For the ultimate trip, these are the best hotels in Marrakech
By Lauren Burvill
Morocco's glittering bohemian city is brighter than ever – with a flash-pack of fabulous places to stay. The city is known for its riads – a traditional property set around a central courtyard – as well as its grand-dame hotels made from marble. There are a cluster of big-name players scattered across Marrakech – The Oberoi, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental among them – as well as smaller, independently owned hangouts offering a fresh take on this frenetic metropolis. From palaces owned by the royal family to pretty riads that host local creatives for months at a time, these are our favourite hotels in Marrakech – in no particular order.
Fairmont Marrakech
Around a 30-minute drive from the medina, this sprawling desert oasis offers an elevated take on barefoot luxury, with modern, palatial architecture, a vast outdoor swimming pool, a hammam-inspired spa and even a golf course (the largest in Marrakech). Rooms here come with expansive bathrooms and dressing areas, as well as private balconies or gardens for the ground-floor suites, each facing the Atlas Mountains. The heart of the hotel is its outdoor water area, a series of glass-clear tiered ponds that cascade down to meet the 150-metre swimming pool, shaded by palm trees and peppered with sleek sun loungers and smart, Breton-clad waiters (a nod to Marrakech’s French-speaking side). Casting an eye towards the mountains, you’ll notice the difference between the sandy desert and the hotel’s bright green lawns; the resort cleverly found a type of grass that needs less water to thrive, one of the hotel’s many ingenious blends of sustainability and beauty.
There are enough restaurants here to keep you sated all week, from the relaxed poolside lunch spot L’Olivier for fresh tabbouleh salads and sunshine-filled carpaccios, to chic La Sabra, part of the hotel’s country club. The jewel in the hotel’s crown is Italian restaurant Le Caravane, a sophisticated setting with low lighting and dark, carved wood panelling, serving the best Italian food outside of Italy – expect simple plates cooked to perfection (the lamb rack is really something special). The real hidden gem is Al Ain, a secluded, ornate dining room covered in jewel-tone zellij tiles with fabulously authentic Marrakech cuisine. Children get the star treatment with its kid's club, with one huge playroom (that includes an actual tree house), and to-scale fluffy sheep, as well as one very-petted llama. There are areas for arts and crafts, a reading corner, a connecting room for cooking classes, as well as a trampoline, heated pool, and slides outside. If that’s not enough, book a trip to the on-site farm which also has a tortoise zone. Charlotte Davey
Selman Marrakech
Reminiscent of an ancient summer palace built for a prince and his horses, this hotel reads like a love letter to Marrakech, complete with grand stables and Arabian stallions dotted around the palatial Ottoman architecture. It turns out that’s not far off from the truth; the son of the founder, Abdeslam Bennani Smires, wanted to combine his love of hotels and riding (he’s a show jumping champion as well as maestro hotelier). Decor is Arabian by way of Hermès; the equestrian theme permeating throughout the dark wood and leather studded furnishings, Mapplethorpe-esque black and white equine photography, as well as the paddocks that define the resort's layout. The rooms themselves are wonderfully considered, with large beds, tiled dining tables and sofa nooks, divided by hand-carved wood panelling and decorated in traditional Moorish style, with monochrome Zelliges tiles juxtaposing the plush, warm-hued furnishings.
There are several restaurants spread out around the resort. A favourite is the Pavillion, located between the horse paddocks, for breakfast. There’s live music from traditional Berger musicians while waiters ask you how you like your eggs. Do make sure to stroll up to the stables themselves – grand, black and gold colonnades (so grand in fact that Madonna recently hosted her birthday dinner here), for the 20-or-so Arabian horses, a breed so beautiful that it's forbidden to ride. Come sundown the table to book is Assyl, a majestic temple-like structure at the far end of the hotel, gilded to the rafters with handicraft and antiques, including its intricate carved wood walls and ceiling, a tradition used in Ottoman palaces. In the kitchen is a majority female team of chefs, serving up national ‘home comfort’ dishes; sea bream tajines, mint and cumin roasted lamb, towers of couscous.
