| | Boulevard Mohammed, Agadir, 80000, Morocco
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Overall Community Rating: |   8.0 (based on 1 user reviews) |
 Argana Garden: Well worth the visit by john9159 |
| Posted 25 July 2005 about a visit in October 2004 | Overall rating: 8.0 |
My 7 day holiday was booked with Sunway Holidays in November 2004. The flight over the Atlas Mountains on the approach to Agadir was very exciting as they seemed to roll on for ever.
We landed at Agadir airport where a taxi was waiting as arranged by Sunway to transfer myself and two other passengers to our hotel. I tried to exchange my travellers cheques at the airport but they were not accepted, only cash of which I had very little. I was offered 100.00GBP by John, my fellow traveller, to change into Dirhams which was extremely kind of him. The rate of exchange is around 15 Dirhams to the British Pound or 10 to the Euro. The Dirham is a closed currency meaning it cannot be bought outside Morocco; if you are offered these be wary as they may be forgeries. Only buy them when you enter Morocco, hotels, banks, cash machines etc all offer the same exchange rate as set by the Government on a Friday.
We arrived at the 4 star Hotel Argana after a 20 minute drive, the hotel and the surrounding area looked very presentable and clean. The staff were very friendly and helpful at all times. My baggage was taken up by a pleasant porter who was happy to take what small change I had in tip, you can of course give 1GBP which I think is very generous. The room had TV, bathroom, double bed and balcony overlooking the pool area. The hotel has a large swimming pool, a small one for kids, lots of loungers, secluded garden area and staff who are always on hand to help.
Located about a mile from the hotel is the beach which takes 10 minutes to reach. On the beach you can take camel rides or go horse riding or just relax on the wide and very long beach.
Breakfast is served from 6am until 10am and consists of cake, cereal, pancakes and fried egg freshly made in front of you, coffee or tea by the jug full, croissant, pan du chocolade and lots more, the breakfast area is uncrowded. Lunch can be got in the snack bar where you can have Tagine - steamed veg with or without meat; pastilla - a parcel of light pastry filed with chicken, nuts, couscous and other unidentifiable ingredients, it's very tasty and also very filing.
Rooms are cleaned daily and staff will fall over themselves to get everything right.
Next to the hotel is the Argana Restaurant, very clean with very friendly head waiter. The restaurant is attached to the hotel but not accessible from within but is only a short walk from the outside of the hotel. Prices on the menu were unimportant as this was out of the peak season and so a lot cheaper; you will also get a 20% discount if a guest of the hotel.
In the surrounding area are various restaurants about 22 in total; the Asiatic Kim Hoa (run by Moroccans) serving awful imitation Chinese food with Irish patriotic music in the background ("Patrick was killed while fighting the British in the struggle for freedom" etc); McDonalds if you are desperate; Mauresque Lounge near the casino; La Scala etc.
Agadir is very much a new city built up after the devastating earthquake of 1960. Much of what you see has been built with touism in mind, there isn't much of "real Morocco" here but it is a safe, clean place where you can walk out at night and not feel threatened, ladies as well.
Sunway can arrange a trip of the city which takes about 3 hours and covers old Agadir built atop a hill with a steep climb and where lots of hawkers will be waiting for you, just politely say "no thank you". Also a visit into the Souk el Had where you can buy gifts, fruit, clothing etc at reasonable prices provided you go into the section where Arabs would shop, if you buy in the tourist part you will pay a lot more; just imagine what you would be willing to pay at home. A drive around the Swiss quarter and various stops to take photographs. It was all very well arranged and only 6.00GBP, 95D or €9.5.
Water should only be drunk from bottles which will cost around 3D for 1.5L and is available from street sellers or shops. Do not drink tap water, only use it to wash with or clean your teeth.
In the surrounding area is a park, bird sanctuary, museum, gift shops, backstreet bakeries selling handmade biscuits very cheaply, the Souk el Had is a must; you can buy some really smart wooden boxes made of aromatic Thuja wood from about 35D in the fixed price shops right at the back of the Souk. There is also a traditional musical instrument shop with tabla (hand drum), nay (reed flute), mirwas (double-sided drum) and lots of others, some small enough to fit in your luggage. You will also find hat dealers but make sure they don't have "made in Bangladesh" labels in them, it's a bit disappointing.
A taxi will only cost about 10D to get across town, the cheapest ones are the orange Peugot types which are metered. The cream coloured Mercedes taxi's are privately run, unmetered and may cost 70D at the very least for a short distance. If you wish to go further, as I did, you could get a taxi to Essaouira, which is a very picturesque town on the coast with lots of shops and places to eat. This round trip cost 1000D for three passengers. On the way you can stop in Argana where Argan oil is produced, you will also see the famous Argan tree goats which actually climb trees to eat the nuts. The backstreet diners are great and nowhere near as expensive as one particular restaurant on the sea front which charged about 20.00GBP per head for soup, dinner and drinks. You could get far more in an Arab cafe/restaurant for about £2.50. If eating outside of your hotel, eat only cooked food and avoid salads.
I would recommend the Argana to any traveller as it is clean, relatively quiet, a rasonable distance from the next hotel, has friendly staff who speak a multitude of languages and are not in your face or aggressive.
This review is the opinion of a diytravel.co.uk user and not of diytravel.co.uk. |
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