Where to stay in Marrakech

About twenty kilometres from Marrakech, on the Ourika plain facing the Atlas, Les Asnouss is a nine-room ecolodge built in pisé. Earthen walls, solar power, well water, kitchen garden and a small farm of donkeys and peacocks: you come here for the country and the silence, not for the medina, which needs a car.

The Oberoi Marrakech plays in the palace class: Andalusian-inspired architecture, zellige columns, long reflecting pools running to the Atlas, sprawling gardens. Eighty-four rooms and villas, some with private pool, a large spa, service tuned to the letter. It is one of the highest-rated addresses in Marrakech, at a price and a distance from the centre to match the ambition.

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.

Ten rooms, a roof pool facing the Koutoubia, and everywhere a bold design stance: deep green, brass, golden mosaic, bathtubs set in the middle of the room. The Mellah Hotel turns its back on the classic riad decor for a designer-house aesthetic, in the old Jewish quarter. A sharp address, at a high price, chosen for its style.

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.

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.

Six rooms behind a studded door of a Dabachi derb, two steps from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad Dar Al Assad is an old medina house whose patio still holds, rare enough, a real lap pool covered by a glass roof, between two arcaded galleries. Rooftop terrace, quiet hammam, evening table. You come here for the central position and the patio water.

The Riad El Hara holds in six rooms, a cream tadelakt patio and a welcome - Karima and the owner - that travellers cite ahead of the rest. You are at Bab Doukkala, off the bustle, with a heated pool and a hammam on the roof. A small house that receives you like at home, and it comes through in every comment.

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.

Clinging to an Atlas spur above Asni, an hour's drive from Marrakech, the Kasbah Tamadot is Sir Richard Branson's Moroccan house, bought after a hot-air balloon flight and opened to the public in 2005. Twenty-eight rooms and suites, four Berber tents on the hillside, two heated pools, a spa: you come for the mountain, not for the medina.

The Amanjena is a landmark: the first Aman resort opened in Africa, in 2000, a set of pavilions and pisé houses laid out around a great pool drawn from the Menara basin. On the outskirts of town, along the Amelkis golf course, it holds the very top of the range: spa, heated pool and service to match. A budget outside the norm, no equal in town.

Commissioned by King Mohammed VI and opened in 2010, the Royal Mansour does not rent rooms but 53 private riads, linked by a maze of lanes inside the medina, a few steps from the Koutoubia. A medina within the medina, where staff move through underground galleries and never cross paths with guests. It is the most expensive address in Marrakech, and one of the most discreet.

Eight rooms behind a Mellah door, a patio with white columns and a blue-mosaic fountain, and on the roof a terrace that takes the sundown on the medina tiles. The Riad du Rabbin carries the name of a story it tells itself: that of a rabbi's house, in the old Jewish quarter.

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.

A former home at the end of a derb behind the Bahia palace, a three-minute walk from its gardens. Nine rooms around a large planted patio, a fountain at the middle, a fireplace sitting room covered in zellige, and on the roof a pavilion terrace with a basin for the hot hours. You come here for the age of the place and the calm of the quarter.

About fifteen kilometres from Marrakech, on the Fès road, Bakkal Farm is an organic farm you inhabit rather than a hotel. Seven waxed-concrete rooms with large picture windows onto the olive grove, a long mirror pool, a table drawn from the kitchen garden: you come here for the country and the calm, not for the medina, left a half-hour drive away.

In the Palmeraie, the Ksar Char-Bagh is a small palace built like a ksar, drawn from the Alhambra: paved courts, fountains, olive and fig trees across several enclosed hectares. Only around fifteen suites, three pools and an underground red-marble spa. You come for the calm and the space, far from the bustle of the medina.

The Swiss Continental Hôtel ranks among the highest-rated addresses in Marrakech, and it owes it to almost none of what you expect of a holiday hotel: no pool, no spa, no garden. Twenty-five clean rooms in a Guéliz building, five minutes from the station, run by a team travellers rave about. An efficient urban base, not a leisure place.

A ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna, the Riad l'Oiseau du Paradis takes an old medina house behind a studded door of the derb Cherrata. Fourteen rooms around a patio planted with an orange tree, a basin to dip the feet, a hammam, and a terrace that reveals the Koutoubia. You come here for the calm two steps from the tumult, not for palace volumes.

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.

A peacock perched on the thatched roof of the pool bar, white sun loungers by a green-water basin, olive trees everywhere: six kilometres out on the Ourika road, La Ferme El Dar is the best-rated of every address on this road, and the closest to the city. You sleep in a patio room or under a tent.

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.

The Fashion Boutique Hotel wears three stars on its plaque, but lines up a level above: a rooftop pool-bar with an Atlas view, a spa with hammam, a restaurant, all on avenue Hassan II. Thirty-five rooms in contemporary decor, a service travellers place at the top, five minutes from the station.

The Palais Tara & Spa is one of the rare medina riads classified 5-star, and it shows from the entrance: painted cedar ceilings, stained-glass sitting rooms, marble and zellige. A heated pool on the roof, an indoor pool, a real spa with hammam and sauna, a five-minute walk from Le Jardin Secret.

The PL Place is closer to a retreat than a hotel: only nine rooms, tucked in a dense Palmeraie garden, around a pool and a domed pavilion. The heavily decorated suites play caidal tents, patina and lanterns, each with its green corner. An intimate, densely decorated address, for cutting off from the city rather than visiting it.

The Dar Rhizlane is a palace guesthouse of Hivernage, set in a large garden planted with palms where the pool lights up at nightfall. Around twenty rooms, a spa with hammam, a house kitchen served at the water's edge: this is 5-star comfort on a human scale, a few minutes from the centre without the medina's clamour.

Five rooms, bare tadelakt, potted cacti and olive trees on the roof: the Riad Solange is a small Kasbah house turned to wellness more than to the postcard. Yoga several times a week, sound baths, home-made table, and a hostess who receives as she would like to be received. No pool, but a bubble to settle in.

At under forty pounds a night, the Riad Miss Caracal puts everything on its roof: daybeds, cacti, straw parasols and a hot tub facing the Kasbah rooftops. Five plain rooms below, two hosts travellers adore, and one of the best welcomes of the quarter.

Reopened in early 2025 after refurbishment, the Riad Farasha is a small four-room riad, fresh and quiet, a six-minute walk from the Saadian Tombs. A dipping basin at the back of the patio, a terrace overlooking the Kasbah rooftops, and a name that means butterfly.

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.

Nine rooms in a medina dwelling, at the end of the derb El Cadi, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The riad has kept its large fountain patio and its cedar galleries, and has set on the roof a real pool, wide enough to swim, ringed with sun loungers and parasols. You come here for that open-sky swim and the calm of the quarter, not for palace luxury.

The Longue Vie has a consistency rare in Marrakech: no score of its drops off, from one line to the next. A contemporary 4-star on avenue Hassan II, two minutes from the station, with a rooftop pool open to the Atlas, a spa and free parking. The kind of address with no bad surprise, at a still reasonable rate.

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.

Six rooms behind a medina door, in the Derb Fhal Zefriti, a four-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. The Riad BB Marrakech keeps its fountain patio cool below and has set its pool a floor up, on the terrace, with pergola and rooftop view. You come here for that sundown swim and the central position, not for a spa: there is none.

In the Ouirgane valley, an hour by road south of Marrakech, Ouirgane Ecolodge is a pisé guesthouse set at the foot of the Toubkal national park. Twelve rooms, an olive garden, a pool facing the mountains and a table drawn from the kitchen garden: you come here for walking, calm and altitude, not for the city.

In Guéliz, fifteen minutes on foot from the Majorelle garden, the Residence Eden is not a classic hotel but an aparthotel: flats with a fitted kitchen and sitting room, and on the roof a pool facing the quarter's antennas and the Koutoubia minaret. A format for anyone wanting to cook, spread out with the family and keep the centre within walking reach.

A red-and-white checker that runs from the court basin to the hammam vault, nine rooms around two patios, in a derb of the Mellah a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. What you keep from the Riad Noos Noos, before the decor itself, has to do with the welcome of a whole house.

