Casa Hassan is a beautiful place to stay in, with pleasant, comfortable, Moroccan-style rooms, communal lounges and dining areas nestled away in so many corners, and a splendid rooftop terrace to boot.
One of the things I was most looking forward to about visiting Morocco was getting the opportunity to stay in a riad. Moroccan architecture has always amazed me, and the layouts of Moroccan riads in particular are fascinating to me because it alludes to a totally different kind of lifestyle than the ones we tend to have in metropolitan, urban centres.
In Chefchaouen, we stayed at this beautiful establishment, Casa Hassan. I absolutely loved it because of its colourful interiors, Moroccan-infused arabesque decorations, and the fact that it had so many cozy little nooks and crannies tucked away at the tops of dark staircases or behind wooden doors that were left purposefully ajar. Throughout our 1-week trip through Morocco, we stayed in 3 different riads (in Marrakech, Fez, & Chefchaouen), but hands down, this riad was my favourite one.
You can read about how I spent my 24 hours in Chefchaouen here.
Location
Casa Hassan is just a short, less-than-5-minute walk from Place Outa el Hammam, up a small street leading uphill, past quaint little teahouses and small shops selling paintings, bags, clothes, and Moroccan handiwork.
Tip: Don’t get confused! There are two establishments called “Casa Hassan”, each a stone’s throw from the other on the same street, except that one is a restaurant while the other is a guesthouse. Casa Hassan riad is the one closer to the town square.
Ambience
Something was so familiar to me about the facade of the riad, but I didn’t pay it much attention at first because deja vu is such a common occurrence when you’re travelling. You can read more here.
I liked the way the entrance itself blended into the wall because it was painted in the exact same colour, and the way a pair of intertwining vines snaked their way up the wall just to the right of the entrance. It wasn’t until I took this next picture that I realized that I really had seen it before; I’d been using a stock photo of it as my desktop wallpaper for years. In the stock photo, though, there were no bright orange, pink and red rugs hanging from the wall adjacent to the entrance, and the blue of the walls looked much more vivid and vibrant than in real life–but to me, that only gave the entrance itself another dimension of authenticity in real life.
There was nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary about the entrance itself; it was blue just like the entire town of Chefchaouen herself, but this is exactly one of the hallmarks of Moroccan architecture. Read more about it here.
Moroccan riads often have plain and unimpressive entrances that might give travelers experiencing it for the first time a bit of a shock–“Is this what I spent my money on??” But the modest entrances of the riads are actually designed to be inconspicuous while hiding a richly decorated interior, in a reflection of the primacy of inner beauty over outer appearances in Islamic beliefs.
Traditional Muslim societies placed utmost importance on humility and the avoidance of showing off, but wearing nice, clean clothes and (by extension) having beautifully decorated houses is also encouraged in Islam. That explains why Moroccan riads often appear to be unassuming and mundane from the outside, but anything except ordinary the minute you walk through the doors.
Our riad in Fez was a prime example of that: the unmarked glass double door entrance into the riad was hidden in between two grocery stores right in the middle of a crowded, narrrow, bustling street within Fez’s ancient medina, but the interiors were an entirely different story. Look out for my piece about Fez, coming soon 😉
Past the riad’s inconspicuous blue entrance, I found myself in a sunlit, whitewashed courtyard furnished with bright green, yellow, and purple armchairs, sofas, and ottomans. The sound of trickling water from the fountain in the centre of the courtyard echoed around the entire riad. Large blue flower pots encircled the fountain, opposite of which stood a fireplace of deep green, brown and yellow. The fireplace itself wasn’t in use, though, because it was Spring.
Casa Hassan itself consists of two smaller riads that have been combined to form one large riad, and as a result, there are two courtyards and two communal areas on the ground floor.
In the courtyards further inside the riad, the staff had very hospitably laid out a warm, tangerine-coloured carpet and piled light blue pillows on top of it for us to sit on and enjoy some Moroccan mint tea while they entertained us with a traditional dance performance. It was such a lovely gesture that we didn’t expect at all.
After dropping off our luggage in our rooms, we spent some time exploring the riad. Exploring, yes, because if we hadn’t explored it, we would have missed out on the cozy communal areas. It was around midday when we reached the riad, so all of the riad’s guests were already out sightseeing, and there was no one hanging around, which suited us just fine.
The first communal area was just off the central courtyard. Diagonally across from the courtyard, a wooden door with glass features opened up to a short flight of stairs leading to a wide, open-air space filled with Moroccan sofas, tables and chairs in different shapes and sizes. Sunlight streamed in from above, and trees and overhanging branches adorned the empty spaces in between the furniture. The same faded blue pillows sat invitingly on every sofa, and the walls were decorated sparingly with small Moroccan crafts. Even with the warmth of sunlight filling the whole space, it still somehow felt cooling.
Up a dark staircase, on the third floor of the riad, there’s a rooftop terrace bathed almost entirely in blue and furnished with long, blue and yellow sofas and wooden coffee tables.
On one of the coffee tables, a silver teapot rested on a Moroccan tray next to an unfinished glass of tea. In fact, all of the little communal spaces in the riad seemed to beckon the guests to sit down on one of the snug sofas and have a bit of tea and snacks for a while. We were in a rush, though, so as tempting as it was, we didn’t.
Rooms
Up one of the winding staircases, the rooms of the riad each face inward towards the inner courtyard, which guarded the privacy of the Muslim families that used to stay in these riads in the past. Because Casa Hassan is made up of two smaller riads, the doors of the riad closer to the main entrance look different from the other riad, where our rooms were.
The doors themselves were a little small, and if you’re tall or plus-sized, you might have to bend and squeeze a little, but it’s not uncomfortable. Again, to me, it just adds to the authenticity of the whole riad. 🙂
Both of our rooms looked similar, with large queen-sized beds wrapped in vibrant red bedsheets, wooden cupboards, an ensuite bathroom, and a small table and chair by the side. All in all, we had a really comfortable stay!
Food
Our one night’s stay came with a buffet breakfast in the morning, but I was so hungry when I woke up that I forgot to take pictures at breakfast. -_- You can find pictures here.
They cater both to traditional Moroccan and Western taste buds. I had beghrir (a Moroccan pancake made of semolina and flour), cereal, khobz (Moroccan bread), which is baked fresh from the open kitchen next to the dining area, and the honey is particularly tasty. Eggs are available on request, and so is Moroccan mint tea.
