Riad Farnatchi
The pool patio, lit by hurricane lamps · © Le Farnatchi 
Ten suites in a set of houses joined together, at the end of a derb in the northern medina, two minutes from the Ben Youssef Medersa. Le Farnatchi is a luxury riad run by about twenty staff: a heated 7-metre pool in a patio, a white marble hammam, a spa and a table, Le Trou au Mur. You come here for the service and the calm, at a palace rate.
Our verdict
Le Farnatchi holds in a set of joined houses, at the end of a derb in the northern medina, two steps from the Ben Youssef Medersa and its museum. The quarter, residential, places the address two minutes from the medersa and the Marrakech Museum, about ten minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna and the souks, without their commercial pressure.
The place unfolds in several courts. At the middle of one, a 7-metre basin fitted with a counter-current swim, heated in winter: it is a real pool where you swim lengths, rare in the medina, where most houses settle for a water point on the roof. The ten suites are spread across the levels, each in a different register, hand-rubbed tadelakt, cedar ceilings, marble bathrooms, and some with their own patio or olive-planted court. The house runs with about twenty staff for ten suites, which sets the service level: far from the five-room family riad, closer to the private mansion with a large staff.
The stay then plays out at the spa, the table and on the roof. A white marble hammam, open to guests late afternoon, and the adjoining Farnatchi Spa for scrub and massage. The riad’s table, Le Trou au Mur, serves home Moroccan cooking, old dishes sometimes gone from tourist menus, in a tall room with green woodwork, windows open onto the court. On the terraces, outdoor sitting rooms overlook the medina rooftops, and you go up at sundown. Travellers rate the riad 9.6 on Booking, with a 9.8 mention for couples’ stays, which says the profile of the address. For anyone after the same register in the old town, see the other luxury riads of the medina.
That leaves who it fits. The first brake is the price: from around £213 a night for the plainer suites, more for the large patio suites and in high season, this is palace rate, without the park or the swim pool of a Palmeraie resort. Access is on foot through lanes sometimes crowded by carts and mopeds, and there is no parking: you hand over the car, you follow a bellhop. The house is reached by stairs from one level to another, and the tangle of courts, which makes the charm, takes a few days to work out. For a couple wanting a medina house with hotel service, a heated pool to swim in and a careful table, without leaving the old town, the address lands right and is well placed. For anyone travelling with a large family, after a big garden or counting the budget, better look elsewhere. Here, you pay first for a rare service and a spot at the core of the medina.
What sets it apart
- A set of houses The riad is not a single home but several adjoining houses joined over the years, around patios and pools. You move from one court to another through zellige corridors, which gives the place its volumes.
- A real, heated pool In a patio, a 7-metre basin with counter-current swim, heated in winter. Rare in the medina, where most riads settle for a rooftop water point to cool off.
- The hammam and the spa A white marble hammam, open to guests late afternoon, and the adjoining Farnatchi Spa for scrub and massage. The treatment room opens onto a large-format photograph of Berber gleaners.
- Le Trou au Mur, at the table The riad's table serves home Moroccan cooking, old dishes sometimes forgotten from tourist menus. You dine in a tall wood-panelled room, windows open onto the court.
Worth knowing
The riad sits in a derb of the northern medina, a two-minute walk from the Ben Youssef Medersa and the Marrakech Museum, about ten minutes from Jemaa el-Fna. The car does not go to the door: you finish on foot in the lane, and the riad picks up the bags. No parking on site. Airport transfer offered from Marrakech-Menara, about twenty minutes by car. Pool heated year-round, marble hammam open to guests in the late afternoon, spa, Trou au Mur table and bar on booking. Reckon from around £213 a night for the plainer suites, meaningfully more for the large patio suites and in high season.
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Practical info
Details checked and cross-referenced by the editors - June 2026.