Macassar ebony columns, tubular 1930s armchairs, shagreen and parchment: the Villa Makassar is not another Moroccan riad, it is an Art Deco palace, the only one of its kind in the medina. Ten rooms, each dedicated to an artist of the period, in the Kasbah, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna.

About ten rooms in a quiet derb of Sidi Ben Slimane, north of the medina, off the pressure of the souks. Two joined houses around orange-tree patios, a zellige swim basin in each court, a hammam and a terrace for breakfast facing the Atlas. You come here for the calm of the quarter and the care of the decor.

In the Palmeraie, fifteen minutes from the medina, Les Deux Tours is the house designed in the 1980s by the architect Charles Boccara: 44 rooms spread across pisé pavilions, three hectares of Andalusian gardens, patios, pools and a heated pool. You come for the calm and the hand of an architect, not for palace living.

The medina's first guesthouse, opened in 1946 at Bab Doukkala, La Maison Arabe is an institution two steps from Jemaa el-Fna. Twenty-six rooms and suites around patios, a cookery school known well beyond the city, a spa and a piano bar. The large pool sits elsewhere: at the country club in the Palmeraie.

The Park Hyatt is the contemporary take on the Marrakech luxury resort: a broad complex at the edge of the Al Maaden golf course, south of the city, cut through with water gardens and reflecting pools. Rooms and villas in a wood-and-earth design, one of the largest spas in town, several pools, a real kids' club. A branded 5-star, comfortable and family-friendly, off the medina.

Twenty minutes from Marrakech, at the foot of the Atlas, the Fairmont Royal Palm is a resort where the hotel becomes the destination: 18-hole golf, 3,500 m² spa, seven tables and broad pools facing the mountains. You book it for what you do not leave, not for slipping into the medina.

In Imlil, at the end of the road climbing towards Mount Toubkal, the Toubkal Ecolodge is a stone house set at 1,700 metres, facing the summits. Six Berber rooms, a terrace over the valley, a table run by the family: you come here for the mountain and the walking, not for the medina, left an hour and a half of switchbacks below.

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.

A long white arcaded building, single-storey around a pool, olive trees, gravel and cactus: on the Ourika road, Dariana holds six adults-only rooms. The house is more honest than average about what it is not - it advises against its address to anyone wanting to walk to the souks.

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.

The Ksar Anika is a large Mellah riad playing the boutique-hotel card: eighteen rooms across two patios, a pool under a glazed roof, a spa with hammam and a table. You are two steps from the Bahia palace, in a quarter in full change, for an entry rate that stays reasonable for the class.

The 2Ciels plays the pleasure boutique on several levels: a pool in the patio, another on the roof with a bar-lounge that livens up in the evening, a spa, two tables including a seafood one. Eighty-five rooms in Art Deco decor, on the edge of Guéliz and Hivernage, facing the tennis club and near the galleries. An address to stay in as much as to head out from.

In the Palmeraie, fifteen minutes from the medina, Les Cinq Djellabas lines up ten lodges under conical thatched roofs among an olive grove. A human-scale guesthouse, designed by its owners around a heated pool and a Moroccan table. You come here for the calm and the orchard, not for the souks at the door.

In Hivernage, along the Menara gardens, the Four Seasons lays out 141 rooms and suites across sixteen hectares of planted palm grove. A single-storey address, built around its pools and its ochre pavilions, ten minutes by car from the medina without its bustle at the door.

A Relais & Châteaux set in a former palace, at the foot of the Koutoubia, between the Royal Palace and Jemaa el-Fna. Thirty-two rooms and suites spread over two levels around three patios planted with orange trees, each with its water point, including a real 16-metre swim basin in the garden. Spa, hammam, restaurant and household service, at the rate of a medina palace.

Set on 20 hectares of olive trees along the Royal Golf Road, the Mandarin Oriental fields almost only villas with a private pool, each behind its own wall. You come for space and remove, ten minutes by car from the medina, not to sleep in the middle of the city.

The Palais Calipau stands out first for its size: a dozen rooms around an orange-tree patio where a real pool takes the centre, two tables, a spa. A hundred and fifty metres from the Saadian Tombs, it is one of the busiest houses in the south medina, anything but a pocket address.

