Two Women, One Dream, One Riad: Interview with Veronica and Silvia, Founders of Riad Alkemia

There are places that speak to the heart before the mind. And there are stories worth telling not only for the results achieved, but for the journey that made them possible. Riad Alkemia is not just an enchanted dwelling in Marrakech’s medina, but the fruit of a shared vision between two friends, two women, two travelers: Veronica and Silvia. In this interview, we wanted to give space to their voices. We’ll discover how the idea was born, what emotions accompanied the restoration, and what it means for them today to welcome guests in such an intimate and special place. A journey within a journey.

FRIENDSHIP & DESTINY

1. How did you meet and what was your relationship before starting this adventure?

SILVIA: “A friend forever!” I could have said from the start, if only I had known that the girl I met in York would become my life and dream companion. It was the summer of our sixteen years, three weeks of study vacation that changed us forever. From the first moment it was like finding a sister I didn’t know I had, an immediate, natural connection, as if we had known each other forever. We only separated to sleep during those three weeks, and every morning felt like reuniting after an eternity. We laughed at the same things, dreamed the same dreams, had the same desire to discover the world together. “One day we’ll open a shop together,” we used to say, “and live next to each other.” They were teenage dreams, but they already contained that strength that would take us all the way to Marrakech.

VERONICA: Then life took its directions, as often happens. University, marriages, my move for love to another city, the commitments that overwhelm you when you’re young and think you have all the time in the world. Ten years slipped away without us noticing, but that friendship remained there, intact in the heart, like a hidden treasure waiting to be rediscovered. October 2017, my phone rings with a message that changed my life: “Hi my friend. I miss you so much.” I started crying right there, in the middle of the street. That evening everything began again exactly where we had left off, as if those ten years had never existed. The understanding, the complicity, the dreams… everything had remained intact. It was like finding a part of myself I thought lost forever.

2. When did you realize you would create something together?

SILVIA: Actually, we’ve always had the dream of doing something together! As young girls we dreamed of opening a clothing store together and living next to each other.

VERONICA: When we reunited, we understood that the dream of those two girls to live and work together had never disappeared, it had just changed form, becoming bigger and more beautiful.

3. Marrakech: why here specifically?

VERONICA: “This is home,” I thought that first morning when I woke up in my little riad, years before Silvia and I reunited. I had arrived here alone, with a suitcase full of hopes and a heart seeking new horizons. I had taken over that small riad, my first step in this magical world of Moroccan hospitality. The sound of the call to prayer mixing with bird songs in the patio, the smell of freshly baked bread coming from the street, the golden light filtering through the moucharabieh, all this made me understand that Marrakech wasn’t just a destination, it had become home. I fell in love with everything: the people’s generosity, children’s smiles in the medina alleys, the way artisans work with their hands creating beauty from nothing.

SILVIA: When Veronica and I reunited, she told me about her biggest dream: to renovate an old riad and transform it into a place that would be the perfect reflection of everything she had learned to love about this extraordinary city. “Silvia,” she told me, “here I discovered who I really want to be. Marrakech taught me that beauty comes from the meeting of different cultures, from the ability to welcome, to create harmony between tradition and innovation.” I was happy for her, but inside me the desire to share this magic was growing. Marrakech was the perfect place because here we had already discovered who we wanted to become together. And with Veronica by my side, I knew we could transform that vision into something even more beautiful than I had ever dared dream alone. It was as if this city was waiting for us, as if it had always known that one day we would arrive here together to realize our dream.

DISCOVERING THE RIAD

4. Do you remember the exact moment when you first crossed the threshold of the current Riad Alkemia?

VERONICA: “We found it!” This was the first thing I said to Silvia, almost shouting on the phone, without even greeting her. Actually, we saw it at two separate moments. After three days of fruitless searches, ten riads visited without any managing to touch the right chords of our hearts, Silvia had to return while I still had a few days available. That morning I was in my room when the phone rang. A real estate agent with a proposal that seemed to come from nowhere: that riad we had discarded because it was too expensive was now within our reach due to the owners’ urgency to sell. I still remember as if it were yesterday when I opened that old and anonymous wooden door, I found myself facing a place that seemed to have been sleeping for years, but with a soul waiting to be awakened. And that enormous sense of peace that enveloped me as soon as I found myself in the patio.

