When it comes to where to stay in Marrakech, you’re spoiled for choice by an abundance of paradisical options, from ornately decorated riads that offer a hidden and unexpected sanctuary right in the thrum of the medina to countryside residences on the outskirts of the city with sprawling gardens, swimming pools and wildlife and inner-city hotels with some of the best hammams in the world.
We’ve tried and tested some of the best hotels in Marrakech to compile a list of recommendations we really believe in.
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Highlighted Hotels
Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech
Connect with nature in Morocco's beauty spot, which can be as active or as laidback as suits, all while enjoying the breathtaking backdrop of the Atlas Mountains. Just 20 minutes outside the bustling heart of Marrakech, the landscape starts to change - countless olive groves, tall leafy palms and fragrant argan and lemon trees.
The distant views of the Atlas Mountains paint the scene, but the grand arch at the entrance sets the tone of sheer majesty. Through the iconic swinging doors, towering ceilings, marble accents, plush furnishings and an endless sense of chic glamour greet guests. Every corner is a postcard-worthy shot, with bold, vibrant prints reflecting Morocco's ancient yet alive heritage.
The main bar, Le Bar, dressed in a sleek black-and-gold scheme, feels like a scene from a James Bond film. Jaw-dropping Moroccan chandeliers add to the extravagant spirit. Outside, 570 acres of lush green landscape await, showcasing Marrakech’s horticultural prowess, and are also home to an 18-hole golf course and a pampering spa. It’s the ultimate base for wellness seekers, romantic couples, families and culture vultures keen to experience the crème de la crème of Marrakech’s idyllic rural scene.
Read also: Top Hotels in Marrakech, Morocco
Rooms here come with expansive bathrooms and dressing areas, as well as private balconies or gardens for the ground-floor suites, each facing the Atlas Mountains. The heart of the hotel is its outdoor water area, a series of glass-clear tiered ponds that cascade down to meet the 492-foot swimming pool, shaded by palm trees and peppered with sleek sun loungers and smart, Breton-clad waiters (a nod to Marrakech’s French-speaking side).
There are enough restaurants here to keep you sated all week, from the relaxed poolside lunch spot L’Olivier for fresh tabbouleh salads and sunshine-filled carpaccios, to chic La Sabra, part of the hotel’s country club. The jewel in the hotel’s crown is Italian restaurant Le Caravane, a sophisticated setting with low lighting and dark, carved wood paneling, serving the best Italian food outside of Italy-expect simple plates cooked to perfection (the lamb rack is really something special). The real hidden gem is Al Ain, a secluded, ornate dining room covered in jewel-tone zellij tiles with fabulously authentic Marrakech cuisine.
Children get the star treatment with its kids' club, with one huge playroom (that includes an actual tree house), and to-scale fluffy sheep, as well as one very-petted llama. There are areas for arts and crafts, a reading corner, a connecting room for cooking classes, as well as a trampoline, heated pool, and slides outside. If that’s not enough, book a trip to the on-site farm which also has a tortoise zone.
Key Amenities:
- Sprawling desert oasis
- Modern, palatial architecture
- Vast outdoor swimming pool
- Hammam-inspired spa
- Golf course (largest in Marrakech)
- Multiple restaurants
- Kids' club with extensive facilities
Read also: Morocco's Red City: Marrakech
Selman Marrakech
Reminiscent of an ancient summer palace built for a prince and his horses, this hotel reads like a love letter to Marrakech, complete with grand stables and Arabian stallions dotted around the palatial Ottoman architecture. It turns out that’s not far off from the truth; the son of the founder, Abdeslam Bennani Smires, wanted to combine his love of hotels and riding (he’s a show jumping champion as well as a maestro hotelier).
Decor is Arabian by way of Hermès; the equestrian theme permeating throughout the dark wood and leather studded furnishings, Mapplethorpe-esque black and white equine photography, as well as the paddocks that define the resort's layout. The rooms themselves are wonderfully considered, with large beds, tiled dining tables and sofa nooks, divided by hand-carved wood paneling and decorated in traditional Moorish style, with monochrome Zelliges tiles juxtaposing the plush, warm-hued furnishings.
There are several restaurants spread out around the resort. A favorite of mine was Pavillion, located between the horse paddocks, for breakfast. There’s live music from traditional Berber musicians while waiters ask you how you like your eggs. Do make sure to stroll up to the stables themselves - grand, black and gold colonnades for the 20-or-so Arabian horses.
The overall impression, despite the five star service, impeccable rooms, spectacular kids' club, and first rate spa, is not one of a hotel, but of a private home, hired for a particularly lavish celebration. Everything here is personal, warm, joyous, and inviting. Do make sure to stay for the Sunday brunch, where the entire resort descends to the paddock area for jolly mariachi bands, a parade from the horses, and free-flowing Champagne. A home away from home, if your home is an Arabian palace.
Key Amenities:
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- Equestrian theme
- Grand stables with Arabian horses
- Multiple restaurants
- Spectacular kids' club
- First-rate spa
- Sunday brunch with live music and horse parade
Caravan by Habitas Agafay
The rocky sparseness of Morocco’s Agafay desert has long attracted travellers wanting a break from the sensory explosions of Marrakech. It’s an ideal landing spot for the Habitas group, which since 2016 has been setting up its minimalist, sustainable eco-retreats in places like Mexico, Namibia, and Saudi Arabia. Their oasis among the lunar dunes eschews bells and whistles in favour of communal vibes and engagement with nature - or “luxury for the soul,” as founders Oliver Ripley, Kfir Levy, and Eduardo Castillo calls it.
They have now applied their ethos to Agafay’s 41 Berber-inspired tents and lodges. Each en suite tent - solar-powered, with eco-bathrooms - embodies stylish pared-downness: no minibars or TVs, just wooden floors and earthy cream and ochre tones reminiscent of the regional rock. Like all Habitas retreats, Agafay uses light-impact building materials as much as possible, either upcycled or sourced locally, which are designed to blend into the landscape.
Weekenders escaping European cities sink into pouffes and Berber rugs inside the communal glass-wrapped lounge. On the semi-open dining veranda, beneath raffia lamps, they tuck into lamb slow-cooked in the underground oven before knocking back market sangrias by the open-air bar, silhouetted against the Atlas Mountains and flame-red sunsets that give way to heavenly constellations. This is what travel is about - less guilt and more meaning amid tranquillity, good conversation, and cleansing nature.
Key Amenities:
- Sustainable eco-retreat
- Berber-inspired tents and lodges
- Solar-powered with eco-bathrooms
- Communal glass-wrapped lounge
- Open-air bar
- Engagement with nature
El Fenn
It’s easy to forget what a game-changer El Fenn was when it opened two decades ago on the edge of the medina with just six jewel-toned bedrooms, plumes of bougainvillaea and a rooftop that felt like a fabulous house party. It stitched itself into the fabric of the Red City and redefined its aesthetic with colour-clashing walls and lounges of thickly woven Berber and velvet fabrics, Moorish keyhole archways, and orange trees. Like the best hotels, it has moved - and expanded - with the times.
Co-owner Vanessa Branson, founder of the Marrakech Biennale and a certified Marocophile, has gradually bought up the crumbling neighbouring riads to create a wondrous labyrinth of 13 interconnected buildings, three pools and 41 bedrooms in blush pinks, mustards and acid yellows. Some have zellige tiles, others hand-stitched camel leather floors and carved wooden ceilings, all offset with pop art and bright contemporary installations. Various sun-dappled courtyards lead to a new wood-carved annexe, which references traditional Arabic motifs in the latticework and stained-glass windows.
I recently stayed in one of the “cosy” rooms, behind an ornate cedar door. On a hand-plastered traditional tadelakt wall hangs a contemporary dot painting by Moroccan artist Abdelmalek Berhiss, while a timeworn mother-of-pearl iridescent chandelier dangles above the bed. It’s nearly impossible to tell old from new, a result of using local artisans, natural fabrics and upcycled furniture. The open-air, guest-only Colonnade Café is dotted with olive trees; its modern spiral staircase, which connects the ground-floor boutique with the sprawling spruced-up rooftop, is a monument to Marrakech’s contemporary mood. Yet amid the rooftop’s pool, sunbeds and pops of colour, the old magic of Marrakech endures.
Key Amenities:
- Central location in the medina
- Interconnected riads
- Three pools
- Rooftop terrace with sunbeds
- Open-air Colonnade Café
- Unique decor with pop art and traditional elements
La Mamounia
This is where Charlie Chaplin and Churchill chose to hole up, and Hitchcock filmed The Man Who Knew Too Much. Reinvigorated by designer Jacques Garcia, it had a spectacular reopening in 2009. Retreat from the hubbub to the huge gardens, with their beekeepers, lemon trees, secret ice-cream parlour and the loveliest pool with a palm tree in the middle.
The Sunday poolside brunch - tagines, grilled fish, pizza flatbreads - is excellent for hungry children, as is eating in Le Marocain to the sounds of a traditional oud (a bit like a lute). For a riad-style stay, there are three houses on the grounds, but the rooms with views out to the Koutoubia Mosque and over the rooftops of the Red City are the ones that give you the best sense of place. Pick up neon earthenware jugs, Berber-style rugs and baskets at New York designer Martin Raffone’s MaisonLAB in Guéliz.
Key Amenities:
- Historical significance
- Huge gardens with unique features
- Poolside brunch
- Traditional music at Le Marocain
- Views of the Koutoubia Mosque
Farasha Farmhouse
Marrakech has been abuzz with the arrival of new medina and Palmeraie hotels in the past year. But it’s this farmhouse embedded in an olive grove between the Atlas and Jbilet mountains, 45 minutes from the medina, that feels most like a gear-shift in the city’s hotel scene. The vision of husband-and-wife event stylists Fred and Rosena Charmoy - who have planned some of the most talked-about parties in town over the past 20 years - it’s the kind of in-the-know desert retreat you would expect to find in Ibiza or Joshua Tree.
