dar aldea — Hotel in Chefchaouen

My Family & I stayed at Dar Aldea in Chefchaouen, Morocco for 4 nights recently. The city is so beautiful, so many unique shops & restaurants, live music everyday in the main square & so many kind & friendly ||people. The landscape, mountains, hiking, historic landmarks & view down to the city ||(especially at sunset) is breathtaking! ||Staying at Dar Aldea was like staying with family. The host caretakers, Amina & her family live in the house & are there for you whatever you need. They also give you privacy, if that is what you want. Amina made us a homemade fabulous breakfast everyday, she even washed our clothes for us & hung to dry while we were out. Their children are sweet & her husband gave us info on where to go & see. He hiked with us up the mountain to see the sunset too. This is a great place to stay with your family. The bedrooms look like fairy tale rooms, so decorative & very cozy, with comfortable beds. The whole house is visually stunning, very clean, colorful, magical with Moroccan style of fantastic tile work & beautiful intricate painting designs. The roof top patio is like a dream. Comfortable, beautiful sofas & tables. Lots of places to lay down or sit in the sun or shade area too & look at the amazing view down on to the city. You can even hear the live music down in the plaza square from up on the patio rooftop. There is a washing machine up there & lines to hang to dry in the warm sun. Everything is within walking distance from Dar Aldea & the people of Chefchaoun are so helpful & friendly. Many people speak Spanish & English, as well as Darija, Arabic, French, Berber & more. The food, local sweets, breads & amazing fresh fruit juices are wonderful! The beautiful blue stairs going up to Dar Aldea are famous & the most 'Instagramed' in the world. It's fun seeing people all day waiting to take their photos on these stairs. The only thing I would say that would be difficult for some people is there are alot of stairs going up to this house.. but I got more in shape on this trip from all the walking, so it got easier everyday. I really recommend Dar Aldea & Chefchaouen! It was my dream to visit there & it was even more...

Be careful booking here - the owner used a 'bait and switch' tactic on us. I specifically booked a room at Dar Aldea on Expedia, but when we arrived the owner asked us to pay and then took us to our room which he said was in a "different building." When we got there it turns out the "room" was at a completely different riad of MUCH worse quality. I was very confused and it was not at all what I booked or paid for. The Dar Aldea owner then left us with the other riad owner who took us over.

This other riad was truly awful, while the Dar Aldea riad is gorgeous. We went back and confronted Dar Aldea's owner. He said his riad was fully booked so he sent us to a "similar room", but then admitted to getting paid a cut of the profits for sending us to the other riad. What he is essentially doing is double booking his riad and sending unsuspecting customers elsewhere while collecting payment for doing so. He eventually gave us our money back, but not after trying to pressure us to pay a "cancellation"...

日本語の説明は英語の下にあります。|It was a lovely riad at the top of a popular staircase that you often see on Instagram. We were welcomed by the owner, Amina, who is very kind, and her daughter, who has a lovely smile. Amina's riad was very tasteful, and the doors and windows of the rooms and Amina's kitchen were like a lovely art gallery. The room was small and the wifi was sometimes weak, but it was clean and the shower and bed were very comfortable.|One of the highlights here is the two-level rooftop. The rooftop here is the best because you can see the mountains and the city right in front of you, as well as the sunrise and sunset. Our purpose in visiting this city was to walk around the blue city, but eating Amina's breakfast and reading a book in this beautiful view was also a precious memory.|Another highlight was meeting the cats that live in the riad area. There are usually about five cute cats on these stairs, but there was one cat that was particularly friendly. When we started to climb the stairs to return to the riad, it ran down the stairs. It was as if it was saying "Welcome home". When we told Amina about it, we found out that the cat (named Simba) was the one her daughter kept. Simba gave us a hug the night before we left, and was waiting for us at the entrance on the day we left. Meeting Simba is also a precious memory of this trip. |Finally, I wanted to experience an authentic Hammam on this trip, so Amina introduced me to a wonderful Hammam (Lina Riad & Spa). |Thanks to Amina and her daughter, our 2-night, 3-day stay here was a special one! Thank you very much.||インスタグラムでもよく見かける人気の階段を登った上にある素敵なリヤドでした。オーナーでとても優しいAminaさんと笑顔が素敵な娘さんにおもてなしをしていただきました。Aminaさんのリヤドはとてもセンスがよく部屋のドアや窓、Aminaさんのキッチンはまるで素敵なアートギャラリーのようでした。部屋は小さめでwifiも弱くなるときがありましたが、清潔でシャワーもベッドもとても快適でした。|ここのハイライトの１つに２つの階にあるルーフトップがあります。ここのルーフトップは山と街が目の前で見られ、それに朝日と夕陽も見られるので最高です。ブルーの街を歩くのがこの街を訪れた目的でしたが、この素晴らしい景色の中でAminaさんの朝ごはんを食べたり本を読んだりしたのも大切な思い出になりました。|また他のハイライトにこのリヤドのエリアに住んでいる猫に会えたことです。この階段にいつも5匹ほどのかわいい猫がいますが、その中でも特に人懐っこい猫がいました。私達がリヤドに帰るために階段を登り始めると、走って階段を降りてきてくれます。まるで「おかえり」と言ってくれているようでした。Aminaさんにそのことを話すと、何とその猫は娘さんが飼っている猫（名前はSimba）だということがわかりました。Simbaは私達がこの街を離れる前日の夜に近づいてきてハグをしてくれ、出発する日は玄関で待っていてくれました。Simbaとの出会いも今回の大切な思い出です。|最後にこの旅行で本場のハマムを体験してみたかった私に、Aminaさんは素敵なハマム (Lina Riad &...