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.

At two hundred and fifty metres from the Saadian Tombs, the Riad Merzouga is a family Kasbah house: seven rooms in frank colours around a patio basin, a rooftop terrace. Its name says its other calling, because from here depart the tours to the desert dunes.

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.

A long turquoise pool at the back of the patio, between mashrabiya galleries, and a second on the roof: the Alrashid is one of the rare Mellah riads where the pool is not decorative but built to dip into. Eleven rooms, family-run, a quarter of an hour on foot from Jemaa el-Fna.

Set in a palm grove north of Marrakech, the Tigmiza is a red pisé palace tucked under the palms, with three pools, a spa and rooms treated as works of their own. Suites, bungalows and villas spread through a garden, fifteen minutes from the centre. A calm-and-decor address, for anyone accepting to sleep outside the walls, off the medina's buzz.

In the Palmeraie, ten minutes by car from Jemaa el-Fna, the Villa Al Assala holds ten junior suites set in a large garden, around a domed pavilion and a heated pool. A human-scale address, betting on quiet and green rather than the number of rooms.

Two old patios with zellige fountains, vaulted rooms in tadelakt walls and faded frescoes, a discreet door facing the royal palace ramparts: Dar Les Cigognes is a south medina boutique riad, restored by the architect Charles Boccara and run by the Sanssouci Collection group.

Behind a Kasbah wall lies what the medina rarely delivers: a three-thousand-square-metre garden, planted with orange trees, around a heated pool. Les Jardins de la Médina occupy a former palace turned into a thirty-six-room hotel, minutes from the Saadian Tombs. A green oasis in the old town, for anyone wanting space without leaving the walls.

In the Palmeraie, Dar Sabra is less a hotel than an open-air art gallery you sleep in. Two hectares of olive trees planted with sculptures and pop frescoes, around twenty all-different rooms, three pools: you come here for the decor as much as for the rest, ten minutes from the medina but off its buzz.

Carved stucco, zellige columns, chiselled wood ceilings: The Red House pushes the decor of the great early 20th-century Moroccan houses into an eight-room home. A garden with a pool, a house table, right in Hivernage. A dense and intimate decor at once, for anyone who likes owned excess rather than bare elegance.

A twenty-five-metre pool with lane markings, only six suites, and a padel court whose name has crept into the commercial banner. At km 11 of the Ourika road, Les Sources de l'Atlas is a large ochre villa that receives few guests at once, and that its clients rate very high.

A white palace with tile roofs, a water canal running to the steps, curtained cabanas at the pool edge: at km 10 of the Ourika road, the Palais Anthea holds eleven suites on a hectare of gardens. It is one of the best-rated addresses of this road. It is not a historic house.

The Domaine des Remparts is a garden before it is a hotel: two hectares of palm grove and olive trees, with an Atlas view, on the Fès road on the outskirts. Here, each unit has its walled garden, terrace and fireplace. Two pools, a spa, a free shuttle to the centre. An intimate green 5-star, closer to rest than to the large resort.

The Al Maaden Villa Hotel runs on a simple idea: every unit is a stand-alone villa, each with its private pool, fireplace and kitchen. About forty contemporary medina-inspired villas, set on the Al Maaden golf course south of the city, between lawns and contemporary sculptures. A residential 5-star, with spa, ten minutes from town by car.

A member of Relais & Châteaux, the Palais Ronsard cultivates a theatrical luxury in the Palmeraie: marble, black lacquer, chandeliers, rooms personalised one by one, and a garden where the pool stretches between palms. Twenty-seven rooms, a large spa, private-house service. A high-end address, at its price, for anyone after quiet and set-dressing rather than the medina down the lane.

About thirty kilometres from Marrakech, set in the Agafay desert, La Pause is an ecolodge deliberately off the grid: no electricity, no Wi-Fi, pisé lodges and tents lit by candle, two pools facing the stony hills. You come here for the silence and the sky, not for city-hotel comforts.

A handful of rooms behind a medina door, in a derb of the Dabachi quarter, three hundred metres from the Bahia palace. The Riad Lamzia is a small-scale house, in ochre pink tones, whose asset is on the roof: a basin terrace to cool off between two walks in the souks. You come here for the position and the welcome, not for the equipment of a large hotel.

