Morocco Travel Information

If you don't watch out, your restored riad could end up with hot-flushing loos and cold showers, writes Zoe Dare Hall

lThere is no shortage of people wanting to take your money in Marrakech - and that includes the estate agents. Ask for word-of-mouth recommendations. Moroccan Properties (www.moroccan-properties.com) are Savills' associate in Marrakech. Their properties span a five-bedroom renovation project for £157,000 to a converted 17th-century riad with nine bedrooms near Djemaa El Fna square for £1.77 million. Aylesford (www.aylesford.com) also sell restored riads from £370,000.

Red retreat: The cool interiors of Riad Merstane provide a respite from the heat and hustle of the medina

lFind a good, reputable lawyer to oversee your house purchase. French law applies in Morocco, but buying an old property usually involves chasing multiple owners and modern title deeds may be required if only "Arabic papers" (for unregistered properties) are available.

lWhen contracting builders, look at past projects they have done. Be prepared to project manage in person, or you may find yourself undoing expensive mistakes.

lBuying taxes and fees amount to 5-6 per cent of the property's sale price. In addition, the buyer pays agent's fees of 3-5 per cent of the purchase price, though this is sometimes split with the vendor. Zaouia El Abbassia, with seven bedrooms and two terraces in the medina.

£541,800 through Savills International (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad)Three-bedroom riad in Marrakech medina. £375,000 through Savills (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad) Welcome to the madhouse. Not only is it the nickname given to Alan and Kate Elliott's renovated house in the Marrakech medina - once the asylum belonging to a local mosque - it is also a fitting description of its two-year renovation. The couple went through an extraordinary process to turn a near-derelict building housing several families into their calm, stylish guest house and second home, the Riad Merstane.

"We kept the name 'Merstane' as it means mad in Arabic and during building work it seemed very apposite," says Kate, 62, a retired art teacher from Croydon, south London.

She and Alan learned the hard way that you must be on site at all times to oversee such a project. Otherwise you might, like the Elliotts, end up with a cold-running shower and hot-flushing loos, or an erroneously painted bright red terrace that stains everything from the beautiful original tiles to the couple's cat. "It took months to turn the cat back from pink to white again," says Kate.

"If we had known how hard the renovation was going to be, we would never have taken it on. We had no idea what we were doing, but I'm so glad we didn't know, as now the house feels like a second home that we love more every time we visit," says Kate of their house near the Bab Tagazhoute gate, 20 minutes' walk from the city's mesmerising Djemaa el Fna square.

She and 63-year-old Alan, an education officer, bought the house on a whim while on holiday in Marrakech seven years ago. It cost £35,000, plus £40,000 for renovation work. "We'd have got it for half that price if we'd bought two years earlier, but we were still lucky to get in just before property prices went mad," says Kate.

"We were led to the end of a cul-de-sac through a tunnel of palm trees and we loved the vibrant colours, the 'secret' architecture of riads, and the ramshackle nature of the city." Buying the house was straightforward, though time-consuming, as it took six months to track down the eight owners, including a seven-year-old boy. "Most of the owners were unable to read or write, so we have the title deeds signed with thumb prints," says Kate.

Then came the hard work, starting with raising the entire house by a metre to install drains beneath it - a common procedure with old riads - and shifting 100 donkey carts of rubble down the narrow streets. "At first we left the builders to it. They lived on site, using a gas boiler to cook their tagines and mint tea. But then we returned to find the red terrace and electricity points over the new shower, which they had inexplicably built in the living room where the chimney should have been," says Kate.

Leaving a riad unoccupied is also an invitation to others to get up to all sorts, as Kate discovered. "Riads are very private buildings and you must have live-in staff. Otherwise you can return to find your house being used as a brothel, as we did once," she says. "The government can close you down if they think the riad is being used for immoral purposes, so you must take care that the reputation of your riad is impeccable." Riad Merstane is now running as a guest house (www.riadmerstane.com), though renovation never ends. "In this climate and with such old houses whose thick walls retain the damp, keeping the building in a good condition is an ongoing project," says Kate. But living in the medina more than compensates, say the couple, who visit every eight weeks. "I love the intensity of being here - even in the 45C (113F) summer heat and dust storms," says Kate.

She has also discovered the power of the odd £10 baksheesh - an essential form of transaction in Marrakech - to get things done quickly. "There are local wardens who know everything that's going on in the neighbourhood and will settle all local disputes," she says.

Although most of Marrakech's riads have been converted by Moroccans or French investors, the English community in Marrakech is growing. "Our area, which is a residential area of tiny shops and stalls, is becoming stylish, with about 50 converted riads," she says. "It's hard to find renovation projects now in the centre of the medina, but there are up-and-coming areas in the dyers' quarter near Marrakech museum, and north of Djemaa el Fna. You will pay upwards of £70,000 now for something that is falling down." Besides the expandable budget needed for such a project, great vision and infinite patience are also useful. "We ran out of money, ran out of steam and had to sack the builders. But now we have a lovely riad full of character and guests often tell us how tranquil it seems," says Kate. The madhouse has become a relaxing retreat.

Tips

There is no shortage of people wanting to take your money in Marrakech – and that includes the estate agents. Ask for word-of-mouth recommendations. Moroccan Properties (www.moroccanproperties.com) are Savills' associate in Marrakech. Their properties span a fivebedroom renovation project for £157,000 to a converted 17th-century riad with nine bedrooms near Djemaa El Fna square for £1.77 million. Aylesford (www.aylesford.com) also sell restored riads from £370,000. Find a good, reputable lawyer to oversee your house purchase. French law applies in Morocco, but buying an old property usually involves chasing multiple owners and modern title deeds may be required if only "Arabic papers" (for unregistered properties) are available. When contracting builders, look at past projects they have done. Be prepared to project manage in person, or you may find yourself undoing expensive mistakes. Buying taxes and fees amount to 5-6 per cent of the property's sale price. In addition, the buyer pays agent's fees of 3- 5 per cent of the purchase price, though this is sometimes split with the vendor. For sale in Marrakech Three-bedroom riad in Marrakech medina. £375,000 through Savills (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad) Zaouia El Abbassia, with seven bedrooms and two terraces in the medina. £541,800 through Savills International (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk/abroad)

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