About us
Riad Siwan was a former palace of the Khaloufi family and was built in the 19th century
few minutes stroll from the exotic hubbub of the Jemaa el Fna, Riad Siwan combines the privacy of a traditional Riad with the chic of modern design. From the tower on the roof terrace, the ancient heart of the Red City is literally at your feet, with the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains shimmering in the distance.
The property stayed in the family till we bought it in 2005.
Mr Khaloufi was a magistrate at the Tribunal of Marrakech in the 19th century, and it was originally built as his “townhouse”.
We restored the building in its former glory and that took us 3,5 years of hard work. We used craftsman from all over Morocco to bring back the plaster sculptures, its 4 meter high cedar wood doors, its sculptured cedar wood ceilings, and combined that with 21st century necessities like airco’s, rain showers, heating and a pool.
Riad Siwan has been designed to be your own personal story from a modern-day Arabian Nights: stylish, spacious rooms to relax in, parasol-shaded lounge beds on the roof terrace (with a pool for cooling off in during the heat of the day), a romantic dining room and superb Moroccan cuisine. Most importantly of all, an enthusiastic and attentive staff who want to make your stay in Morocco more memorable that you could ever imagine.
Education for all morocco
In 2007 a group of friends in Marrakech started a NGO called “Education for All”.
We want to give girls from rural Morocco the chance of a secondary education because we believe that everyone has the right to an education, and if you educate a girl, you educate the next generation as well.
At present, few girls from rural communities in Morocco continue their education after primary school. Secondary schools are not accessible to them, mainly because they live too far away from the few schools, and their families cannot afford transport fees or the available boarding facilities.
Our boarding house project is a simple, efficient and cost effective way to face the challenges facing girls’ access to schools. The EFA boarding houses are completely free. Not only that, but they are a place where they additional study with support from a.o. volunteers, have access to computers and lots of space to develop personal skills so they have the ability and confidence to aim as high as University. We now have 50 girls enrolled at University (in 2017) with one girl doing her Masters, which shows this extra support is working!
