Morocco Riads: Everything you need to know about a Dar

What is a Moroccan Dar? 

If you are looking around for Riads in Morocco, rather sooner than later you will see something else appearing in the names of these traditional style guesthouses and that’s the word „ Dar”. You cannot really put it anywhere because it’s not a word that often talked about, unlike Riad. That’s why I have decided to write this piece explaining to you what a Dar is, how it represents itself and representing you to some beautiful examples of Dar in the end of this piece.

So, to make things simpler we need to start this with the Riads. Most people interested in Oriental culture and travelling will sooner or later meet the concept of Riad, which is basically an inward oriented house with a garden (often an elaborated one) in the middle. Well, here is where Dar comes in the picture.

A Dar represents an alone standing architectural style in the Arabic/Islamic architecture which concentrates on privacy, yet not on the price of losing out of being outside. There are millions of Dars all across the Arabic world, especially in the typical old style cities, where the narrow streets and the many buildings don’t give any privacy to people, unless this privacy is forced by a typical architectural style, a closed building having a smaller or bigger closed atrium courtyard in the middle, which doesn’t leave any space for curious eyes, it’s solely for the family members to enjoy their own privacy.

Modern Dar interiors will make up for the lack of garden
with a newly built pool 

After long consideration I have decided to establish a separate blog dedicated to Riads and all other Moroccan Accommodation. Check out my main Morocco Travel Blog and my Cooking Moroccan blogs for more information on beautiful Morocco.

Now, you may ask hey but where is the difference? A Riad has exactly the same concept as a Dar, but Dars are generally smaller, have a smaller, often only a tiny atrium courtyard in the middle and has no garden unlike Riads. The courtyard of a Dar is totally tiled, often coming with an Arabic style fountain and enough place for one or more tables for the family members to enjoy fresh air while being at home.

In terms of air circulation Dar’s are the same like Riads, they are designed with the inward facing windows, balconies, patios, to help the circulation of the air providing a fresher microclimate than it is on the outside and they often have only a few smaller and often heavily grilled windows (this is also for foreigners to be unable to see the women of the house). These grilled windows however provide some of the best opportunities for making great, authentic photos, they are traditional and very Moroccan.

Modern Dar courtyard with some beautiful banana trees and a tiny pool

Dars, just like Riads often have a nice rooftop terrace. This serves for multiple reasons:  first to dry clothes, second to dry out fruits, vegetables, animal skin, to ceremonially perform the killing of the sacrificial lamb for the 2 yearly Eid celebrations and also they are the main spot for family gatherings, weddings and circumcision parties. These rooftop terraces serve as one of the best extras for the guests in all the Dar houses which were converted into the sort of boutique hotels.

Dars, such as Riads do not have many rooms, therefore they are targeting a lot more personalized service than you can get at any hotels out there. The maximum number of rooms in a Dar should be around 8-10 (this is considered a very high number so be prepared for tiny rooms).