A Recommendation

This is completely off-topic, it's not about leadership or technology or anything like that, it's actually a recommendation. As a busy leader it's often very easy to forget to take time out and relax and I am notoriously rubbish at taking holiday, I mean real holiday - somewhere foreign in a hotel - because for me holiday means "not at work", but for my wife (a full time, fantastic mother and housewife) taking holiday at home doesn't work as holiday for her. So, after a lot of negotiation we agreed to properly go away leaving the boys in charge of my mother.

A 3rd party recommendation isn't always a reliable one, but we took a flyer and booked 5 nights in a boutique hotel in Marrakech and boy did it pay off. Dar Zermora really is a boutique hotel with 2 suites, a chalet and 3 other bedrooms, that's it and that's what's so fabulous about it. It's a few kilometers out of Marrakech, but the taxi-transfer was there waiting at the airport. Our suite was spacious and cosy at the same time. The hotel is sited in just over three acres of tranquil, calm and lush grounds and has a private house feeling. The gardens were right next to our patio and the decent sized pool just another few yards away. Breakfast on the patio, lunch and dinner in an outside dining area. It was just so easy to relax that it took me completely by surprise, we lounged by the pool, swam, read books, soaked up the sun (in mid October) and slept. We wanted for nothing!

Yes, Marrakech with the souks, madina and many sights and restaurants was there and we went a couple of times, but relaxation was what this holiday was about and the hotel gave it to us in buckets and we didn't waste a moment! Even the thunderstorm on the last afternoon just seemed to fit in and enhance the holiday rather than detract from it. On our final morning in the taxi back to the airport, the sad bit was knowing that we were going to be back in London in a few hours time - the flight is only around 3 hours - and that we'd be driving back round the M25 in rush-hour. Ah well, at least now we know that we have a place to go if we need real, unadulterated r&r, although it's not suitable for kids so we'll need to work on my Mum again if we're to get there again any time soon.

Regardless, if you want some genuine time-out that really gives you the relaxation you need, no-one should pass up the opportunity to stay at Dar Zermora.