La Villa des Orangers

La Villa des Orangers takes over a former palace of the medina, on rue Sidi Mimoun, right at the foot of the Koutoubia and its minaret. The setting stands out from that of most riads: you do not arrive at the end of a derb, but in front of a door where the car can park, a five-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna, the souks and the Royal Palace, of which the house holds a middle position. A member of Relais & Châteaux since 2001, the address keeps the form of a riad pushed to hotel scale: no longer a single court, but three patios open to the sky, planted with orange trees and paced by chiselled plaster galleries and fountains. The quarter, residential and calm, places the traveller in the middle of the old town without taking its commercial pressure.

The venue unfolds over two levels, around its courts. Thirty-two rooms and suites are spread from the simplest register, the terrace room, up to the big volumes: patio suites, duplexes, private riads and family suite. The decor stays faithful to the Moroccan house, hand-rubbed tadelakt, cedar ceilings, marble bathrooms with double washbasin, separate bath and shower, some rooms with private terrace. Water is everywhere: each of the three patios has its basin, and that is the real asset of the address. In the garden, a 16-metre pool edged with sun loungers lets you swim, which no court riad can offer. A second, smaller, hides in another court, and a third, heated, takes the roof, facing the terraces. For anyone looking for a medina house where you actually swim, see the other riads with pool.

The stay then extends at the spa, at table and on the rooftops. In the basement, a vaulted hammam lit by candles, massage rooms, a sauna, a beauty salon and a sundeck, reserved for guests. The restaurant serves Mediterranean cooking in a room with tall blue curtains and mashrabiya windows, but you can also lunch by the pool, under a patio’s arcades or on a terrace. The bar, open continuously, serves non-alcoholic drinks with no supplement. Travellers rate the house 9.2 on Booking, with a 9.6 for the service and a 9.1 for the location, two figures that say what the address is worth: a large staff and a rare position at the foot of the Koutoubia.

That leaves who it fits, and at what price. The first brake is the rate: you start from around £553 a night out of high season, more for the big suites and the private riads, and this is precisely where the reviews turn more measured, value for money being the house’s lowest score, at 8.3. You pay for a brand, a Relais & Châteaux service and three pools in the middle of the medina, without the park or the hectares of a Palmeraie resort. The floors are climbed by stairs, which can count with big cases or reduced mobility. For a couple or a family wanting an old-town palace, a real swim basin, a spa and a careful service, two steps from Jemaa el-Fna, the address keeps its promises. For anyone travelling on a tight budget or looking first for a big garden, better look elsewhere. Here, you pay first for the location, the water and the service.