The back story
Where Marrakech sleeps: palaces, riads and the gardens beyond the walls
La Mamounia and the Royal Mansour inside the walls, riads such as El Fenn and La Maison Arabe in the lanes of the medina, and the garden resorts of the Palmeraie and the Atlas road: where to stay in Marrakech.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © calflier001 · CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe first decision in Marrakech is whether to sleep inside the walls or outside them. Inside, the city’s grand palaces and its riads, the old courtyard houses of the medina, put the souks and Jemaa el-Fna at your door; their doors open on to quiet courtyards and roof terraces, often down a lane too narrow for a car. Outside, in Hivernage, the Palmeraie and along the roads to the Atlas, the great resorts have gardens measured in hectares, long pools and the mountains on the horizon.
Inside the walls: the palaces
La Mamounia, which has received guests since 1923 in its own words, stands on Avenue Bab Jdid inside the ramparts, with four restaurants and a spa. The Royal Mansour, a few steps from Jemaa el-Fna, replaces rooms with riads and corridors with lanes: a medina within the medina, in the hotel’s phrase. In the Kasbah, La Sultana has 28 rooms and suites around patios carved by master craftsmen, beside the Saadian Tombs.
The riads of the medina
A riad is a house turned inward on a courtyard garden. El Fenn has 41 individually styled rooms and a 1,300-square-metre roof terrace; La Maison Arabe has been, in its own words, one of the city’s finest dining experiences since 1946; Riad Kniza dates from the eighteenth century; L’Hôtel Marrakech, owned by Jasper Conran, keeps six suites around a wide courtyard and pool.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Pi3.124 · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe garden resorts
Beyond the walls, the Four Seasons stands in 16 hectares of grounds in Hivernage, the Mandarin Oriental in 20 hectares of olive groves, and the Oberoi in 28 acres of gardens and orchards facing the Atlas. Amanjena takes its colours from the rose-hued buildings of the old city; Les Deux Tours and Jnane Tamsna are among the palms of the Palmeraie.
For a first visit of three or four nights, stay inside the walls; add a night or two in a garden resort if you want to rest.
Our advice: ask a medina riad how close a taxi can come, and whether someone will meet you there with your luggage.
Why it's on our list
- Inside the walls: the palaces
- The riads of the medina
- The garden resorts
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More in depth
The back storyThe red city: reading Marrakech’s great sightsThe Koutoubia’s minaret, the open-air theatre of Jemaa el-Fna, the Saadian Tombs, the ruins of El Badi and the courtyards of the Bahia and Ben Youssef: how to read the medina UNESCO listed in 1985.History & heritageMarrakech: from the Almoravids to the red cityThe Almoravid foundation of 1070–72, the Koutoubia, the Saadian Tombs and the Badi Palace, the great residences, Jemaa el-Fna and the new town: Marrakech’s heritage, told plainly.
The back storyFrom Majorelle blue to the festival: Marrakech’s artsThe Musée Yves Saint Laurent and the Berber museum at Majorelle, MACAAL’s African art, the photographs of the Maison de la Photographie, Dar el Bacha’s exhibitions, the music of Mouassine and the Marrakech International Film Festival.