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| Home > City Guide - Marrakech - Nightlife | ||
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Nightlife Although Morocco is an Islamic country, there is a laid-back attitude towards alcohol, which is widely available, with bars in most tourist areas staying open late. Locally produced wines, beers and mineral waters are excellent and good value but imported drinks tend to be expensive. By Moroccan standards, Marrakech has something of a reputation for its nightlife, which covers modern discos to belly-dancing. The medina provides traditional evening entertainment in the form of cafés, food stalls and street entertainment, with everything revolving around Jemaa El Fna. Several of the hotels have rooftop cafés overlooking the square, while a number of riads (historic merchants’ houses) have been converted into upmarket restaurants offering a full Moroccan experience, including a vast feast, music and dancing. For modern evening entertainment in the form of bars, restaurants and nightclubs head for Guéliz. Clustered along Avenue Mohammed V, particularly around Place Abdelmoumen Ben Ali, are most of the city’s bars as well as a wide variety of restaurants, bistros and pavement cafés. It is in this part of the city that the nightclubs and discos are also located. Many of the hotels have discos that attract both tourists and Moroccans. Although the hotel bars can be very insular they are often preferable to those outside, which tend to be a male preserve and somewhat intimidating. Clubs and bars stay open until late and dress code is casual. For nightclubs, expect to pay an admission fee. Bars: In the medina, the choice is somewhat limited, with most of the action happening outside, in the square. Head either to the rooftop bar of the Hôtel de Foucauld, Avenue El Mouahidine or the Hôtel Tazi, corner of Rue Bab Agnaou and Avenue Houman El Fetouaki. Guéliz has a huge selection of bars. Some of the more relaxed non-hotel bars include Le Mirador, the rooftop café-bar above La Renaissance, Place Abdelmoumen ben Ali, Guéliz, Café-Bar de l’Escale, Rue Mauretania, off Avenue Mohammed V, Le Petit Poucet, on Avenue Mohammed V, Iceberg, on Avenue El Mouahadine, or the Haouz, on Avenue Hassan II. The Palais des Congrès, Avenue de France, is a huge ritzy complex that boasts five café-bars. Café Oued El Had, Avenue Casablanca, just outside town, is a smaller complex of three bars, open until 0200. All the big hotels have bars. The most glamorous, within the city, is undoubtedly Le Churchill, the bar of the Hôtel La Mamounia, Avenue Bab Jedid, which has a sumptuous Moorish and Art Deco interior. Le Comptoir Marrakech-Paris, Avenue Echouada, Hivernage, both cocktail bar and gourmet restaurant, is probably the hippest place in town. Casinos: The Mamounia Casino in the Hôtel La Mamounia, Avenue Bab Jedid (tel: (04) 444 8981), has a Grand Casino, with roulette, craps and blackjack. A less grand alternative is Es Saadi Hôtel, Avenue Kadissa, Hivernage (tel: (04) 444 8811). Entrance for both is free but a tie and jacket are required. Clubs: Although Marrakech has a reputation within Morocco for nightlife, do not expect to find much in the variety of Western clubs. Morocco is, after all, an Islamic country and nightclubs that exist tend to be geared towards tourists and found mainly in hotels. Going under the name of discotheques, music tends to be a mixture of Western pop music and Moroccan hits. Many of the local girls who hang out there are prostitutes, those who are not would be shocked by Western attitudes, so tread carefully. The newest and most glamorous discotheques in town are the Cotton Club, Hôtel Tropicana, Lotissement Semlalia, Diamant Noir, Hôtel le Marrakech, Place de la Liberté, Avenue Mohammed V, Paradise, Hôtel Mansour Eddahbi, Avenue de France and New Feeling, Palmeraie Golf Palace, Circuit de Palmeraie. Live music: For all types of live music the place to go is Jemaa El Fna (see Culture). Sometimes you may also find a group playing in the grounds behind the Koutoubia on Avenue Mohammed V. The National Folklore Festival, held over a fortnight each summer in El Badia Palace offers the chance to listen to a variety of Berber tribal music. |
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