Why is the riad so hard to find?

You're not lost. The door is designed to be invisible. That's the point.

Traditional medina architecture treats the street-facing wall as a blank surface. No sign, no shop window, no indication of what's behind it. The door is often the same colour as the wall — unpainted wood or plastered over — and marked only by a small number tile that may or may not match what Google Maps says. You can walk past it ten times. Guests do, regularly. This isn't poor signage. It's a privacy system that predates tourism by centuries.

The logic: in a medina, the exterior reveals nothing. Wealth, beauty, family life — all of it faces inward, toward the courtyard. A door that announced itself would violate the principle that private life is invisible from the street. Even riads that now operate as guesthouses inherit this architecture. Many are legally restricted from adding external signage by local heritage regulations or neighbourhood agreements.

This is why most riads send detailed arrival instructions — a specific route from a landmark, not a Google Maps pin. Many will send someone to meet you at a recognisable point (Jemaa el-Fnaa, a particular gate, a known intersection) and walk you in. Some guide you by WhatsApp video call, talking you through the turns in real time. This isn't a workaround for a problem — it's how the system has always worked. In a medina, you find a house because someone brings you there.

Daylight makes the first time easier. Once you've walked the route once, muscle memory takes over — it's rarely more than two or three turns from a landmark. Save a screenshot of the route in case you lose signal. And if you're circling the same alley at midnight with luggage, call. The riad already knows this happens.