19 places, from £47 to £105 a night.
Six rooms run by Mauro behind a medina door, at Rahba Lakdima, a seven-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. Numa Marrakech is a former house redrawn in a contemporary vein: white lime and tadelakt, a cool patio basin, rooftop terrace, basement hammam. You come here for the calm and the table, not for large-hotel facilities.
Five rooms around a patio basin, in a derb of Bab Doukkala, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad El Youssoufi is a small-scale medina house: hand-set green zellige, a cool basin in the court, rooftop terrace for breakfast. You come for the calm and the welcome, not for the equipment of a large hotel.
Eight rooms around a patio covered by a glass roof, in the Riad Laarous quarter, north of the medina. The Riad Adika & Spa blends Moroccan decor and modern comfort: a cool basin at the middle of the court, traditional hammam, massage room and terrace for candlelit dinners. You come here for the calm of a small-scale house, on foot from Jemaa el-Fna.
Nine rooms around two patios, in a derb of Riad Zitoune Jdid, a five-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad le Clos des Arts is a medina house brought up to date: green zellige in the court, chiselled plaster ceilings, solar-heated hammam and a cool basin on the roof. You come here for the decor and the location, two steps from the Bahia palace.
Five rooms around a patio pool, in a derb of Diour Saboune, north of the medina, an eight-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad du Ciel is an old dwelling, painted cedar ceilings and zellige walls, with a real swim basin in the court and one of the highest terraces of the quarter. You come here for the calm and the position, near the Ben Youssef Medersa.
Eight rooms around a columned patio, in a Kaa El Houma derb behind the Bahia palace, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Houma is a medina house with contemporary decor: tadelakt and dark wood, sitting room open onto the court, and on the roof a basin terrace facing the palm trees. You come here for the calm and the table, not for the equipment of a large hotel.
Eight rooms in an 18th-century dwelling, behind a medina door at Bab Doukkala, run by a Swiss owner on site. The Riad Clementine keeps its orange-tree patio and has set its pool a floor up, on the terrace: a real heated pool where you swim, rare for an old-town riad. You come here for that swim and the calm, not for a spa.
Seven rooms around a patio basin, in a derb of Bab Doukkala, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad la Parenthese by Sashema is a medina house closely run by its host: pink zellige on the headboards, black tadelakt in the bathrooms, planted terrace on the rooftops. You come here for the calm and the welcome, not for the services of a large hotel.
Five rooms in a derb of Bab Doukkala, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. Dar d'Art is a medina house that doubles as an exhibition space: contemporary canvases cover the sitting-room walls, refreshed as artists rotate through. An indoor pool at the foot of the stairs, a rooftop terrace with a basin, a hammam to close the day.
Seven rooms around a patio pool, in a derb of the Dabachi quarter, a five-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad 117 is a medina house brought up to date: pale lime and tadelakt, a small swim basin in the middle of the court, a rooftop terrace for breakfast. You come here for the location and the welcome, not for the services of a large hotel.
Nine rooms around a columned patio, at Derb Dabachi, two minutes from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Itrane is a medina house of the old kind: zellige and ochre pink tadelakt, a real pool in the court with counter-current, terraces where you glimpse the Koutoubia and the Atlas. You come here for the location and the calm of the derb, not for the services of a large hotel.
An 18th-century dwelling behind a medina door, a five-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna, with a pool set on the roof, facing the Koutoubia and the Atlas summits. The Riad Catalina keeps its fountain patio and its orange trees below, and reserves the swim and the view for the terraces. You come here for that roof pool and the position, not for a spa.
Fifteen rooms spread over two medina houses, at Bab Doukkala, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Olema et Spa has what most riads do not: a real patio pool where you swim a few strokes, doubled with a second basin and a basement spa. On the roof, a terrace facing the Koutoubia. You come here for that rare equipment in the middle of the old town.
Five rooms around a patio basin, at Arset El Houta, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Smara is a small-scale medina house, repainted by its owners: burgundy zellige, painted ceilings, banana trees in the court, rooftop terrace from which you see the Atlas on clear days. You come here for the calm and the welcome, not for the comfort of a large hotel.
About a dozen rooms around a patio pool, in a derb of Bab Doukkala, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Salman is a medina house over two levels, with a real zellige pool at the middle of the court and a rooftop terrace facing the minaret. You come here for the freshness of the patio and the calm of the quarter.
Eight rooms behind a medina door, at Riad Zitoun Jdid, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Swaka has kept its patio basin and set a second pool on the roof, in the middle of a terrace planted with cacti and bougainvillea. You come here for that open-sky bath on the rooftops, the hammam and the calm of the quarter, not for lengths.
Three joined medina houses behind a door of the Ksour quarter, a two-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Al Rimal & Spa plays the comfort card more than the period decor: a heated pool in the patio, a hammam and a spa, a terrace facing the Koutoubia with jacuzzi. You come here for the equipment as much as for the location.
Six rooms behind a medina door, in the kasbah quarter, two minutes from the Saadian Tombs. The Riad Awa has set its pool on the roof, at the foot of the kasbah mosque minaret, and keeps on the ground floor a big white patio and a hammam. You come here for the terrace and the address, not for the rooms, which stay modest.
Ten rooms around a patio basin, in the Riad Laarous quarter, an eight-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Lena plays the classic riad card: arcaded galleries, zellige cool basin in the middle of the court, terrace facing the Atlas, hammam in the basement. You come here for the welcome and the location in the old town, knowing the house has picked up a few wrinkles.
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