18 day vacation in Morocco - guide to hire?

You won't need a guide nor translator since you speak English. Spanish is useless in marakech

Having a guide is good, but they often this kind of service come at a significant price. Tourist Guides are officially licensed by the Government of Morocco.  There are people who are not scrupulous and will try to convince you that a non licensed guide is fine. It is not.  If you hire someone who doesn't have a license,  and he is transporting your family to a destination, you could get stranded in a remote location.  This is almost garrenteed if the police stop and question him. They will ask him for his papers. They will arrest him on the spot  if he can't produce the correct paperwork. Although they will not abandon you, they will leave it up to you as to how you will resolve your delema.
The police quite often know the official guides for the area will stop and question someone who is clearly a Moroccan out with a non-Moroccan looking person. I know this as I am an American living in Morocco and I am married to a Moroccan.  It has happened to my husband and I several times. My marriage license clears it up, but I know it has been an issue for others. I know the police do this kind of thing for the protection of the tourists. Crime against tourists is very low in Morocco because the police are very diligent, but it feels like a hassle when it is happening.
I know several available official tourist transporters (chauffeur driven cars) who speak multiple languages.....English, French for sure and most everyone in the tourist industry speaks some Spanish as we are so very close to Spain. This is a good option even if you get your own guide. It gives you a bit of control about where you go and how you get there. If you choose not to have an official tourist guide, your hotel can advise you about great local places to visit too. They will often suggest having a private driver as well. Some have a Tourist Transport service on call. It may not seem like it at first, but it really is less expensive option than a taxi. Many Taxi drivers will try to over charge tourists (forget to turn on the meter or negotiate a price after they have your bags locked in their trunk). If you like a little independence of going to places on your own, using a tourist transporter is the best.  It is not as expensive as most people think. You only pay for what you hire him to do. Unlike a taxi, it is a clear set rate before you sit in the car. The driver does not rack up extra money the longer he  keeps you in his car as takes to get you from point (a) to point (b). It is a very  safe way to get around cities, shop/dine. He will guard anything you happen to leave in his car as he waits untill you return.  These men will happily go short or long disances, and each driver often will knows many reputable people in other aspacts of the tourist industry who can help and may be able to offer ideas for events or places to visit. These Tourist Transporters are not official tourist guides so they are (by law) not allowed to accompany you into your destinations, offer you official introductions, or act as a tourist guide outside of his car, but they quite often can recomend exciting and interesting places for you to stop visit on your own.....of course that is if they can then drive you there.

I hope you have a fun time in Morocco. Private message me if you want more details.

Hello my name is majdouline im 22 years old me and my friend we organise trips for our friends who are coming from abroad sometimes we are not a professional guides but we have an association called Moroccan association for cultural and touristic exchange - MACTE  in the city of rabat
we travel alot you just need to tell us your budget and we'll try to make a program out of it , we reserve hotels for you , we rent cars for your travel we travel with you .....

and we have  a 1200 $ program called "Discover Morocco" that includes the visite of many cities , villages, breakfast and lunch included, cooking classes, trips to sahara..... (a very rich program)


Have a nice day

Hello!
Well as I personally worked in the field..not exactly as a guide...I've seen many tourists who go around places here with no guide..just with a map and a book..
I'd suggest you to just hold a map along with a history book and walk you and your wife along and discover places..you won't find any problems about languages.. especially in Marrakech..French,Spanish,English,Italian.German..you will absolutely find people who speaks these languages fluently..
Have fun. (: