Riad Cherifa

Riad Cherifa is a luxury-category guest house at N 6, Bab Souk, Derb Ahmed Laaroussi, in the old medina of Chefchaouen. Guests rate it 9.2 out of 10 across 114 reviews on ma-hotels.net (2026), with nightly rates from about 1,370 MAD (roughly US$147). The location near Bab Souk places it on the edge of the market area, so the daily produce and craft stalls, and the medina's main square, are a short walk through the lanes. Chefchaouen sits in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco, in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, about two hours by road from Tangier and roughly an hour and a half from Tetouan. The old medina, founded in 1471 as a fortress town and later expanded by Andalusian refugees, is known for lanes washed in shades of blue and white. Its central square, Plaza Uta el-Hammam, holds the red-walled kasbah and the Great Mosque with its octagonal minaret, and the Ras el-Maa spring and stream on the eastern edge of the medina are a short walk away. Cars and taxis cannot enter the medina lanes, so luggage is carried by hand or by porters from the nearest gate, and many lanes climb in steps. As a traditional riad-style guest house, accommodation is arranged around the building's interior spaces, with individually decorated rooms in the regional style of carved wood, tile and painted plaster. Rooms and facilities differ between properties, so visitors typically confirm bed types, heating and any terrace access when booking. Breakfast in Moroccan guest houses of this class commonly features msemen or baghrir pancakes, bread, olive oil, honey, jams, eggs and mint tea or coffee, and local goat cheese from the Rif is a regional specialty. Dinner can usually be arranged by request or found in the medina's restaurants around Plaza Uta el-Hammam. Staff at Moroccan guest houses commonly help with airport and bus transfers, hiking arrangements in nearby Talassemtane National Park and the Akchour waterfalls, and local restaurant bookings. Rates vary with season and room type, and the highest demand falls in spring, early autumn and on Moroccan holidays; winters are cool and damp at this altitude of about 600 metres, so heating is worth confirming when booking.