The Hostel Marrakech guide to Morocco Desert tours

Part 1:  It's not about the money (well, not ALL about the money)

You search the internet for a few hours looking for a Morocco desert tour. 

But there's so many to choose from!

How do you choose? 

Hostel Marrakech has been promoting Moroccan desert tours for many years. 

We know the ropes.

We know how to find a desert tour that will meet your needs. 

Introducing the Secrets of the Morocco desert tours and the only guide on the internet which is proven to 

dramatically increase your satisfaction and enjoyment of a Desert tour from Marrakech.

How YOU can avoid the most common pitfalls of booking a desert tour. 

We are Hostel Marrakech, we have been promoting online excursions from Marrakech since the early 2000s and we have been fortunate enough to have experienced a vast many of the Moroccan tour operators offerings. 

We arrived in Marrakech as independent travellers and experienced the problems of locating and buying a desert tour and other excursions from Marrakech many times. 

Whilst researching, we experienced many Moroccan tour operators and learn't how to avoid the mistakes of so many visitors before us. We even learn't how to avoid the traps which are set (not on purpose) by well meaning tourists in various online travel forums and how their well intentioned advice could well leave you in the desert without a Camel. 

Some of the insanely words of advice offered by well intentioned peoples include:

 "Do it yourself, it's much cheaper and you get the freedom you need"

 "i went with "xyz" tour company and everything was excellent, this is their email...."

  "Wait until you get to Marrakech and your Hostel, Riad or Hotel will reccomend a reputable tour company" 

At the time of our first research in Marrakech, we trawled the streets of the city looking for a suitable company. 

We soon realised that most of the guys who were standing out on the street were all promoting the same tours. 

The pricings we were given ranged from the insanely cheap to the completely mad expensive!

Surely there was a better way?

We then asked our Riad, if they knew of a company that would take us on a tour of the desert. 

"Of course!" came the reply - rather too eagerly for my liking!

Further down the line we realised that the hotel actually didn't care about who we went with - so long as they made their commission from the sale - After all, they wouldn't see us again! 

Doing it our ourselves, was our last resort. But by the time we had organised the public bus schedules or risked being at the whim of a taxi driver who may not depart until his taxi was full, we decided that it was simply too time consuming for our proposed schedule and we also ran the risk of not getting back in time for our flight - or spending the rest of our trip marooned in the desert and at the mercy of the bus schedules. 

We then started thinking.....

"What would happen if we waited until we were at Marrakech and asked our Riad to book us a tour?"

Well, they may know how to run a hotel, but do they really know about the tour industry? 

"What would happpen if we booked one of the desert tours from one of the street agents or offices?

What would happen if things didn't go right?

What would happen if the tour company didn't provide everything they promised?

Sitting in an office in Marrakech, we figured, they could promise us anything and everything!

But in reality, what happens if it goes wrong? 

Would they really care, if, at the end of the tour, we re-visited their office, or went to see the "helpful" man at the Riad to complain.

Would they give us our Money back? 

How could we get them to give us even some money back?

The Truth about Morocco desert tours: Part 1 "It's not about the money" 

Waiting until we get to Marrakech, then visiting some offices to sit down and let them tell us everything they are going to provide. That's not the answer. 

They may, or may not provide everything

There may be little unwelcome "Surprises" along the way

If something goes wrong, there is no chance that we will get any money back. 

Why pay our hard earned cash to someone and have no way of ensuring that they are going to give me what i paid for?

Why pay that money and have no way of getting anything back if they don't provide what they told us they would?

If we asked our Riad to recommend.  Sure, they can recommend. 

But again, we don't know them, we don't know that they would be any more concerned about us (and our money) in the event that the tour they recommended went all wrong!

That's when we realised that people need to book their desert tours, book their excursions in advance. 

We realised that by placing ourselves through the experience of trawling the offices, asking our Riads, we had learn't the mistakes that people can make. 

We learn't about how misguided the notion of waiting until you reach Marrakech to book your tour can be. 

Waiting until Marrakech to book your Desert tour or excursion leaves you in a corner:

 There is no way of getting money back for a bad tour. 

 There is no way of knowing who you are dealing with, who you are giving your money too.

 You waste valuable holiday time - when you should be enjoying yourself! 

Booking our tours and excursions in advance, as we learn't through our years of experience is the most sensible decision that we could make when considering a desert tour or excursion from Marrakech. 

But how do we get a refund if something goes wrong with a Morocco desert tour? 

Read the Hostel Marrakech article about what to do if your desert tour goes wrong

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