There are no flashy signs; instead the Hamsa, or Hand of Fatima, is etched on a rock to signal you’re close by. Long pathways sprinkled with argan nuts lead the way to the dusty-pink converted farmhouse. Inside, the smooth space looks like a sleek art gallery, with shimmering tadelakt surfaces. Vintage Italian sofas join pieces by local artists and craftspeople, from shaggy carpets by Beni Rugs to Amine El Gotaibi’s giant woolly art installations and coffee-table books handed down from the city’s legendary Vreeland estate. Of the three oversized suites in the main building, the two cavernous rooftop rooms are the best for views across to the mountain peaks. In the wispy gardens, an adobe house has been turned into a stylish casita, where traditional clay contrasts with oxblood and mustard zellige tiles. The 164-foot pool has huge daybeds between plumes of olive trees, where guests sprawl before drifting into evenings fueled by hibiscus sundowners and New Age cosmic chats.
Key Amenities:
- Secluded farmhouse in an olive grove
- Art gallery-like interiors
- Rooftop suites with mountain views
- Stylish casita
- 164-foot pool with daybeds
Izza Marrakech
Spread across seven interconnecting riads in the less decorous part of the old medina, this newcomer is an intriguing proposition. Owned by tech-focused London investment firm Neon Adventures, which also bought the home of the late American socialite- designer Bill Willis a few doors down, the riad is inspired by Willis and a certain classic Marrakech aesthetic, but is also a space for forward-looking digital art.
It’s a labyrinth of little corridors and creaky, carved chestnut doors. One opens to a moody tea room with black glossy tiles and a red velvet sofa; across a courtyard is the black-and-white Bill’s Bar, which echoes Willis’s iconic design for Rick’s Café in Casablanca. There’s a cute coffee shop with jewel-tone emerald zellige tiles and bits of brushed gold. Up a narrow set of colourful stone stairs is a walnut-clad library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, rolling ladders and worn-in leather chairs.
Perhaps Izza’s biggest USP is its £5 million art collection, including prints of Sebastião Salgado’s Amazonia NFT series and screens showing works such as Turkish-American artist Refik Anadol’s machine-learnt shifting sands. The futurism contrasts with framed letters from Yves Saint Laurent and the fact that the 14 rooms are named after expatriate bon vivants of yesteryear: Cecil, Jack, Talitha and so on. One has a modern cubed staircase and kitchenette; others are narrow, with wall-to-wall beds mixed with vintage furniture and Moroccan wood carvings. Some of the courtyards have little plunge pools, and there’s a beautiful rooftop that feels like a secret garden refuge, with day beds and an excellent locavore restaurant.
Key Amenities:
- Seven interconnecting riads
- Inspired by Bill Willis and digital art
- £5 million art collection
- Rooms named after expatriate bon vivants
- Rooftop garden refuge
Le Farnatchi
An island of peace set within the walls of the chaotic Marrakech medina, it’s easy to see why Le Farnatchi has become a firm favourite for celebrities visiting the area who want to stay in the thick of it. Behind an imposing black, wooden arched door tucked away on a side street, you step into a serene courtyard, with a small emerald pool in the centre and balconies surrounding above.
If you’re in the mood to sip coffee and play chess, head towards the back of the riad to find a polished marble square with cosy alcoves to recline in and covered areas with a chessboard for relaxing and playing. This is where you can come to unwind during cooler months, too, as there’s a fireplace that I’m assured does get lit in winter (although it’s hard to imagine in the 41-degree heat of summer!).
The small selection of nine suites is mostly found upstairs - they’re very quiet, despite the bustling location, with handmade beds, a living room area, dining balcony and a slightly discombobulating glass-bottomed shower.
If you’re looking for an acclaimed and reliable place to get great Moroccan food during your stay in Marrakech, the riad’s restaurant La Trou Au Mur sits directly opposite. You can dine here whether you’re a hotel guest or not. Head right up the spiralling staircase for rooftop dining, enveloped in the sounds of the call to prayer and the market down below. Here you can choose from an international or Moroccan menu, including a Tagine of the Day and other traditional dishes such as camel Tangia and saffron-infused Tride.
Key Amenities:
- Central location in the medina
- Serene courtyard with a pool
- Quiet suites with handmade beds
- Rooftop dining at La Trou Au Mur
- Excellent Moroccan cuisine
Hotel Comparison Table
| Hotel | Key Features | Location | Unique Selling Point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech | Golf course, spa, multiple restaurants | 30 minutes from medina | Extensive amenities and activities |
| Selman Marrakech | Equestrian theme, grand stables | Near Marrakech | Unique Arabian palace experience |
| Caravan by Habitas Agafay | Eco-retreat, Berber-inspired tents | Agafay Desert | Sustainable and nature-focused |
| El Fenn | Interconnected riads, rooftop terrace | Medina | Stylish and artistic design |
| La Mamounia | Historical significance, large gardens | Central Marrakech | Iconic and luxurious stay |
| Farasha Farmhouse | Secluded farmhouse, art gallery interiors | 45 minutes from medina | Intimate and artistic desert retreat |
| Izza Marrakech | Interconnecting riads, digital art collection | Old Medina | Modern and artistic riad experience |
| Le Farnatchi | Serene courtyard, rooftop dining | Medina | Peaceful escape in the heart of the city |
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