SILVIA: “Wait, Veronica, calm down,” I told her laughing when she called me with that irrepressible enthusiasm that comes when a creative thought takes shape in her head. She was unstoppable, agitated, I could hear her pacing back and forth in her room gesticulating like crazy, even though I couldn’t see her from the other end of the phone. “Our riad! OUR riad, Silvia!” she kept repeating. She told me everything: the unexpected phone call, that feeling of peace as soon as she crossed the threshold, and especially the visual lightning bolt when she reached the suite with those ceilings that seemed to tell stories of past centuries. “It wasn’t the walls, it wasn’t the architectural details,” she explained, “it was something deeper, intangible. There was a unique energy, and I immediately understood it was the one.”

5. What made you understand that “that place” was the right one?

SILVIA: “We found it!” she almost shouted, without even greeting me. She was unstoppable, I could hear her pacing back and forth in her room gesticulating like crazy, even though I couldn’t see her from the other end of the phone. “Wait, Veronica, calm down,” I told her laughing, “what did we find?” “Our riad! OUR riad, Silvia!” She told me everything: the unexpected phone call, that feeling of peace as soon as she crossed the threshold, the ceilings that seemed like works of art, the special energy of the place. She spoke so fast I had to interrupt her to have her repeat the details. “But are you sure?” I asked. “In three days we hadn’t found anything that really convinced us…” “Silvia,” she told me, and I remember her voice suddenly became calmer and deeper, “do you remember that feeling we had when we dreamed of our clothing store?” I answered yes. “Well, when I entered this riad I felt exactly the same feeling. As if I had returned to a place where I had already been, as if I belonged to that place forever.”

VERONICA: Silence fell on the other end of the phone. Then Silvia said quietly: “Send me all the photos you can. ALL of them. I want to see every corner.” I spent two hours photographing every detail, every play of light, every decoration. When I sent them, the phone remained silent for a time that seemed eternal. Then her message arrived: “Oh. My. God. Veronica, it’s him. It’s really him.” And when she entered for the first time too, she had confirmation. There was a particular energy, a hidden potential behind every crack and every stone.

6. Did you ever say to yourselves: “What made us do this?”

SILVIA: Do you remember the day work started and we received the first photo? It was of a donkey-drawn cart parked outside the riad door, loaded with debris and everything that had been thrown inside the riad during the years it remained uninhabited. Looking at that image I thought for the first time: “What made us do this?” This phrase became almost a mantra between us, especially during construction when problems seemed to sprout like mushrooms! I repeated it while trying to explain for the tenth time to a worker what we wanted to do, with my shaky French and gestures that became more theatrical each time.

VERONICA: That photo of the cart with the donkey became symbolic for us, it represented the beginning of everything, the first concrete step toward transforming our riad. Yet looking at it for the first time I felt a shiver of panic mixed with excitement. “What made us do this?” I heard Silvia say in front of yet another unexpected problem that seemed impossible to solve. But then we discovered a wonderful thing about this country: it’s also the country of solutions. Every time we think there’s nothing to be done, someone appears with an idea, a trade trick, a solution that mixes imagination and experience in ways you would never have imagined. And so, every time we looked at each other and knew that giving up wasn’t an option. A bit of self-irony, some deep breaths and lots of mint tea saved us in the most difficult moments. In the end there’s a way to get out of it, and when we finally manage to see the light at the end of the tunnel, that question “What made us do this?” transforms into a knowing smile between us two. Because we know exactly why we did it, and we’re more convinced than ever.

