The Mellah Hotel

The Mellah Hotel goes against the medina riad, and that is the whole point. No zellige on every floor here or a patio saturated with lanterns: the house plays a design-hotel aesthetic, deep green walls, brass, golden mosaic on the headboard, brass bathtubs set in the middle of the room, geometric floors. The result is photogenic and coherent, far from the expected Moroccan decor, and that is exactly what its guests come for. This is the register of the designer hotel, at ten rooms, where each unit is treated as a set.

The house’s showpiece is on the roof. The terrace lays out a pool lined with low benches and a coloured mural, with an open view onto the medina terraces and, in the distance, the Koutoubia minaret. That is where you spend the end of the day, and on its own it carries a good part of the address’s appeal. Service, personal in a house this size, and design come top of the comments, which earns the hotel a rating among the highest in the quarter - on a still limited review count since the house is recent.

You need to know what to expect before booking. The small-scale house books up fast and lacks the facilities of a large hotel: a roof pool, but no spa or hammam, and stairs-only floors. The price, next, is frankly high, in the bracket of standing addresses, understandable for design at this level but placing tight budgets aside. Finally, the Mellah, quiet and slightly off, puts Jemaa el-Fna a fifteen-minute walk away: pleasant for sitting down, less so for anyone wanting the souks at the hotel foot.

The Mellah Hotel speaks to a specific crowd: those coming to Marrakech for a heavily worked character address and shrugging off a spa or a swimming pool. At ten rooms and this rate, it is neither a practical base nor a bargain, but a place chosen for its style, and it delivers. The price is high, no spa or lap pool: at this level, other addresses offer more space or facilities. Here you pay for a signature, and it is held.