Dossier No. 01 Private · Do not forward

Marrakech, Morocco

Private trip.

If you’ve been sent this link, you probably know the password.

31.6295° N  /  7.9811° W Twelve seats
A Marrakech riad courtyard at dusk, lanterns lit around the pool beneath the palms

Private trip · Marrakech, Morocco

Marrakech

7 — 11 April 2027 Twelve of us. Four nights. One riad.
DepartureWed 7 Apr
ReturnSun 11 Apr
April daytime≈ 26°C
Flight time≈ 3h 30 direct
—days
—hrs
—min

Until wheels up

Briefing
01 The adjustment Filed by the groom

We considered Mexico.

Then we considered the practicalities of getting twelve people with jobs, families and varying levels of organisation to Mexico for a long weekend.

So we've made a slight adjustment.

Marrakech. April 2027.

Proper sun, a three-and-a-half hour flight, an extremely good riad, and a city that gives us something to do beyond standing around a pool for four days.

The Koutoubia minaret silhouetted against a golden Marrakech sunset
Fig. 01 — Koutoubia minaret, last light
02 The dates Wed 7 — Sun 11 Apr 2027
Wed 7 Apr Recommended
Thu 8 Apr Acceptable
Fri 9 Apr You've misunderstood the assignment.

The preferred option is to fly out on Wednesday 7th and come back on Sunday 11th.

If Wednesday is difficult, flying on Thursday 8th is completely fine. The main plans start properly from Thursday evening, so nobody travelling Thursday is going to miss the important part.

The Koutoubia minaret with the snow-capped High Atlas mountains behind it
Fig. 02 — The High Atlas, still holding snow in April
03 Why Marrakech Five requirements

There were a
few requirements.

  • Sun in April.
  • Direct flights.
  • Somewhere we can do more than sit around drinking for four days.
  • Somewhere still going at three in the morning.
  • Far enough away to make the exercise worthwhile without everyone disappearing for a week.

Marrakech does the job rather well.

Baskets, spices and lanterns stacked high on a stall in the Marrakech souks
01 The city
Empty sand dunes running to the horizon at golden hour
02 The desert
A green-tiled courtyard pool inside a Marrakech riad
03 The riad
04 Getting there London → RAK · direct

There are direct flights from London.

We'll put the recommended flights here once we've locked them down. Anyone travelling from elsewhere in Europe can obviously take whatever route makes the most sense and meet us there.

Preferred 01

Wed 7 April

LONLondon
RAKMarrakech
Airline
To be confirmed
Departs
To be confirmed
Arrives
To be confirmed
Price
£ —
Shorter option 02

Thu 8 April

LONLondon
RAKMarrakech
Airline
To be confirmed
Departs
To be confirmed
Arrives
To be confirmed
Price
£ —
Return 03

Sun 11 April

RAKMarrakech
LONLondon
Airline
To be confirmed
Departs
To be confirmed
Arrives
To be confirmed
Note
Home in time for nothing in particular

I'll speak to everyone individually to get flights sorted. Once you're booked, you're in.

05 Where we're staying Private riad · all together
A tiled Moroccan courtyard with a long reflecting pool and carved arches

Current option

Riad to be confirmed

We're looking at doing this properly.

The current plan is to take an entire riad or villa for ourselves, rather than twelve people scattered across different hotels arguing about who is where.

A courtyard pool, a rooftop for the evenings, staff who cook breakfast, and everyone under one roof so the day can start without a group chat.

The cost

Accommodation & main trip costs Rohan
Your flights You
Towards riad & group bookings £250

I'll cover the majority. I'll tell everyone individually when the contribution needs paying — it's mainly there so that when we reserve something for twelve people, there are actually twelve people coming.

A long arcade of terracotta arches receding into warm light
Arches
A green-tiled riad pool seen from the roof, loungers along one side
Pool
A cobalt-blue Moroccan pavilion behind palms and potted plants
Garden
A riad courtyard pool beside tall carved wooden doors
Courtyard

Reference images. The actual riad is being argued about as we speak.

06 What we're doing Broad version

Jamie and Freddie have it from here.

I've been given enough information to build this section.

The broad version ↓

A carved arch opening onto a tiled Moroccan courtyard and its pool

Day 01 Wednesday 7 April

Arrive

  • Land.
  • Check in.
  • Pool.
  • Dinner.

Nothing particularly structured. The advantage of Wednesday is mainly having an extra day where nobody is trying to squeeze an activity between an airport transfer and dinner.

The Koutoubia minaret above palms and horse-drawn carriages in Marrakech

Day 02 Thursday 8 April

Everyone arrives

  • Thursday arrivals join.
  • Day by the pool.
  • Dinner.
  • First proper night.

From here onwards, Jamie and Freddie are in charge.