THE RESTORATION CHALLENGE

7. What was the most difficult part to face, practically or emotionally?

VERONICA: “We made it!” we told ourselves after over a year and a half of endless work, when the riad was finally ready. We had fixed the last details, trained the staff we had searched for with such care. Everything was perfect, we put the listing on a well-known platform and after just a few hours came that magical sound, the “ding” of the notification. The first booking! It felt like we had won the lottery. The guest would arrive in a few days. We were so excited we checked three times that everything was perfect. We were touching the sky with our fingers. Finally we were translating our dream into real hospitality. Those first months were incredible. Every guest who arrived was confirmation that we had made the right choice. From their reviews you could feel the same amazement we had felt the first time we saw this place. And then… February 2020.

SILVIA: “COVID,” these two words encapsulate our worst nightmare. Less than three months after opening, everything stopped. Two years of forced closure, discouragement, sleepless nights wondering if we would ever make it. We looked at the riad from photos the staff sent us, empty and silent, and it seemed like all our efforts had been in vain. “Veronica,” I told her in the darkest moments, “did we do all this for nothing?” But being able to tell this story today, being here to share this story, is our greatest achievement. We resisted, we believed in our project even when everything seemed lost. And when we finally reopened, every new guest who crossed the threshold reminded us why we had started this journey. That trial by fire made us stronger, more determined, more aware of the value of what we had built together.

8. Is there a detail of the riad that represents you most?

VERONICA: “This is our heart’s place!” we say when we take someone to see what we called the zen area, the covered terrace on the first floor. That’s where our riad’s heart beats, and that’s where ours beats. From the first moment, we perceived a special energy in that place. When everything was still a construction site, we spent endless hours sitting wherever we could: cement bags that became armchairs, wooden boards transformed into improvised tables. The ground was dusty, materials scattered everywhere, but comfort didn’t matter. What mattered was being there. It was as if that space could infuse calm and creativity at the same time, a rare and precious combination: a true idea laboratory.

SILVIA: “The best ideas are born here!” I repeat when we sit in that magical corner. Our minds relaxed while workers worked around us, and the most beautiful ideas began to flow naturally, like water finding its way. We could define it as the headquarters of big decisions. Every important decision for the riad was made sitting in that special corner. The colors of the zellij and vases, the shape of the pool, the details that would make the difference: everything was born there. It’s the place where dreams took concrete form. Even now, when we need to think about something important, that’s our heart’s place. We sit there, breathe that unique atmosphere that only that place can give us, and solutions come by themselves. The zen area isn’t just a riad space, it’s our refuge, our emotional control center.

9. How did you choose the artisans and materials? Did you let yourselves be inspired by the place or follow a precise vision?

VERONICA: “Adriano is our ace in the hole!” I say when I tell how we transformed our dream into reality. A Bolognese architect that destiny had put on my path a few years earlier, at a time when everything seemed to go wrong. I was dealing with my first riad, the work had turned into a nightmare, much more complicated than expected, and above all I had trusted the wrong people. One evening, taken by total discouragement, I do something I never do when traveling: I go to an Italian restaurant. Not out of nostalgia, but simply because it was the closest to where I was staying. Crossing that threshold was like crossing a sliding door that changed everything. The restaurant was built in a wonderful riad, and after lots of chatting with this kind and smiling gentleman, Adriano reveals to me that he has just opened that restaurant, renovated by him, because his main occupation is actually riad renovation.

SILVIA: “I couldn’t believe it!” I tell when I think of that magical moment. There, in Veronica’s moment of maximum discouragement, she had found the right person in the right place. With him everything became easy. Meanwhile a beautiful friendship was born, one of those connections that arise when people understand each other immediately and share dreams. When we found our Riad Alkemia, Adriano was the first person after us to see it. He walked through those spaces with our same eyes full of dreams and helped us translate into reality the concept we had in mind. “Adriano isn’t just an architect,” I tell Veronica, “he became the translator of our dreams into bricks, wood and zellij, the perfect bridge between our vision and the mastery of local artisans.”

