If Morocco is the gateway to Africa, the medinas are the gateway to Morocco. There’s no better way to soak up the local culture than staying at Barceló Hotels & Resorts in Morocco before zigzagging along any of the steep streets of its imperial cities. Within its limits, the Sahara extends majestically offering landscapes that are only possible in the world’s largest desert.

A world Heritage Site since 2012, Rabat took its time in getting over its issues with neighbouring Casablanca, Marrakech and Fez. However, places such as the Kasbah of the Udayas, with the Bad el-Kébir gate, the Semaphore Platform or the Andalusian gardens, are great examples of why the city can be proud of its culture.

On the other side, Marrakech and its main square: Jemaa el-Fnaa, is an ever-changing place that is brought to life by all kinds of acrobats, magicians and musicians, and where visitors try their best not to blink. Neither is it necessary do so: from Barceló Hotels & Resorts in Morocco the accommodation offers guests the chance to enjoy all the exotic charms of this place at their leisure.

Although none of the emblematic scenes of the film Casablanca were filmed here, the city does possess architecture brimming with Moorish buildings and Art Deco style. Staying at Barceló Hotels & Resorts in Casablanca, close to the mosque of Hassan II, the largest in the world after The Mecca, is an experience only equalled by the tranquillity inspired on entering the Medina.

In the first imperial city in Morocco, the well-preserved Medina coexists with the mosque of one of the oldest universities in the world. From Barceló Hotels & Resorts in Fez, travellers are able to immerse themselves in the past, just as they can in the holy city of Moulay Idriss, formerly out of bounds to foreign tourists.

The gates of a country of contrasts open to our hotels in Morocco, making this destination so much more than a simple trip.