The overall impression, despite the five star service, impeccable rooms, spectacular kids club, and first rate spa, is not one of a hotel, but of a private home, hired for a particularly lavish celebration. Everything here is personal, warm, joyous, and inviting. Do make sure to stay for the Sunday brunch, where the entire resort descends to the paddock area for jolly mariachi bands, a parade from the horses, and free-flowing Champagne. A home away from home, if your home is an Arabian palace. Charlotte Davey
Nobu Hotel Marrakech
With a name as reputable as Nobu on the door, good service and an even better restaurant offering are practically scribed into the brickwork. Marrakech is the brand's first foray into Africa, and its interiors remain respectful of the location, capturing a different kind of aesthetic that sets it apart from its Mediterranean cousins. The location is one to celebrate. From here, you can walk to the medina and the souks, or arrange drivers to take you further afield via the concierge, who suggests tours to the Atlas mountains, desert picnics and cultural experiences like camel rides. The rooftop is as beautiful as the 360-degree views it offers, and watching the sun cast ombre shades of pink and orange across the sky before it sinks behind the horizon is best accompanied by a signature cocktail or a serving of mint tea – poured from an elaborate silver-tone pot, of course. Every bedroom is a suite bedecked in mahogany wood and rich furnishings. Sarah Leigh Bannerman
Maison Brummell Majorelle
Despite being home to the colour-popping Jardin Majorelle, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Villa Oasis, the designer’s former residence, the Majorelle neighbourhood has never quite had a worthy place to stay – until now. Pitching up near Rue Yves Saint Laurent, close to the smart Gueliz quarter, Maison Brummell Majorelle is a welcome addition. From the outside, the dusty-pink modernist cube reflects the hues of the medina. Inside, it’s a sculptural masterpiece of clean, sloping lines, neutral tones and smooth surfaces. A follow-up to the tropical-modern Hotel Brummell in Barcelona’s Poble Sec neighbourhood, it took Austrian hotelier Christian Schallert three years to build this peaceful refuge, with its tadelakt spiral staircase and shapely, sinuous curves. Simple ceramic pots and paper lanterns are placed just so, with the crescent-shaped windows casting sculptural shadows. Each of the eight bedrooms is spacious, in shades of walnut, concrete and brushed brass; some have little balconies, day beds and views overlooking the speckled- grey terrazzo pool or, if you squint, the Jardin Majorelle. The sleek, ultra-contemporary hammam and steam room feel miles away from any sort of medina chaos, as does the ink-blue living room with its crisp architectural fireplace. Chloe Sachdev
Rosemary
Belgian ceramist, textile artist and all-round creator Laurence Leenaert has already been a key player in redefining a new Marrakech aesthetic with her Lrnce brand. Now she, alongside her husband Ayoub Boualam, has etched, chiselled and hand-painted this five-bedroom riad into a brain-ticklingly artistic guesthouse. She has treated the former home, located inside one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the medina – Riad Zitoun Jdid, near the Jewish quarter – like one of her squiggly canvases, but with terrazzo throughout and plentiful use of traditional craftsmanship. In the pocket-sized hammam, an octopus mural from chiselled zellige is pressed into the wall, and streaks of rainbow slice through abstract stained-glass windows. The artist’s touches are everywhere, from signature scribbles carved into sandstone tables to tiny hand-painted bathroom tiles, each a miniature artwork, and wavy terrazzo tiles in the centre courtyard. On every smooth tadelakt surface is a piece of colourful art – plates, vases, candle holders – by Leenaert herself or her brand. Flooded with light, the riad wraps around a giant jacaranda tree, all the way up to the tangerine rooftop, where mosaics of fruit bowls and wonky smiley faces are embedded into tables and walls, and wrought-iron dining chairs have been twisted and shaped like suns and moons. The dining room and salon will become spaces for intimate talks and workshops – emphasising the sense that Rosemary will be its own embassy of creativity. Chloe Sachdev
Izza
Spread across seven interconnecting riads in the less decorous part of the old medina, this newcomer is an intriguing proposition. Owned by tech-focused London investment firm Neon Adventures, which also bought the home of the late American socialite- designer Bill Willis a few doors down, the riad is inspired by Willis and a certain classic Marrakech aesthetic, but is also a space for forward-looking digital art. It’s a labyrinth of little corridors and creaky, carved chestnut doors. One opens to a moody tea room with black glossy tiles and a red velvet sofa; across a courtyard is the black-and-white Bill’s Bar, which echoes Willis’s iconic design for Rick’s Café in Casablanca. There’s a cute coffee shop with jewel-tone emerald zellige tiles and bits of brushed gold. Up a narrow set of colourful stone stairs is a walnut-clad library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, rolling ladders and worn-in leather chairs. Perhaps Izza’s biggest USP is its £5 million art collection, including prints of Sebastião Salgado’s Amazonia NFT series and screens showing works such as Turkish-American artist Refik Anadol’s machine-learnt shifting sands. The futurism contrasts with framed letters from Yves Saint Laurent and the fact that the 14 rooms are named after expatriate bon vivants of yesteryear: Cecil, Jack, Talitha and so on. One has a modern cubed staircase and kitchenette; others are narrow, with wall-to-wall beds mixed with vintage furniture and Moroccan wood carvings. Some of the courtyards have little plunge pools, and there’s a beautiful rooftop that feels like a secret garden refuge, with day beds and an excellent locavore restaurant. Chloe Sachdev
Farasha Farmhouse
In a secluded olive grove on the Route de Fes outside the city, Farasha Farmhouse has the feel of a private clubhouse or art gallery in nature – the sort of thing you might expect to find in Marfa or Joshua Tree. Envisaged by French-Northern Irish husband-and-wife event stylists Fred and Rosena Charmoy, and designed by hot-right-now architects Aire au Carré (who recently spruced up El Fenn), every detail feels well-chosen. The main building is a minimal tadelakt space, with giant woolly installations by Moroccan artist Amine El Gotaibi, local shaggy carpets, mid-century Italian sofas and coffee-table books from Marrakech’s storied Vreeland estate. Of the three suites in the main building, it’s worth asking for one on the second floor, with views of the Atlas and Jbilet mountains. Come sunrise, colourful hot-air balloons join the silhouette of the peaks in the acid-yellow sky. Outside, a traditional adobe has been reimagined into a fully equipped casita, where traditional clay contrasts with pops of mustard and oxblood zellige tiles. There’s an organic farm, from which most of the meals are plucked, and new-agey events such as hypnotherapy concerts. But the pièce de résistance is the 50-metre pool, with sunbeds between olive trees, for languid days drifting into evenings of hibiscus sundowners and cosmic chats. Chloe Sachdev
La Mamounia
This is where Charlie Chaplin and Churchill chose to hole up, and Hitchcock filmed The Man Who Knew Too Much. Reinvigorated by designer Jacques Garcia, it had a spectacular reopening in 2009. Retreat from the hubbub to the huge gardens, with their beekeepers, lemon trees, secret ice-cream parlour and the loveliest pool with a palm tree in the middle. The Sunday poolside brunch – tagines, grilled fish, pizza flatbreads – is excellent for hungry children, as is eating in Le Marocain to the sounds of a traditional oud (a bit like a lute). For a riad-style stay, there are three houses on the grounds, but the rooms with views out to the Koutoubia Mosque and over the rooftops of the Red City are the ones that give you the best sense of place. Pick up neon earthenware jugs, Berber-style rugs and baskets at New York designer Martin Raffone’s MaisonLAB in Guéliz.
El Fenn
It’s easy to forget what a game-changer El Fenn was when it opened two decades ago on the edge of the medina with just six jewel-toned bedrooms, plumes of bougainvillaea and a rooftop that felt like a fabulous house party. It stitched itself into the fabric of the Red City and redefined its aesthetic with colour-clashing walls and lounges of thickly woven Berber and velvet fabrics, Moorish keyhole archways, and orange trees. Like the best hotels, it has moved – and expanded – with the times. Co-owner Vanessa Branson, founder of the Marrakech Biennale and a certified Marocophile, has gradually bought up the crumbling neighbouring riads to create a wondrous labyrinth of 13 interconnected buildings, three pools and 41 bedrooms in blush pinks, mustards and acid yellows. Some have zellige tiles, others hand-stitched camel leather floors and carved wooden ceilings, all offset with pop art and bright contemporary installations. Various sun-dappled courtyards lead to a new wood-carved annexe, which references traditional Arabic motifs in the latticework and stained-glass windows. I recently stayed in one of the “cosy” rooms, behind an ornate cedar door. On a hand-plastered traditional tadelakt wall hangs a contemporary dot painting by Moroccan artist Abdelmalek Berhiss, while a timeworn mother-of-pearl iridescent chandelier dangles above the bed. It’s nearly impossible to tell old from new, a result of using local artisans, natural fabrics and upcycled furniture. The open-air, guest-only Colonnade Café is dotted with olive trees; its modern spiral staircase, which connects the ground-floor boutique with the sprawling spruced-up rooftop, is a monument to Marrakech’s contemporary mood. mood. Yet amid the rooftop’s pool, sunbeds and pops of colour, the old magic of Marrakech endures. Chloe Sachdev
Royal Mansour
The Royal Mansour is not so much a hotel as an imperial palace. Owned by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI – which may explain why such a vast and elaborate masterpiece took just three years to build, albeit with a team of 1,200 artisans on the job – it is set within five pink-walled hectares beside the Red City. It's made up of 53 guest riads, each three storeys high, with up to four bedrooms, indoor-outdoor living spaces and private rooftops with plunge pools and views of the Atlas Mountains.
Courtyards are spectacular: richly detailed and Zellig-tiled, with colossal scalloped archways and intricately carved doors, decorated with fountains and cane furniture, with traditional lights strung overhead. Elsewhere, the classic Moorish architecture has been updated: in the serene and stylish pool with its contemporary pavilions; in the spa, surely the prettiest on the planet, enclosed in a filigreed metal structure as ethereal as lace; in the food, in three restaurants headed up by French Chef Yannick Alléno.
Two-and-a-half hectare gardens lush with palms, olive and orange trees, and fragrant with the scent of jasmine, rosemary and mint, harbour more delights beyond the horticultural: an artist’s studio in a greenhouse where guests paint, pot and draw; and Le Jardin, the most delightful al fresco restaurant amid the greenery. Laura Fowler
The Oberoi Marrakech
This grand hotel, carved from marble, was 10 years in the making – finally opening its doors in 2019 after a decade of painstaking construction. Crouched before the Atlas mountains on 28-acres of olive groves, it’s one of the most extraordinary stays in the city. The chef and concierge were pinched from Marrakech stalwart La Mamounia, a few staff were even poached from King Mohammed’s Royal Mansour. The spa manager comes from Es Saadi and oversees the wellness programme in a space set on a sparrow-skimmed, reeded lake and equipped with marble hammams and therapists from the acclaimed Oberoi Sukhvilas.
In the rooms, discernment is apparent in elephant-grey Chesterfields, Indian chandeliers and sugared dates as fat as juicy cigars. Meanwhile, the mix of Mughal and Berber paintings reminds me that I am firmly in Marrakech but never far from Rajasthan. Stephanie Rafanelli
L’Hotel
English designer Jasper Conran made over this 19th-century palace, his first entry into the world of hotels. It’s an ethereal space, where king size beds are covered in sweeping linens like something out of a fairy-tale. Staff are engaged and attentive but never fussy, dishing up plates of solid, traditional Moroccan cooking in the summery dining room – beef and quince tagine, Moroccan salads such as Zaalouk, made with aubergine, and Taktouka, with tomatoes and peppers – all classic and classy.
This is an orange-blossom-scented, antique-filled retreat away from the hubbub – you’ll need to walk a little way to reach Marrakech’s finest restaurants and shops. But if you’re obsessed with small details, from the flowers on the table to the linens on your bed, adore scented gardens and favour intimate spaces that make you feel like you own the place, this Conran nest is for you. Tara Stevens
Riad Secret Jardin
Photographer Cyrielle Astaing and art director Julien Phomveha met in Paris, but their move to Marrakech in 2015 brought with it the opportunity to open their own riad. In the central courtyard, the resident cat stares out chirping birds in the banana trees. Rooms are set around this lush garden – interior details in the rooms have been sourced from local markets, so you can shop the look, and the dried pampas grass and flowers throughout the hotel can be bought and whisked away with you when you check out. This is, at its heart, a creative hub where artists take up months-long residencies to soak up inspiration from Marrakech’s fine creatives and work on artistic projects detached from the rest of the world. The couple’s dog, a dead-ringer for Toto from The Wizard of Oz, snoozes on the pink rooftop while you have breakfast overlooking the skyline – a unmissable delight of staying here. Sophie Knight
Four Seasons Marrakech
There are quirkier, more boho places to stay in Marrakech with tiny travellers. Fawakay Villas has a Berber tent in the garden for sleepouts, for example, while the Beldi Country Club is a rustic-chic enclave with pottery classes and riding lessons. But for a gentle introduction to North Africa, Four Seasons Resort Marrakech is safe and reliable, yet has a thrillingly high excitement factor.On arrival, there are silver trays of fresh mint tea and little bowls of almonds in the lobby, where kids are mesmerised by the chirping from the gigantic white birdcage. At night, the hotel is a sparkling, candlelit extravaganza, and bedrooms are scented with orange or rose. Children fall in love with the atmosphere and squeal over in-room surprises such as chocolate brownies, mini dressing gowns, mini djellabas (to sleep in) and toy camels. The kids' club can arrange everything from belly dancing to bread-making, and the staff seem to be permanently on an exaggerated cartoon high. There's a warm, shallow pool for toddlers, a basketball net, film screenings, picnics, and games on speed dial.
While all that's happening, parents can dash to the cooling calm of the spa for an authentic hammam – including scream-out-loud cold-water dousings – followed by the most delicious fresh rosemary and geranium tea. Or play tennis, have a yoga lesson or just loll in the sunshine. There are two swimming pools – one an adults-only dream of symmetry, the other a sprawling, free-form frenzy of floats, balls and water bombs. Cabanas provide much-needed shade, the wood-fired pizzas are bang-on, and the homemade ice creams are irresistible.
Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech
These are some serious digs: a total of 54 deeply private, one- and two-bedroom villas, all with creamy stone floors and carved tadelakt walls framed by stately columns (there are also nine first-floor rooms with fabulous Atlas views). The outdoor showers are enclosed with bamboo, while the courtyards have crackling wood fires and there are marble hammams in the bathrooms. A stroll through the 20 hectares of gardens, perfumed with the scent of 100,000 roses, leads to a spa and hammam of epic proportions, which unfurls in a series of graceful arches like those of the Mezquita in Córdoba. It's the attention to hand-crafted details like these that set the Mandarin apart from the city's more blingy five stars, and there's other carefully curated stuff too – from making dinner-party dishes with high-flying chefs to touring the organic fruit and vegetable garden. When the heat of the day gets too much just sneak back to the villa and spend the afternoon snoozing on a king-size daybed by the pool. This is somewhere to waft around indulging in all the extras, from yoga sessions to an in-room supper whipped up by a private chef. Tara Stevens
Riad Goloboy
