How much do I tip?

Tipping is not the meal-rescuing American 20 percent. It's small and constant. Cafés: leave the coins from your change, 2 to 5 MAD. Sit-down restaurants: round up to about 10 percent, or 20 to 50 MAD on a 300 MAD meal. Petit taxi: round up to the nearest 5 or 10 MAD. The grand taxi shared-fare driver, by contrast, doesn't expect anything.

Riad staff are the bigger envelope. A reasonable amount is 50 to 100 MAD per night, left at checkout for the team (the housekeeper who turned down your bed, the cook who made your breakfast, the boy who carried your bag through the derb). Give it to the manager and ask them to split it. Tipping individually creates internal tension you can't see.

The hammam scrubber (kassala or tayyab): 30 to 50 MAD on top of the listed price. The henna artist your riad arranges: 20 MAD on top of the agreed fee. The man who waves you into the parking space: 5 MAD when you arrive, 5 MAD when you leave. Keep 1, 2, 5, and 10 MAD coins separated in a pocket; getting change out of a 100 MAD note for a 5 MAD tip is awkward.