fees with a bucket of balls, transfers to the courses and a packed lunch each day.

Sabaro's view

Who it suits: couples and travellers who want to sleep inside the Portuguese city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and explore it on foot.

Strengths: just seven rooms, each with its own decor; Lamia's home cooking; the roof terrace; the Green Key label; a Tripadvisor score of 4.8/5 from nearly 600 reviews.

Good to know: this is a guesthouse, with no pool; cars stay in the attended car park, three minutes' walk away; the morning call to prayer can be heard from the rooms; the tourist tax, €2.50 per person per day, is extra.