Finding an English-speaking sitter for your riad or hotel

Plenty of places will arrange childcare, but having someone genuinely comfortable in English available on the night you need is never guaranteed. Parents cancel dinners over exactly this. Marrakech is not short of sitters, the problem is asking on the day.

Book before you arrive, not at 6pm

An evening booking works best arranged a few days ahead. It leaves time to talk through your children's routine, confirm the exact address of the riad, which a map application often cannot find inside the Medina, and sort out access if there is a gate or a night porter.

Why care at your accommodation works better

Your children stay in their own room, with their own things and their own rhythm. No car journey, no unfamiliar place to deal with at bedtime. Under three years old, that is the difference between a calm evening and a difficult one.

What to send when you book

• Each child's age and sleep routine.
• Allergies and anything they must not eat.
• The language you want spoken with them.
• The exact address, with a landmark if you are in the Medina.
• Start time and rough finish time.

The language question, plainly

A child who cannot understand the person looking after them feels lost, especially at bedtime. Our sitters speak English and French with children, which covers most international families staying in Marrakech. With parents, Arabic and Darija are available too.

Daytime bookings

Evenings are not the only use. Families book a sitter for an Atlas day trip or a desert excursion that would be hard on a toddler, or simply for an afternoon of rest. The sitter stays at the riad, handles naps and meals, and you come back to children who played rather than waited in a car.