I thought I would post what we ended up booking as a help to others ( as deciding on lodging in Morocco is an exhausting process...for April high season anyway).

I will blog about them as I go or soon afterwards with lots of pictures, but so far they seem terrific and I am quite pleased.

We are starting in Fez at Dar Seffarine in a suite for two nights.
http://www.darseffarine.com/index.html

They have a great review on i-escape, but I enjoyed this blog review with more pics:
http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Fez/blog-77000.html

I like the exceptional beauty, service and hospitality along with the authenticity ,price and killer terrace view and location.

Then we will go to the desert for 2 days with these people who I am absolutely thrilled with so far:
http://www.nomadsaharabivouacmerzouga.com/

They have been fantastic with information via email.We will stay one night with a special family in the desert ( via camel ride), another night privately in their oasis, and they have set it up so my child will do a little violin concert for some school children in traditional dress. WOW!

Then we are going to eco Kasbah Ellouze for one night near the world heritage site where "Gladiators" etc was shot.
http://www.kasbahellouze.com/Index_en.htm

I booked it mainly to avoid that long ride between Merzouga and Marrakesh, but there are so many lovely things there that I wish I was staying longer.

We picked Riad DE L'ORANGERAIE in Marrakesh for location,beauty, and reputation for service.The indoor pool was a nice touch with a child too.
http://www.riadorangeraie.com/

Cyril the French owner ( who commutes from the UK) is fantastic and has been sooo helpful. This riad is known for the very best location in Marrakesh and also great food.


Then we picked the suite at the eco B&B Lalla Mira in the Medina at Essoauira.( This was my hardest decision as there were many available)

http://base.lallamira.net/Default.aspx?tabId=1225

I wanted to support the eco goals, plus we loooove organic food and the ancient public baths and massages there sound great.It seemed a little different and in a good location.

We will see if any of these work out as nicely as they seem...stay tuned.

When we fly into Madrid we will then stay at this hotel that Pedmar told me about :

http://www.hostal-laplata.com/laplataflash/home_textos.asp

Hope this is helpful to some & my little way of giving back. I will blog about the good and bad of all. So if you are planning a trip down the line, perhaps it will be useful.

Thanks for posting your plans. It sounds like a great trip. I like the idea of visiting the desert and Kasbah Ellouze. I'm looking forward to hearing about the trip. I'll be checking your blog if you do take your laptop so I can travel along with you.

Thanks Marta...we are excited about this exotic country and adding a new continent! It just seems like a perfect segway after Moorish Andalucia and before Greece.

It is not exactly slow travel, but we decided we wanted to get a good taste this first time in so we would have a good overall idea for next time.It is tempting to spend more time in the desert and also enchanting Essouiria.

It seemed really hard to make the decisions with Morocco, so I hope they work out well.

We have had four months in one place and are itching to be on the move again!