BEING WOMEN, FOREIGNERS, ENTREPRENEURS IN MARRAKECH

10. What reactions did you receive from those around you? More encouragement or more skepticism?

SILVIA: “Two women alone, in Morocco, managing a riad? Are you sure?” This is a phrase we hear addressed to us. We received a bit of everything. Some looked at us with admiration and curiosity, others with a mixture of skepticism and surprise that almost made us smile. It’s as if people expected everything to collapse at any moment, some problem to explode. “Are you sure about what you’ve done?” they still ask me today. It’s incredible how full of prejudices we are. When I tell about our riad, I see in people’s eyes that worry mixed with skepticism, as if we had done something dangerous or reckless, instead of simply realizing our dream.

VERONICA: “You should come see with your own eyes!” I respond to those who look at us with that worried face. What I tell is that in Marrakech, in the same square, a mosque and a Catholic church coexist, and now there’s also a project to build a synagogue. This tells everything about this country: an ability to welcome diversity that is often missing elsewhere. When I tell this to Italian friends, I see surprise in their eyes. It’s as if they have to completely rewrite the idea they had of Morocco. But fortunately we also met many people who supported us, advised us and, sometimes, simply encouraged us with a smile. “These encounters gave us the strength to go forward,” I tell Silvia, “when others’ skepticism seemed to weigh too much.”

11. What does it mean for you today to be women entrepreneurs in Morocco?

SILVIA: “We are part of a change!” I respond with pride when asked this question. It means being witnesses to an evolution, demonstrating that you can create a business, work with passion and deeply respect local culture. It’s not easy, but every small conquest reminds us it’s worth it. Actually Morocco is a Muslim country with very broad views. “It’s not at all rare to find women entrepreneurs here,” I explain to those who seem surprised. We know and collaborate with Moroccan women who manage businesses with professionalism and determination that would make many envious. Being women entrepreneurs in Morocco means discovering every day that clichés are often far from reality.

VERONICA: Being entrepreneurs here means discovering every day that prejudices often hide realities very different and much richer than we imagine. “Here I learned that respect is earned through work, dedication and authenticity,” I tell Silvia, “it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman, Moroccan or foreign. What counts is the passion you put into what you do and the respect you show for this wonderful land that welcomed us.”

12. What message would you like to leave for those who dream of changing their life?

SILVIA: “The perfect moment doesn’t exist!” This is the first thing I tell those who ask me for advice. There will be a fear, a doubt, a “maybe it’s not the right time.” But if inside you feel that path belongs to you, it’s worth trying. It’s not a fairy tale without obstacles, but it’s a journey that changes you and teaches you who you really are. Our message comes from our experience and the words we tell ourselves every time we face a new challenge: dreams have no expiration date. “We were sixteen when we first dreamed of doing something together,” I tell with emotion. “We were over forty when we reunited and had the courage to say: ‘It’s time.'” There’s no right age to chase your dreams, there’s only the moment when you decide to stop postponing them.

VERONICA: “Don’t wait for the perfect moment, because it doesn’t exist!” I repeat to those who dream of changing their life. Don’t wait to have all the answers, because you’ll find them along the way. Don’t be afraid to fail, because every fall is a lesson that will make you stronger. But above all, don’t take this journey alone. “Happiness is only real when shared,” as one of my favorite quotes says, and this also applies to dreams and challenges. “Surround yourselves with people who believe in you,” I advise, “who share your values, who support you in difficult moments.” Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the decision to go forward despite fear. “And I assure you,” I conclude with a smile, “that on the other side awaits a version of yourselves you didn’t even know you could become.”

HOSPITALITY ACCORDING TO VERONICA AND SILVIA

13. How do you define the experience you want to offer to riad guests?

SILVIA: “Feeling at home, but in a home that smells of spices!” This is the idea that underlies everything we do at Riad Alkemia. Those who enter here, even though they find themselves thousands of kilometers from their daily life, must immediately feel welcomed in a home that resonates with distant sounds and offers a slower rhythm. The riad is rented exclusively and this allows us to create a totally personalized and intimate experience. “You’re not guests in a hotel,” I explain, “you’re temporary inhabitants of a house full of stories, where every corner tells something special.” Every detail is designed to make guests feel part of an authentic experience: the light that changes the color of tadelakt at every hour of the day, hand-woven carpets that tell the story of Berber women, mint tea served calmly, as a welcome ritual. “In the morning you wake up with the scent of freshly baked bread that Khadija prepares with hands and love,” I tell with a smile.

