Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech
A villa patio and its private pool · © Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech 
Set on 20 hectares of olive trees along the Royal Golf Road, the Mandarin Oriental fields almost only villas with a private pool, each behind its own wall. You come for space and remove, ten minutes by car from the medina, not to sleep in the middle of the city.
Our verdict
The Mandarin Oriental is not a hotel in the medina, whatever the online address might suggest. It is a 20-hectare estate on the Royal Golf Road, east of town, where the housing tracts give way to olive groves and golf courses. You enter along a long driveway, and you only leave by car: the medina and Jemaa el-Fna are about ten minutes away, Menara airport 6 km. The stance is clear. Rather than a vertical palace, a run of villas in ochre pisé, scattered through the gardens, reached on foot or by bike. The reference is Berber and Moroccan, restrained, without decorative excess.
Lodging is almost entirely villas - fifty-four, plus nine suites. Each has its enclosed garden, its plunge pool, its hot tub and, for the larger, its outdoor shower. That is the central pitch: you sleep behind your own wall, no facing windows or shared corridor. The rest holds the same level. The spa, nearly 1,800 m², is built around two domed hammams, a heated indoor pool and six cabins opening onto a private terrace, and it often turns up on the top-resort-spa lists. Add several tables, a kitchen garden feeding part of the kitchens, a kids’ club and family rooms. Travellers rate the whole 9.2 on Booking, with the highest marks for facilities and cleanliness. For standing and calm, it plays in the same court as the great luxury houses in and around town.
That leaves the distance, which decides everything, and the rate, which is not trifling. Ten minutes by car from the old town, you do not slip out to wander the souks between two moments at the villa: each outing is planned, shuttle or taxi. That is a deal-breaker for a short stay built around the medina, and it is the whole point for anyone wanting the opposite - golfers, families after space, couples who prefer a private garden to the buzz. Two honest reservations: the review count stays modest for a house of this size, and Wi-Fi is the lowest score travellers leave, which surprises at this price. Villas start around £1,020 a night in low season and climb fast: you come here knowingly, paying first for space and remove, not a city-centre address.
What sets it apart
- One villa, one wall, one pool Most of the estate is private villas, each with an enclosed garden, plunge pool and hot tub. You do not hear your neighbours: that is the point, and it holds.
- One of the most complete spas Nearly 1,800 m² of treatments, two hammams under dome, a heated indoor pool and six cabins with private terrace. Regularly listed among the best resort spas in the world.
- Twenty hectares of olive grove The estate spreads across former lands planted with olive and rose. You move between villas by bike, the Atlas on the horizon part of the year.
- The chef's kitchen garden A market garden feeds part of the tables. You can eat there too, vegetables picked on the spot, in a corner of the estate opened to guests.
Worth knowing
Reckon ten minutes by car to Jemaa el-Fna and the medina: hotel shuttle, taxi or car for every outing in town. Menara airport 6 km away. Free private parking and valet. Free Wi-Fi across the estate. Pets welcome at no extra charge. £425 deposit taken on arrival. Buffet breakfast (continental, halal, gluten-free, vegetarian).
Facilities & services
Location
Practical info
Details checked and cross-referenced by the editors - June 2026.