The designer of this beautiful riad, Beatrice Faujas, spent some time in the Soviet Union and its name comes from the Russian word for blue. Fittingly, she has painted the courtyard an eye-popping Majorelle blue, using it as a flamboyant foil for her gallery-worthy art collection, which ranges from a hot-pink canine sculpture in the lobby to a graffitied splash-back in the rooftop shower. The eight bedrooms are altogether more sultry, with a palette of dark metallics. The Catherine, for example, has aubergine walls, python-skin armchairs and a fireplace trimmed with hand-beaten metal. Creamy, intricately carved plaster makes a statement headboard for the bed. The bar and sitting room is finished in charcoal tadelakt with floors embossed in Islamic motifs that contrast pleasingly with pastel-coloured armchairs and gold velvet banquettes. The furniture was bought mainly at auction or specially commissioned, and every last stick is for sale. Work will soon begin on converting the house next door, which will add a large pool, spa and eight more bedrooms by the end of the year. But for now, this is a peaceful little hideaway in the heart of Sidi Mimoun, the neighbourhood that's also home to La Mamounia. Cute and cosy with lovely staff, it's just the kind of place to combine a low-key weekend with a spot of sightseeing. Tara Stevens
Kasbah Beldi
A 50-minute drive from Marrakech in the village of Amizmiz, this kasbah is charming but the real joy is its surroundings: a gigantic green lake fringed by pines, the honey-hued peaks of the Atlas so close you can almost touch them, and the conical shape of Toubkal dusted with snow. The Kasbah is the rural sibling to the well-established Beldi Country Club in town, and since it opened late in 2014 has become a popular base for long hikes or gaucho-style gallops across the plains. There are 30 bedrooms, a couple of dining rooms, a Berber tent, two swimming pools and a hammam lit by jewel-bright glass, all hidden hobbit-like among thickets of purple fountain grass. The best is the lodge rooms, each with a floor-to-ceiling window facing the mountains to soak up mesmerising sunrise views from your bed. After a wilderness escapade, recline on one of the Berber carpets laid out beneath an ancient holm oak and picnic on lemony chicken tagine and chocolate mousse. At sunset, sit poolside with a cool bottle of Casablanca to watch the water on the lake flicker from emerald green to midnight blue – when evening comes, the canopy of stars unfolds above, unspoiled by city lights. Tara Stevens
The Source
This hip and friendly hotel is set in five hidden acres off the dusty road to Orika. Its rock-star theme was dreamt up by music-loving French owner Laurent Cohen, and his concept extends to a recording studio (with in-house technicians) and every conceivable instrument to play around with. The rooms (including two villas with private pools and an air-conditioned Berber tent) are imaginative and fun, with a stylish mix of handcrafted furniture. Each is different: the baroque, scarlet-walled Rolling Stones room; the Jimi Hendrix with a four-poster and a bath hidden behind a latticed wooden mashrabiya; the flashy silver Backstage artist's lodge, or even the powder-pink Pompadour. All of which may sound over the top, but is elegant and wonderfully laidback. The good vibes continue at the white-on-white spa with treatments that include the Sound of Silence (using resonating Tibetan bowls) and the Forever Young (an anti-ageing massage with argan oil and prickly-pear essences). The garden restaurant, surrounded by citrus trees, serves soups, Moroccan salads and chicken and lamb tagines, with skewers of fresh fruit and honey pastries for pudding. If you can tear yourself away from the pool (where local musicians jam at sunset) or the dramatic views over the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, the clamour of Marrakech is just a 20-minute drive away. Lanie Goodman
Villa Azzaytouna
This is a celebratory kind of a place, a three-bedroom pleasure palace in the Palmeraie knitted together by majestic domed roofs and tiled waterways, which is fast becoming the star of an already pretty fabulous show (the main house, Villa Ezzahra, has hosted the likes of Daniel Craig). Azzaytouna is the most intimate of the three villas, set among a cluster of century-old olive trees with a private pool that's long enough for laps (and plunge pools in the walled gardens that lead off each bedroom). There are Indian charpoi beds for collapsing in the shade, a private hammam for olive-soap scrub downs, while massage and manicures can be taken wherever and whenever you want. The vast living room has a fireplace, lit every evening, and every wall is resplendent with original art, filigreed copper baubles glittering from the cupola. It feels like a grand home rather than a villa rental, and taking all three houses would make this the ultimate party pad. Everything except alcohol is included, which means, praise be, nobody need worry about a thing from the moment of arrival – unless it's whether or not to have another lovely cold glass of Pinot Gris. Tara Stevens
Read the original article on Condé Nast Traveller.