VERONICA: “It’s not just a place to sleep!” I emphasize when describing our hospitality philosophy. During the day, the riad becomes your personal refuge where you return after exploring Marrakech. In the evening, under the terrace stars, you can dine by candlelight feeling part of this magical city. It’s a refuge where you take time to observe the sky from the terrace, listen to the echo of the muezzin in the distance, savor a dish prepared with local ingredients and perhaps exchange chats until late with us. “The experience we want to offer is made of small daily magic,” I explain, “of sincere welcome and delicate balance between Marrakech’s vibrant soul and the reassuring comfort of feeling safe, pampered and understood. We don’t offer just a place to sleep, we offer an authentic life experience, where luxury means intimacy, beauty means authenticity, and comfort means feeling completely at ease in a place that tells millennial stories.”

14. Have you had a particularly emotional moment with a guest you won’t forget?

SILVIA: “They literally made us cry with joy!” I tell when I think of that couple who had just been to La Mamounia, the hotel that has been named the most beautiful in the world multiple times. When they chose to rent our entire riad after that experience, their review moved us beyond every expectation. But there’s one story that surpasses everything for me: Richard’s. “It was one of those perfect days,” I still remember, “when suddenly this incredible booking arrived. Fourteen people for two weeks! It seemed almost too good to be true.” And instead Richard and his group arrived, had a wonderful stay. What we didn’t know is that Richard would become symbolic for us: he was our last guest before lockdown, and when borders reopened two years later, he was the first to book the riad again. “He came back with another group,” I tell with emotion, “as if he wanted to close that difficult chapter and open a new one together with us.”

VERONICA: “Richard isn’t just a guest, he’s part of our riad’s history!” I say when I think of him. During those months of forced closure, the memory of his positive energy accompanied us when everything seemed lost. His story perfectly represents what we want to be: a place where authentic bonds are born, where people don’t just come to sleep but to live an experience that marks them. “Every time someone chooses to return to us,” I explain to Silvia, “we feel we’ve reached our goal: not being just a place to stay, but becoming part of our guests’ most beautiful memories.” Moments like these make you understand this isn’t just work, it’s creating human connections that go beyond simple stays, it’s touching people’s hearts and staying forever in their most precious memories.

15. How do you nurture the bond between Moroccan authenticity and Western comfort?

VERONICA: “It’s like composing a symphony where every element maintains its unique voice!” I explain when asked about our approach. Our secret is creating perfect harmony between tradition and modernity. We rigorously maintained everything original: hand-carved cedar wood ceilings, plaster decorations of the dome, tadelakt that changes color with light. But we integrated modern comfort with total discretion: powerful but invisible WiFi, bathrooms that combine Moroccan beauty with European efficiency. “It’s a continuous balance,” I tell with passion, “the wrought iron lamp that projects dancing shadows next to adjustable lighting, the silence of the patio with bird songs, but steps away from the medina’s heart.” Every detail is designed to respect the place’s soul without giving up what makes our guests feel at home.

SILVIA: “For us authenticity and comfort have never been in contrast, they complete each other!” I emphasize when we talk about our philosophy. Cotton linen woven in women’s cooperatives, SPA products created by Berber women, but with luxury spa quality. Berber carpets bring tribal history, but offer home comfort. “This meeting between two worlds is the magic,” I explain to Veronica, “our guests feel immersed in Moroccan authenticity but wrapped in comfort and safety.” When this alchemy works, it’s the true secret of our hospitality: never betraying the essence of this extraordinary place, but making it accessible and comfortable for those arriving from afar, creating a perfect bridge between different cultures that enrich each other.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

16. Where do you see yourselves in five years? Dreams in the drawer still to be realized?

VERONICA: “In five years? We see ourselves still here, in Marrakech!” I respond with certainty when thinking about the future, “but with our riad living a new season, more mature, enriched with all the experiences and stories we’ll collect over time.” It’s beautiful to imagine how every guest who passes through here leaves a small piece of their story, making Alkemia richer in memories and human connections. “But then… there’s that project…” I add smiling mysteriously when Silvia looks at me with that complicity only we two understand. You know how it is, without a dream to chase we don’t like staying still. “Same spirit as Alkemia,” I tell, “but in a completely different context: outside the medina, immersed in nature, among scents of wild herbs and silences interrupted only by wind.”

