No Limits Ladies.com

One of the joys of travel is sampling new foods and one of the best sources of restaurants is the hotel reception staff. However, if I wander up, and ask them directly what restaurants they recommend, they’ll automatically do a few things.

They’ll assume that as we are wealthy enough to go on vacation and are staying in a hotel rather than hostel, we don’t mind paying through the nose for a meal.

They’ll assume that we want North American food or some very watered down and sanitized version of the local cuisine.

And they’ll revert to the restaurant listing they have for this purpose. This is not often the listing of the best restaurants but the ones offering the hotel staff the most perks for recommending them.

So how do we prevent this? While struggling with usually a language barrier?

We start the conversation by asking for the nearest grocery store (or supermarket or supermarche or hypermarket). We have a map (which we picked up either before the trip or at tourist information in the airport) and ask them to point it out. Grocery stores, as I have mentioned before, are a great source of souvenirs and breakfast supplies.

What this does is tell them that a) we’re traveling on the cheap b) we’re not afraid to mix with the locals (though I prefer to take trains without chickens in the next seat) and c) we’re not afraid of local flavors.

Note: Yes, tipping for this information is nice (though often not expected, especially in Asian countries) but sending a thank you note mentioning the staff member by name to the hotel after you arrive home is even better. We once had a girl write us back from Israel telling us that our thank you note made the difference in her receiving a promotion.

Marrakech Eating Options