Amanjena
The central pavilion and the great pool, at nightfall · © Amanjena 
The Amanjena is a landmark: the first Aman resort opened in Africa, in 2000, a set of pavilions and pisé houses laid out around a great pool drawn from the Menara basin. On the outskirts of town, along the Amelkis golf course, it holds the very top of the range: spa, heated pool and service to match. A budget outside the norm, no equal in town.
Our verdict
Few addresses have marked Marrakchi luxury as much as the Amanjena. Opened in 2000, the Aman brand’s first resort on the African continent, it set a way of doing things, that of ochre pisé, colonnades and monumental volumes, off the city, along the Amelkis golf course. You sleep here in pavilions and houses, scattered through a palm grove around a great pool.
That pool is the reading key of the whole. It picks up the principle of the Menara one, this body of water the Almohads used for irrigation, and gives it a mirror role: everything, here, reflects and settles. Ed Tuttle’s architecture follows the same idea, bare lines, earthen tones, a quiet monumentality rather than the opulence of a palace. Inside, pavilions lay out pisé domes, tadelakt bathrooms and, for many, a private pool.
The rest is up to the brand’s standard. A heated 33-metre pool, a spa with separate hammams for women and men, a gym, clay tennis courts, four tables including a Japanese one, and the Amelkis golf course right next door. As for the service, discreet and everywhere, it dominates the few reviews left online. You stay here in calm, the city held at a distance, when it is only twenty minutes by road.
The price, finally, has to be named: the Amanjena is among the most expensive addresses in Marrakech, in a class where the night costs what elsewhere would buy a week. Its aesthetic stance, bare and mineral, ignores the shiny, and that restraint can put off lovers of gilded palaces. The address is outside the walls, which means a car to reach the city. For those who can afford it and want calm, space and a rare service, it is one of the most complete hotel experiences in the country.
What sets it apart
- The first Aman in Africa Opened in 2000 and drawn by Ed Tuttle, the Amanjena launched Aman's presence in Africa. A landmark of Marrakchi luxury, set in a palm grove south-east of the city.
- A pool drawn from the Menara At dusk, the great central pool returns the lit pavilions in a long still reflection, the signature image of the house. Next to it, the heated 33-metre pool.
- Pavilions, often with private pool You sleep in pavilions or houses with pisé domes, many with a private heated pool. Spa with separate hammams, clay tennis courts, Amelkis golf next door.
- The price, to match The rate places the Amanjena at the very top of the Marrakchi market, and its bare aesthetic has nothing of the gilded palace. Address outside the walls: a car is needed for the medina.
Worth knowing
Km 12 route de Ouarzazate, south-east of Marrakech, along the Amelkis golf course. You are on the outskirts of town, about twenty minutes by car from Jemaa el-Fna and the airport, five kilometres from the Bahia palace. About forty pisé pavilions and houses, many with a private heated pool. Great central pool, heated 33-metre pool, children's basin, spa with separate men's and women's hammams, sauna, gym, clay tennis courts, bike loan. Four restaurants including a Japanese table. Parking and valet. Free Wi-Fi. Exceptional resort, rates among the highest in Marrakech.
- Pavilion (from, indicative)
- ≈ £765
Facilities & services
Location
Practical info
Details checked and cross-referenced by the editors - June 2026.
