Morocco Reviews: Casablanca

First stop on my trip was Casablanca. This is where the tour started, but since we would meet Saturday night and leave Sunday morning, I decided to arrive early to have time to check out the city. A friend on mine was on the same tour (we had planned it like that), so we meet up on Wednesday evening in Casablanca and had a full 3 days in the city. And that was way too much!

I thought Casablanca would be a big tourist town with a lot of things to do. But I was wrong! As I arrived late Wednesday night, Thursday morning we went out to explore the city. We decided to walk around even though it was quite hot and sunny. First we went to the Hassan II Mosque. It was inaugurated in 1993 and has the world’s highest minaret of 210 m. The mosque was designed by a French architect  and decorated by local craftsmen as a nod to the mixed French and Arabic heritage of the city. The prayer room inside holds up to 25,000 people and the courtyard holds another 80,000. That makes this mosque the third largest in the world. This mosque is open for non-Moslems on guided tours. We didn’t go inside, but other people had been on the tour and said it was worth the entry fee. 

Next we went through the Medina (the market). I must confess we ran through it quite quickly but from what I saw it was all belts and hats and souvenirs made in China. The locals call it Little China, because all the things you can buy there are “made in China”. 

Next day we went to the Quartier des Habous, the so-called “new Medina”. It is a small area with souvenir stands with more traditional Moroccan souvenirs like shoes and lanterns. It was a bit of a walk from the centre of the city, but once you enter the area the hustle and bustle of modern day Casablanca disappears, and it makes for a nice break from the big city. But the area is quite small, so unless you really delve into every little shop, you can only spend so much time here. 

Out last day in Casablanca we decided to relax, so we found a beach club, where you could rent a sun chair and have access to a pool. We spent the entire day there and really wound down. The one we went to was called “Tahiti Beach Club”, and in the cheap section (where we went), you could rent a sun chair for 100 dirhems for a day. An umbrella was an extra 20 dirhems, but it was worth it. On that day it was a little chilly, so we never tested the pool, but a few people did and seemed quite happy with it. There was a view of the beach, and you could descend some stairs and walk there when the water was out. 

Reviews

“Rick’s Café”

This place was recommended in the material we had from G Adventures. We went there for lunch on the first day, and I must say it was pretty fancy, and we felt a bit of out place in our touristy gear, when all the waiters were in suits, and the tables were covered in white tablecloths. But they didn’t seem to mind and all the other guests were also dressed in their tourist gear. The food was really good and not too expensive. I paid 70 dirhem for a lovely vegetarian dish of vegetable tempura with rice and aubergine creme. A Sprite soda was 20 dirhem. They added a 10% service charge to the bill, and the waiters were polite and attentive. 

“Pizza Pino”  

For dinner we had pizza at the beach promenade. I had decided to forget I was gluten intolerant for a night, and had the most lovely pizza. The pizza crust was homemade and the toppings were delicious. I had ham and mushroom, and the ham was of good quality. The pizza wasn’t overloaded with toppings either. I paid 95 dirhems for a pizza and 20 for a soda, so that was not too expensive. The service was polite and attentive, and we had the leftovers home in a doggybag. 

“Les Fleurs”

For another dinner we went to “Les Fleurs” which was recommended by our hotel. You could eat in the “Western” style or the “Moroccan” style. We chose Moroccan, because why not? Turns out, that just meant we were seated at traditional Moroccan tables which are a bit lower than “Western” ones. We had the traditional tagine with chicken and it was delicious and very tender. It got a bit boring just eating the chicken though. We had ordered fried potatoes, but they never showed up. The waiter had told us outside that they had daily specials, but we never got to hear them. We were the only ones in the Moroccan section so I think they forgot about us sometimes. But when they did remember us, they were polite and attentive. I paid 120 dirhems for the chicken tagine, which I though was a fair price. 

“Le P’tit Cerdan”

This was the restaurant that was located in “Tahiti Beach Club”. They staff at the beach club were not the greatest at English, and we could not speak French, so we decided to just stay in the beach club and not risk having to pay again when we came back, since we could not explain that we had already paid. I don’t even know if you were even allowed to leave the beach club, without having to pay for re-entry. I ordered a burger and my friend ordered a club sandwich. They brought out 2 burgers instead. My friend didn’t really mind, so we started eating. But the burgers were not cooked through, so we called the waiter over and tried to explain. That resulted in the chef and the manager (I think) coming over, and we had 3 men arguing in French around us. Finally they took my friend’s plate and left. Soon after they returned with her original sandwich order. But apparently they had not understood my problem with the burger. I decided not to try to make myself understood in French, and just ate my fries. The service was friendly, but not very good at English, and as far as I recall, it was a bit expensive. 

“Moroccan House Hotel”

The first 3 nights we stayed here, as this was where we were meeting with the group. My friend had booked our room, and even though she had booked two single beds, we got a double bed. Breakfast was included, and consisted of a buffet with a surprisingly good selection. Of course there was a whole lot of bread, but they also had cornflakes and an omelet station. The staff at the hotel were helpful and friendly, but not all of them were very good at English. The rooms were nice and clean, but not especially modern. 

“Hotel Diwan”

On the last night we were moved to this hotel, as Moroccan House was apparently overbooked. We were not complaining, as this hotel was a step up compared to the other one. It was more modern than the other one and the bathroom was cleaner. Furthermore we had 2 beds instead of one! The breakfast was a bit disappointing however. It consisted entirely of bread and a little bit of yoghurt. A lady was frying something that I thought was omelets, but it turned out to also be bread! When we were almost done eating, they put out hard-boiled eggs too. 

Taxis in Casablanca

During our 3 days we had 4 taxi drives in the city. The first was from the airport to my hotel. I arrived late at night, and decided to just get a taxi instead of messing around with trains and busses. I was shanghaied outside the airport as expected, and the guy told me that the trip would cost 300 dirhems. I thought that was a bit excessive, but apparently that was the price. He led me to a taxi and put me into it with a different driver. We drove to town and when we reached my hotel I paid him 300 dirhems. He then said it was 500 for the whole night. He was not very good at English, so we had some issues trying to understand each other. I refused to give in and ended up paying 300 as the first guy had said, but he was not happy about it, and kept showing me the price list, which did say 500. I think it turned out to be 300 for a day trip and 500 for a night trip, as my friend, who arrived during the day, had paid the 300. I don’t know why the price changed so much.

Then we took a taxi for the same trip 3 times and paid 3 different rates. We walked to the beach the second day to scope out a good beach club, and then we took a taxi home, as it was quite a walk. We settled the price beforehand, and it was 100 dirhems. The driver was nice and drove well. Next day we took a taxi from the hotel to the beach and settled the price again. This time it was only 50 dirhems…but no complaints from us. Again the driver was nice and drove well. Then we took a taxi home, and this driver insisted on using the meter. We agreed but kept an eye on it, in case it turned out to be fixed. But the ride only came to 25 dirhems. This driver however had an intense driving style, and I was almost sure we would crash a couple of times. Besides, when they use the meter, they are apparently allowed to pick up other people going in the same direction as you, which resulted in him hanging out the window constantly trying to get more people in. Luckily he failed, and we survived the trip to the hotel in one piece. 

Wow, that was a whole lot of information. I hope it was helpful!