A narrow Marrakech souk alley hung with rugs and lanterns

Day 03 Friday 9 April

The Medina

  • The souks.
  • Lunch.
  • A rooftop.
  • Then out.

Into the old city for the day, then somewhere high up for a drink as it gets dark. Where we go after that is in 07.

Two buggies parked on sand dunes in the afternoon light

Day 04 Saturday 10 April

The Desert

  • Buggies.
  • Camp.
  • Dinner under the stars.
  • The final night.

Out of the city into the desert. Buggies, then dinner somewhere with no phone signal and a great many stars. Jamie and Freddie can amend this once they've decided what they're actually doing.

The Koutoubia minaret across an empty square in soft morning light

Day 05 Sunday 11 April

Home

  • Breakfast.
  • Pool.
  • Airport.

Back in time for Monday.

07 After dark 23:00 — 05:00

Marrakech gets going late.

Most of the places we're interested in are around Hivernage, about ten minutes from the riad.

Nothing below is booked yet. These are just the places worth knowing about.

A night, roughly

20:00
Rooftop drinks
22:00
Dinner
00:30
Hivernage
After that
We'll see
  • Theatro Hivernage

    Big club, converted theatre, shows and DJs. Probably the obvious choice for one of the main nights.

  • Jad Mahal Hivernage

    Dinner, live entertainment and then more of a late-night atmosphere. Good option if we want dinner to roll straight into the night.

  • Le Comptoir Darna Hivernage

    Marrakech institution. Dinner, music and belly dancers. Worth doing once.

  • So Lounge Sofitel

    Drinks and music in the Sofitel. Slightly easier option if people don't want a huge night.

Indicative — Jamie and Freddie will eventually make a decision.

Beams of light and smoke above a crowd with their hands raised
01 The room
A packed dance floor beneath a mirrorball, smoke over the crowd
02 The floor
Hands holding cocktails in a dark booth late at night
03 Late
Dress

Smart casual. No shorts or trainers — the better clubs enforce it.

08 The organisers Personnel file
Jamie Jamie, previously Fig. 1 Subject, arriving Fig. 2 Subject, previously. No further questions.

Personnel 01

Jamie

Friend since 2011

Jamie and I started university together in 2011, at an institution sitting 133rd out of 135 in the U.K. university rankings.

We spent most of those years partying and training for badminton at 7am (quite often drunk!).

I helped him with a few of his teaching assignments. He is now a highly successful headteacher, which raises some questions about the education system.

He has also become considerably more sensible with age (possibly even boring).

Fortunately, with Freddie involved, that is exactly what we need.

Freddie Freddie, documenting himself Fig. 1 Subject, on duty Fig. 2 Subject, documenting himself

Personnel 02

Freddie

Friend since 2018

Freddie and I met at a conference in London in 2018.

That evening we arranged a “meeting” with a few people who worked for us at a whisky tasting. We got very drunk and very little business was discussed.

Soon afterwards, Freddie's company flew me to Austria to give a talk. We spent the next three days going out, and eventually decided the business relationship was unnecessary. We've been close friends ever since.

Freddie can be extremely organised about certain things and completely useless about others. On our recent trip to Croatia, he managed to lose or leave behind an impressive number of his possessions simply by forgetting them.

He is also the more unpredictable of the two organisers and will need Jamie to tell him when an idea has gone too far.

Rohan Rohan, less seriously Fig. 1 Subject, deliberately over-serious Fig. 2 Subject, off duty Photograph
pending

Personnel 03 · The groom

Rohan

Non-Executive Groom

I'm handling the practical side of getting everyone there.

Jamie and Freddie are organising the weekend.

09 What you need to do Four things

There isn't an RSVP system.

There are twelve of us, not four hundred. I'll speak to everyone individually.

Manifest · 12 seats

One of them has your name on it.

Downloads a calendar entry. Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 April 2027.
  1. 01

    Tell me whether you're doing Wednesday–Sunday or Thursday–Sunday.

  2. 02

    Book the agreed flight.

  3. 03

    Send me £250 once we lock the riad.

  4. 04

    I'll add you to the WhatsApp group.

  5. —

    That's it.

10 Current status Updated as we go
Destination
Marrakech, Morocco
Confirmed
Dates
7 — 11 April 2027
Confirmed
Main trip begins
Thursday 8 April
Confirmed
Organisers
Jamie & Freddie
Confirmed
Riad
Whole place, to be confirmed
Pending
Flights
Added once selected
Pending
Saturday night
Being argued about
Pending
Your contribution
£250
Confirmed
Group size
Twelve
Fixed
The rooftops of the Marrakech medina under a golden sunset

Final word

There will only be around twelve of us. So the objective is fairly simple.

  • Get a good group together.
  • Go somewhere properly good in April.
  • Let Jamie and Freddie organise the rest.

Marrakech

7 — 11 April 2027

— days out · —

Then the four things →