What is a dar (and how is it different from a riad)?

This is one of those distinctions that sounds pedantic until you've stayed in both, and then it clicks. A dar simply means 'house' in Arabic, and it refers to the classic Moroccan courtyard house — rooms arranged inward around a central open space, blank walls to the street, all the life and light turned toward the middle. A riad is a specific, grander type of dar. The word riad comes from the Arabic for garden, and a true riad is built around an interior garden courtyard, traditionally with four planting beds, often a fountain, fruit trees or roses. So every riad is a kind of dar, but not every dar is a riad.

The practical, on-the-ground difference is the courtyard. Walk into a riad and the centre is green and growing — orange trees, a fountain bubbling, the smell of jasmine, the whole point being that garden you orbit around. Walk into a dar and the central space is typically smaller and architectural rather than botanical: a tiled patio, a light-well, maybe a little plunge pool or a single potted plant, but no proper garden. Dars are often a bit more vertical and compact because they were built on tighter plots, so the courtyard is more of a luminous internal shaft than a leafy oasis.

Does it matter when you're booking? Genuinely, yes, a little. A riad usually feels more lavish and serene because of that garden and the extra space it implies, which is why riad has become the marketing word everyone leans on — you'll even see places called 'riad' that are really dars. A dar tends to be more intimate, sometimes cosier, occasionally a touch cheaper, and just as charming in its own way; some of my favourite small medina stays are technically dars. Both share the same magic: a plain door on a noisy lane opening into a hushed, beautiful inner world.

My advice is not to get too hung up on the label but to look at the photos of the central courtyard, because that's what actually differs. If a leafy garden, a fountain and a sense of space matter to you, make sure it's a genuine riad. If you want something more compact, intimate and potentially better value, a well-restored dar is a lovely choice and often quieter. Either way you're getting the inward-facing, courtyard-centred soul of Moroccan domestic architecture, which is one of the great pleasures of staying in the medina.