The Riad Dihya is a small no-frills house of the Dabachi quarter, an eight-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna: seven rooms around a zellige-medallion patio, a dipping basin on the roof and a careful breakfast. Good value for money, not a luxury address despite the label.

A small pool with jacuzzi at the back of a banana-planted patio, six rooms, and a French couple who host and dine with their guests: the Riad Dar Alif is an intimate Mellah house, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna, where you are at someone's home rather than in a hotel.

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.

The Ari Boutique Hôtel made calm a rule: the house is adults-only. Thirty-one contemporary rooms in Guéliz, a pool sheltered between two facades, a breakfast travellers cite often, five minutes on foot from the station and walking distance from the Majorelle garden and the Yves Saint Laurent museum. A quiet urban address, no children, for a settled stay.

Les Jardins de la Koutoubia is a medina institution: a large 5-star hotel planted at the foot of the minaret, three minutes from Jemaa el-Fna. Around a hundred rooms, a pool in a tree-lined patio, a spa, and roof terraces looking down on the Koutoubia. You get the comfort of a real hotel and the location of a riad, without the lanes.

The Riad Louhou has chosen white where the Kasbah plays zellige: pristine patio, mashrabiya, driftwood, linen and rattan. Five suites only, a hammam, a basin on the roof and a real table, a ten-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna.

On the Amizmiz road, ten minutes south of Marrakech, Oasis Lodges lays out low pisé houses opening onto large gardens. Its real argument is the neighbouring Oasiria water park, free and unlimited access for guests. You come here for children and slides more than for the medina.

The Es Saadi Palace is the flagship of an Hivernage institution: an eight-hectare park where suites, villas and ksars sit around the largest pool in the neighbourhood. There is a Dior spa, three restaurants, a casino and the Théâtro, one of the best-known clubs in town. An old-school resort-palace, a stone's throw from the medina without its clamour.

Ten minutes from central Marrakech, on the Amizmiz road, the Selman lines up around sixty rooms and villas around an 80-metre pool and stables of pure-bred Arabian horses. Architecture signed Jacques Garcia, a 1,200 m² Chenot spa: an estate given to wellness, off the buzz.

The Palais Nouhass bets on space where Marrakech often lacks air: a recent palace of the north palm grove, opening onto a large garden, with a long pool lined with palms and the Atlas as backdrop. Eighteen rooms and suites, a monumental Berber sitting room, a spa with hammam. A green, ample and calm address, for anyone coming to sit down far from the medina.

Six rooms around a patio covered by a glass roof, in the north medina, near the Mouassine museum. The Riad Dreams stands out for its cool basin in the middle of the court, under the arcaded galleries, and for its rooftop terrace. A house run by its owner, chosen for the court and the calm more than for the services of a large hotel.

In Ghmat, former Almoravid capital at the foot of the Atlas, Aghmat Lodge is a guesthouse set in the countryside, 25 km from Marrakech. Pisé and stone walls, solar power, well water, pool open onto the summits: you come here for the silence and the big landscape, not for the medina at hand.

Above Imlil, in the Tamatert hamlet, Douar Samra is a pisé house clinging to the valley side at 1,800 metres facing the Toubkal massif. Seven rooms, including the main house lit by candles and two cabins perched on stilts in the trees: you come here for the mountain, the silence and a night out of the ordinary, an hour and a half by road from Marrakech.

A small quiet five-room riad, three hundred metres from the El Badi palace, on the fringe between the Mellah and the Kasbah. The Riad Abjaou has no pool and no magazine decor, but a table travellers rave about, a welcome that carries a first name, and, rare in the medina, walls several describe as really sound-holding.

The Grand Plaza is a large 4-star of Hivernage, one hundred and fourteen rooms built around a broad courtyard pool, facing the station and the Royal Theatre. A spa with two hammams, a gym, a games room, spacious and soundproofed family rooms: this is the address of space and classic comfort, for anyone preferring room over the picturesque.

Donkeys, goats, peacocks and a kitchen garden feeding the table: at km 9 of the Ourika road, La Ferme Berbère is a farm that hosts guests, not a guesthouse with the word 'farm' on its sign. Ten rooms, two tents under the olive trees, a beldi hammam, and not a child: the house is adults-only.

The Riad Douirtna plays against the grain of geography: it is a full riad, patio and terrace included, but planted in Gueliz, the new town, not in the medina. Eight rooms only, a hammam, a Moroccan table, a welcome travellers rate very high, a quarter of an hour on foot from the Jardin Majorelle. The spirit of a guesthouse, without the old-town lanes.

The Hotel Jadali & Spa is a small 5-star in Hivernage with a green facade, halfway between the boutique hotel and the family address. Fifty-two rooms, a spa with hammam, a pool and a roof where you can spot the Koutoubia. Care for children, a warm welcome, a more intimate scale than the great hotels of the quarter, walking distance from the medina.

In the Palmeraie, a fifteen-minute shuttle from the medina, the Iberostar Waves Club Palmeraie is a large all-inclusive resort of 318 rooms set on 10 hectares of gardens: three pools, a water park with slides, kids' clubs and an all-inclusive package. You book it for a family holiday without logistics, not for the character of a riad.

About forty kilometres south of Marrakech, near Lalla Takerkoust lake, La Fattoria is an Italo-Moroccan farm turned lodge. Around thirty pisé rooms, a pool at the foot of the hills, horses and free-roaming animals, a table fed by the kitchen garden. You come here to cut off from the city and let the children unwind, provided you accept being far from everything.

At km 11 of the Ourika road, a ten-thousand-square-metre estate under the olive trees, with two pools heated year-round, a spa with posted rates and pétanque pitches. It is called Boutique Hotel Katia since April 2026, Villa Katia before that, Maroc Loisirs before again. On site, nothing followed: today's name is written nowhere.

In Hivernage, a hundred metres from the Congress Palace and ten minutes on foot from the medina, the Mövenpick Mansour Eddahbi is a 503-room hotel built for families and practical stays: several pools, a spa with hammams, five restaurants. Comfort and location over character.

On the Amizmiz road, at the foot of the Atlas and fifteen minutes from the medina, the Eden Andalou is a 5-star resort rebranded under Marriott in 2026: a 20,000 m² water park, 253 suites spread across six riads, a large spa and an all-inclusive package. You book it for a family holiday, not for the character of a medina house.

In the Palmeraie, twenty-five minutes from the medina, the Palais Namaskar strings out 41 rooms, suites and villas along reflecting pools and water gardens, under a golden dome. You come for space, quiet and a top spa - not to head out into town at any hour.

A small refurbished riad in the middle of the Mellah, a jacuzzi and sun loungers on the roof, a welcome widely praised on over a thousand reviews. Dar Riad Jomana gathers plenty of assets for a low price. Its weak point is the quarter itself, more set back and less busy than in the middle of the medina suggests.

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.

An hour from Marrakech, hanging above the Azzaden valley, Kasbah Africa is an ecolodge turned to the mountain and the sky. Eight suites facing the summits, telescopes in the rooms, glass domes for sleeping under the stars: you come here for the High Atlas silence and the dark night, not to range out on the medina.

South of Marrakech, on the Ourika road, the Pickalbatros Aqua Fun Club is a 4-star all-inclusive resort built around its water park: 58 slides, about fifteen basins, a kids' club. You book it for a family holiday, not for the medina.

Opened in 2022 in the Palmeraie, the Palais Mirage d'Atlas holds a handful of suites laid out around a long pool and a palm grove. You come for the spa, the calm and the space, 9 km from the medina. Comfort convinces, but location and value for money are up for debate. Here is who it fits, and who it does not.

The Hivernage Hotel & Spa is a classic 5-star set in the middle of its quarter, a fifteen-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna. Eighty-five rooms, a pool lined with green walls, a spa with hammam and three restaurants: a comfortable and well-placed base, without the tailored decor of a boutique hotel, but with the facilities and the easy walk to the medina.

In the Agdal tourist zone, ten minutes from the medina, the Kenzi Club Agdal Medina is a family all-inclusive 5-star resort built around its water park. Three pools, slides, a kids' club and a spa: you come here to have everything settled, meals and entertainment included.