SILVIA: “Exactly!” I confirm when Veronica talks about Alkemia’s future. “We’d like Riad Alkemia to become a special meeting point for curious travelers, artists and beauty lovers, a place where cultures touch and naturally merge. At the moment it’s really just a dream,” I admit when we talk about our secret project, “but we believe dreaming is the first indispensable step toward the future. It still has a very dreamlike appearance, but… it already has a name!” I laugh when I see the curious expression of those listening to us. “But we prefer not to reveal it yet. Some dreams need time to mature in silence, like good wine. When it’s the right time, we’ll share it with those who follow us on this journey. For now we enjoy every day here, knowing the future still holds many wonderful surprises for us.”

17. If I understand correctly, you both live in Italy. How do you manage the riad from a distance?

VERONICA: “At first distance management seemed an impossible challenge!” I admit when asked this question, “but technology now helps us extensively. We can work from anywhere in the world, we just need a good connection.” The real secret was building a staff we trust blindly and learning to take a step back. “Our very Western approach,” I explain laughing, “that of wanting to anticipate and predict everything, didn’t marry well at all with the Inshallah philosophy, where problems are only faced when they actually present themselves.” On some fundamental points we were firm and rigid, and this mix between total trust and clear rules proved really winning. It was a growth process for us too, learning that not everything must be controlled in the European way.

SILVIA: “At first it was frustrating for us!” I confess when telling about the early times, “then we understood that imposing ourselves on every single aspect would never have worked.” So we started letting the staff manage many things their way, respecting their rhythm and local experience. And then we have Adriano, who is our fixed point. In case of emergency he intervenes promptly, and he’s the person we know we can count on. It’s a winning team! Everyone brings their piece: we bring vision and organization, they bring local knowledge and adaptability, Adriano brings timely intervention when needed and not only. It was a growth process for us too,” I reflect, “learning to delegate, to trust completely, to mix our European standards with Moroccan rhythm and wisdom. And it’s precisely this mix that’s Alkemia’s authentic soul.”

18. If you had to describe Riad Alkemia with a single word… what would it be?

SILVIA: “Rebalancing,” I respond without hesitation when asked this question. “For me Alkemia is like a deep breath after a run.” It’s the place where the mind’s noise subsides, where time seems to flow with a different rhythm. Here everything harmonizes: the intimate silence of the patio and the distant call of the medina, the raw matter of tadelakt and the softness of a cushion, curiosity for what’s new and the reassuring familiarity of feeling at home. “When our guests cross the riad’s threshold, everything finds its place,” I observe with emotion, “racing thoughts stop, breathing becomes deeper, senses awaken.” We often see them arrive loaded with stress, haste, a thousand thoughts, and we see them transform day after day. It’s a center to return to, every time you get a little lost, it’s the journey outside and the one inside yourself.

VERONICA: “Return,” I say when thinking of Alkemia’s essence. “For me Alkemia is a circular journey.” Every time I cross its threshold, I feel like I’m finding a piece of myself again. It’s the return to a more authentic dimension, to things that really matter: sincere welcome, contact with people, the pleasure of living in a place that smells of stories. “It’s the return to oneself,” I explain, “to one’s deepest roots, to a life dimension we often forget we have.” When you enter here, you return to looking around with different eyes, to feeling scents, to really listening to sounds. You return to taking time, to speaking calmly, to savoring every moment. “Even if life takes me far away, Alkemia remains my safe harbor,” I confide to Silvia, “the point from which to start and to which to return. It’s as if Alkemia were a fixed point to anchor to, wherever the journey takes me. And for us two it was also the return to our friendship, to our common dreams, to that complicity we thought lost forever.”