It was a huge relief to have organised an aiport transfer and Yahya and Aziz – who work at the riad – are really lovely and helpful. Riad Mansoura provides a very tranquil stay, and is about a 20 minute walk to the square, and I booked it after seeing so many great reviews. But only after I booked it did I read some tips on travelling with a toddler in Marrakech, one of which said that it wasn’t a good idea to stay in a riad. And I can see why – despite it being a very comfortable riad with very good service. I decided not to cancel though and thought we would be okay, as it would only be 3 nights.

There are a lot of tiles and stairs and if we were able to somehow block the stairs then the first floor (where our room was located) would have been an ideal area for our 20-month-old daughter to run around, as there’s a lovely sitting area where the sun pours in. She loved the visiting birds and occasional cat which slinked in. But inevitably she would try to go up the stairs which led to the rooftop, or down the stairs (a manoeuvre which she hasn’t yet mastered), so we were constantly having to follow her around and watch her every move, rather than being able to relax with a book while she played. The rooftop is really lovely, but again has a few concrete steps which weren’t ideal for our little one.

The room was lovely, but we were glad we had bought a few books for our daughter and a portable dvd player. The bathroom was a bit of a no-go area for her (often with a few rogue splashes on the floor from the open shower which she accidentally slipped on a couple of times), which meant she was mostly confined to the bedroom - much like she would in any hotel really, except in Western-style hotels the rooms are slightly bigger and carpeted. The cot we were provided with was too small and she could climb out easily and refused to sleep in it, so she slept in bed with us for the three nights, which wasn’t the most restful sleeps! Luckily it was a very big bed which we could all fit into, but it wasn’t ideal, and we were quite tired by the end of our trip.

Breakfast was lovely, but the Moroccan-style breads and crepes are quite tough for a toddler to eat, so while we loved them, she just stuck to the cakes and any snacks we'd brought along with us from home.

If you are in a couple or with friends then I would recommend this riad. If you’re a lone traveller then I think it’s a bit too far from the square for somebody to walk by themselves at night (and you really have to see the square at night! It’s like nothing else in the world!). But if you are travelling with toddlers I would recommend a more Western-style hotel.