The Best Hotels to Book in Marrakech, Morocco

Famously, staff at Aman hotels know what you want before you realise you want it – that happy state of affairs holds at their Marrakech property, which sits out in glorious isolation a 15-minute drive southeast of the medina. Amanjena hotel Marrakech represents the most understated form of five-star luxe imaginable (if it’s good enough for David Beckham’s 40th-birthday celebrations…). Set out to evoke a sultan’s palace, the architectural harmony is almost giddying. You don’t walk here: you float or tiptoe from the vast centrepiece bassin (a mirror-like irrigation pool) to restaurants (there are two) to your stunningly appointed room. Choose a once-in-a-lifetime maison (house) or one of the 32 pavilions. Even when Amanjena is full, it feels majestically empty.

The sense of balance at Riad Mena hotel Marrakech is exquisite – even the modest 8m (26ft) pool makes you think anything larger would be ostentatious. The riad has six impeccably decorated suites featuring huge tadelakt (waterproof plaster) bathrooms. Riad design – rooms organised around a central garden-courtyard – invites an inward focus, so it’s good that every last detail here is just-so, from the beautifully curated lounge-library to the food: the homemade msemen (flatbread), granola and delicious, punchy coffee made by in-house dada (cook) Fattima power you up for a day’s exploration of the souks, which lie just a 10-minute walk west of the riad.

Check in at the five-star hotel Marrakech Fairmont – set in a former olive grove a 25-minute drive southwest of the medina – and you’ll be whisked to the hotel’s spectacular lounge bar: picture sensuous surfaces in metal, marble and stone; rich, warmly hued textiles; and low lighting emanating from retro floor lamps to pendulous ceiling fixtures. The attention to detail extends into the accommodation, with all 134 rooms, suites and villas oozing comfort and affording views of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains. The spa includes an eight-cabin hammam, while the meandering 2,000sqm (21,527sqt) outdoor pool snakes impressively from one end of the property to the other.

A 45-minute drive south of the city (or 30 minutes from the Marrakech airport), Kasbah Angour is a gorgeous introduction to rural Morocco, with its hilltop kasbah (citadel) silhouette rising like a crown in the scrubby desert landscape. A sense of stately peace abides within, with 25 bedrooms and suites nestled alongside 4ha (10 acres) of lush tended garden, featuring all manner of fruit trees, from peach to pomegranate. Take a guided walk into the nearby Toubkal National Park and stroll through local Berber villages, then cool off in Kasbah Angour’s fine swimming pool before enjoying a meal of local produce and Moroccan recipes.

Even 16th-century sultan namesake Ahmad al-Mansur might be dazzled upon arrival here, with the seductive arrangements of marble, mirrors, mashrabiya (lattice-covered windows) and gilded metal that adorn the exterior. The comparatively muted bedrooms are oh-so-comfortable and fully mod-conned; bear in mind that superior rooms have balconies. The restaurant dining rooms are enormous and, depending on your mood, may feel like a banqueting hall or a mess hall; more atmospheric by far is the rooftop cocktail bar. Located in Hivernage, the Marrakech hotel gives equally easy access to Guéliz (the newer part of Marrakech, a 20-minute walk) and the medina (a half-hour walk).

The on-site cookery school and food on offer at La Maison Arabe maintain the high standards established by Marrakech’s first fine-dining restaurant, opened by the former residents of this property in the mid-20th century. The 26 rooms – half of which are suites – are spread across a jigsaw of riads and evoke discreet, peaceful, old-school luxury with warmly lit antiques, crafts, tilework and intricate cedar woodwork at every turn. With the souks a mere 15-minute walk away and the new town less than 30 minutes, La Maison Arabe enjoys a best-of-both-worlds location. There is a sister resort in the Palmeraie, served by a complimentary shuttle service; hotel guests are invited to use the resort’s facilities.