Riad 117

The Riad 117 holds in seven rooms behind a medina door, in a derb of the Dabachi quarter, east of the old town. The Dabachi quarter is set around its mosque, off the pressure of the souks but within reach of everything: a five-minute walk is enough to reach Jemaa el-Fna, the same to enter the souks from the north. You are in the middle of the medina, without the noise of its market arteries.

The patio is a tall narrow court that takes the light through the open sky. The house is old, but it has been taken up in a clear, contemporary vein: tinted lime, hand-rubbed tadelakt, potted banana trees and a series of five-pointed stars hung on the wall, which light up in the evening above the water. At the middle, a pool tiled in turquoise, longer than a plain cool basin: you do not swim lengths, but you actually dip at hot hours, which is not so common in a riad of this size. The seven rooms open onto this court or on the floors, each in its register - pink and cream striped walls, raw wood headboards, tadelakt bathrooms with painted washbasins and open showers.

On the top level, a terrace with low sitting rooms, patterned cushions and a pergola against the sun, from where the view runs over the medina rooftops. You take the buffet breakfast here, generous and flagged halal, vegetarian or vegan on demand, and go back up at sundown when the heat drops. The house puts the accent on the welcome more than on equipment: massage and hammam come on request, help is at hand to arrange a taxi or a visit, and the bags are picked up in the derb. Travellers rate it 9.3 on Booking on over seven hundred reviews, with a 9.7 mention for the host and for the location, which says where the stay plays. For anyone after the same register, the medina has no shortage of basin houses run in this spirit: see the other medina riads with pool.

That leaves who it fits. The first caveat is the scale: the court is tall and tight, the rooms measured, and those on the top floor heat up in summer despite the air conditioning, which a few travellers flag. The pool is a real patio swim, but stays short: in the shade a good part of the day, cool, good for dipping more than for swimming. Access goes on foot through lanes sometimes crowded, there is no parking, and the house runs on cash payment, which surprises on arrival if you have not planned for it. For a couple or two friends wanting a real medina house, calm, a basin for the hot hours and a spot five minutes from Jemaa el-Fna from around £85 a night, the address lands right and is well placed. For anyone travelling in a large family, expecting a lap pool or hotel services, better look at the big garden houses of the Palmeraie. Here, you pay first for a spot in the middle of the old town and a careful welcome.