Riad Hizad
The roof pool, in the terrace garden, in the afternoon · © Riad Hizad 
Six rooms around a fountain patio, in an Azbeth derb ten minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Hizad is a medina house whose asset sits on the roof: a real heated pool, set in a terrace garden, with dinner tables and Berber tent. You come here for that rooftop and for the house you can rent whole, not for the services of a large hotel.
Our verdict
The Riad Hizad holds in six rooms behind a medina door, in an Azbeth derb, in the Derb El Cadi sector, in the north-east of the old town. The quarter is residential and calm, but within reach of everything: reckon ten minutes on foot to Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia, a little more for the souk. You are in the middle of the medina, in a derb where you mostly hear footsteps and mopeds.
The court unfolds a fountain at the middle, a banana tree rising towards the open sky, arched galleries and a sculpted cedar mashrabiya that tops the floor. The decor stays plain - pale tadelakt, iron lanterns, low benches - far from the overloaded riads of the quarter. The six rooms and suites are spread around the court and on the floors, each in its register: painted reed ceilings, arched headboards, grille windows, private bathrooms with double washbasin, exposed brick walls and tadelakt showers. The house also rents whole, with cook and staff, for a family or a group of friends wanting the medina to themselves.
The stay then plays on the roof, and that is where the address sets itself apart. The terrace does not make do with a cool water point: you find a real heated pool, big enough for a few strokes, set in a garden planted with oleanders and palm trees, with sun loungers, Berber tent and dinner tables. In the evening, the roof lights, the table d’hôtes books ahead - home-made Moroccan cooking - and the view runs over the medina rooftops to the minarets. You can close the day at the hammam, with massage on site. Travellers give the house 9.6 on Booking on over four hundred reviews, with an even higher mention for the host’s welcome. For anyone after that water point on the rooftops first, the quarter has no shortage of houses run in this spirit: see the roof-pool riads.
That leaves who it fits. The first caveat has to do with access and services: you do not arrive by car at the door, there is no parking, and the house is climbed by stairs, no lift. Big cases have to be hauled by hand over several levels, and the roof pool takes climbing to the top floor. With only six rooms, the house rents whole gladly, which may mean sharing the roof and the patio with a full group on fully-booked days. The return by night takes knowing your way in the derb. For a family or two couples wanting a real medina house, a pool where you bathe on the rooftops and a careful table from around £77 a night, the address lands right and is well placed. For anyone expecting hotel services, car access or a ground-floor garden pool, better look at the big Palmeraie houses. Here, you pay first for a spot in the middle of the old town and that roof where you swim.
What sets it apart
- A pool on the roof The roof does not make do with a cool basin: this is a real heated pool, big enough for a few strokes, set in a terrace garden planted with oleanders and palm trees. The house's asset, and it is rare in the middle of the medina.
- The mashrabiya patio The court is set around a fountain and a banana tree, under a sculpted cedar mashrabiya that tops the floor. Arched galleries, lanterns and pale tadelakt: that is where you settle in the cool when the medina bakes outside.
- The roof in the evening At night, the terrace transforms: pool lit, tables set by candlelight, Berber tent for tea. Dinner is taken here on booking, home-made Moroccan cooking, and the view runs over the rooftops to the minarets.
- A house to rent whole Six rooms for twelve people, a cook and a house that rents in its entirety: the Riad Hizad lends itself to a family or a group of friends wanting the medina to themselves, with pool and table, at a measured entry rate.
Worth knowing
The address sits in an Azbeth derb, Derb El Cadi sector, in the middle of the medina, ten minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia. The car does not go to the door: you finish on foot in the lane, and the house picks up the bags on request. No parking. Airport transfer possible for a fee, Marrakech-Menara being about 7 km away. Moroccan breakfast included, evening table d'hôtes on booking, hammam and massage on site. The roof pool is heated. The house rents in its entirety (six rooms, up to twelve people) with cook and staff. Reckon from around £77 a night in a room, meaningfully more for the suites, whole-house hire and in high season.
Facilities & services
Location
Practical info
Details checked and cross-referenced by the editors - June 2026.