The Pestana CR7 is the lifestyle hotel co-signed by Cristiano Ronaldo and the Pestana group, set on M Avenue, the new commercial artery. One hundred and seventy-four rooms in contemporary design, a rooftop pool facing the Atlas, a spa: this is the register of the large modern and lively hotel, opposite the riad, for anyone after urban comfort rather than old character.

The Dellarosa is a contemporary boutique hotel planted right in Guéliz, Marrakech's modern quarter: eighty rooms and suites around a pool tucked between walls, a spa with hammam, two tables. You sleep among the cafés, boutiques and galleries of the new town, at a soft rate, a few minutes by taxi from the medina.

A half-hour south of Marrakech, towards Sidi Abdellah Ghiat, the Ecolodge Quaryati lines up two pisé villages among olive trees and fields, the Atlas for a horizon. Single-storey family rooms, two pools, a table drawn from the kitchen garden: you come here for the country calm and the view of the snows, not for the medina, left far behind.

The Radisson Blu takes the upper floors of the Carré Eden, the shopping centre on avenue Mohammed V, the axis linking Guéliz to the medina. An international-brand 5-star: one hundred and ninety-eight balcony rooms, a large courtyard pool, a spa, a kids' club. Its location picks up one of the best scores in town. The price is up for debate.

In Hivernage, behind an ochre pink facade and a large palm garden, the Sofitel Palais Impérial is one of the largest 5-star hotels in Marrakech: 328 rooms, several pools, a spa with hammam, and the medina a fifteen-minute walk away. A large hotel machine, not to be confused with the neighbouring Sofitel Lounge.

The Blue Sea Le Printemps plays a different tune than the Guéliz boutiques: that of the large chain hotel, one hundred and fourteen rooms around a patio with murals and a pool, three restaurants, free parking rare in the centre. On thousands of reviews, this is a safe pick, central and practical, more classic than sharp, right in the middle of the new town.

The Amani plays the aparthotel format: suites in Moroccan decor, sitting corner and kitchenette for some, on avenue Mohammed VI, in Hivernage. On the roof, a small pool, a solarium and a panoramic restaurant facing the Koutoubia and the Atlas. Downstairs, a spa with hammam. Three-star at a small price, for anyone wanting space and a central address without breaking the bank.

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.

The Savoy Le Grand plays a different tune than the riads: that of the large hotel, with what that means for pools, restaurants and spa. Four pools including one covered, a two-thousand-square-metre spa, five restaurants, right in Hivernage. For a 5-star, the entry rate stays contained. In return, you accept the scale and the atmosphere of a several-hundred-room hotel.

A long pool, wicker lanterns, the Atlas at the back: at km 10 of the Ourika road, The Source looks like a country house, and it was one. A family home turned hotel, with a recording studio at the far end of the garden. A few times a year, the estate turns into an electro stage until sunrise. The rest of the time, all you hear is the olive trees.

On the edge of the Palmeraie golf course, twenty minutes from the medina, this adults-only 5-star all-inclusive has changed hands three times: Golf Palace, then Rotana, today Pickalbatros. The setting, golf and palms, stays its real card. The traveller score says not everything is up to par.

In the Targa quarter, north-west of Marrakech, the Targa Aqua Parc (ex Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc) is a family all-inclusive resort built around its water park: five pools, four slides, a kids' club. You come here for the package and the water, not for the medina, which a free shuttle puts ten minutes away.

On avenue Mohammed VI, at the southern edge of Hivernage, the Rose Aqua Park is a large family resort built around its water park: seven slides, two winter-heated pools, a spa with hammam and the all-inclusive package. An address for a children's holiday rather than a medina-centred stay, at a contained entry price.

In the Palmeraie, about twenty minutes from the medina, the Valeria Madina Club is a large 4-star family resort in the all-inclusive format: 432 rooms, broad pools, a water park and daytime entertainment. Volume and a contained budget rather than character, with a low traveller score you need to know before booking.

Club Med Marrakech. Fiche à produire.

La Mamounia. Fiche à produire.