Split the rooms before you book
Hotels charge per room, not per family. That sounds obvious, but it is where things usually go wrong.
- The double room is the building block. Four adults is two rooms, even when they are two couples who belong together.
- At most hotels a family room means two adults with two children. If your child is twelve, the supplier counts them as an adult, however small they still are. That changes the room split and the price.
- A single room for a grandparent travelling alone often costs almost as much as a double. Sometimes an extra bed in a family room is cheaper and nicer.
Give us the children’s ages with your request, not just the number. Then we can get the right configuration first time instead of coming back to you twice.
Pace: two sights a day
A tour that looks lovely on paper is often too full with three generations. The rule of thumb that works: two sights a day, with the afternoon left open.
The medinas of Fès and Marrakech are uneven, narrow and busy. Allow an hour and a half to two hours of walking, not half a day. Plan the walk for the morning; the midday heat sits between twelve and four.
Two things that make the difference, and that you can ask for:
- a room on the ground floor or by the lift, rather than three flights up in a riad
- dinner at seven rather than nine, so the children last and the older travellers are not sitting down too late
On a tailored tour we set the daily programme in advance and look at each day to see whether something can come out. With three generations, less is almost always better.
Your own transport is logistics, not luxury
With six to eight people, pushchairs, suitcases and someone who cannot stand for long, public transport is not an option and taxis become a daily negotiation in three parts.
Our tours include a private car or minibus with air conditioning and a regular driver. He travels with you the whole trip, knows the hotels and knows where you get in with a wheelchair or a pushchair. You leave your luggage in the vehicle and get out where you want to.
A family holiday at a single beach hotel is often the calmest shape: unpack once, all-inclusive, and add the excursions you want separately. If you really want to see Morocco, a combination of city and coast works better than a packed tour.
