The Guardian
John Brunton
These riads, hostels and hotels not only offer roof-terrace views of the medina and calm courtyards to escape the heat, they are also excellent value given Marrakech’s enduring popularity.
More than 1,000 traditional riad houses in Marrakech’s ancient medina now offer tourist accommodation. At the luxurious end prices soar, but there is a great selection of budget stays, including several that have been converted into fun, modern hostels. As smartphone GPS coverage can be patchy in the medina, ask the riad staff to meet you somewhere, or pay them for an airport pick-up. Otherwise it can be frustrating trailing up and down alleyways suitcases down alleyways and dealing with unofficial guides.
Rodamón hostel
The sprawling rooftop at the Rodamón is a party place with bar, music and restaurant (for residents), that feels more like Ibiza than Marrakech. And the concept – created by the group that opened the first Rodamón, in Barcelona – is shared by a new generation of sophisticated hostels, which have recently sprung up in Marrakech. The ground-floor patio has a turquoise pool and cocktail bar, and the accommodation ranges from basic shared dorms to private rooms and suites with bathrooms, where guests get to combine the facilities of a quiet private riad with the Rodamón’s party atmosphere. There’s no old-style hostel curfew: with a 24-hour reception, guests can stay out late.
• Amssafah 32, Derb Diour Daboun, dorm bed £12 B&B, doubles from £60 B&B, +212 524 378 978, rodamonhostels.com
Equity Point Marrakech hostel
Courtyard at Equity Point Marrakech
Another Barcelona-based operator, Equity Point has transformed a former resort-style hotel into a fashionable, spacious 33-bedroom hostel with four- and eight-bed dorms (each with its own bathroom) or private double and family rooms. There’s a fair-size pool and fountain in the azure-tiled courtyard, a buffet breakfast served on three terraces and a restaurant serving Moroccan and international comfort food such as burgers and pastas at lunch and dinner. The bar serves beer and wine and is only open to residents, as is the hostel’s small hammam. Guests can also sign up for cooking and henna art classes, and there is a self-catering kitchen.
• Mouassine 80, Derb El Hammam, dorm bed from £10 B&B, Doubles from £58 B&B, +212 524 440 793, equity-point.com
Amour d’Auberge hostel
Rooftop restaurant at the hostel
Reopened in August 2017 after a two-year renovation, this laid-back hostel contrasts with the cosmopolitan Rodamón and Equity, as this is very much a local budget stay. It is owned and run by Jamal el Mourakib and his wife Hiba, who does all the cooking. There are no private rooms, just clean, minimalist dorms with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. Its location, just off the ancient lantern souk, could not be more central, with Djemaa el-Fna square 100 metres away. The restaurant tables up on the roof sit under canopies in the style of a Berber desert tent.
• 1 Derb Chaabane, Riad Zitoune Elkdim. Dorm bed from £4, +212 524 428 554, lovely-hostel.com
Riad Berbere
This palatial 17th-century riad is in one of the oldest and grandest parts of the medina. Afternoon tea is served in the garden amid tropical plants, and if it’s not warm enough to sit outside there’s an oriental salon with red-brick fireplace and vases of roses. Its Belgian owner, architect Quentin Wilbaux, was one of the pioneers in riad renovation in the 1990s and it is worth paying a little extra for such luxurious surroundings and helpful staff. You can’t miss the riad’s mascot: sitting on a silk cushion by the patio pool is a sleepy fat cat named Nejma, which means star in Arabic. There’s a hammam and massage room, and three-course home-cooked candlelit dinner on the roof terrace costs £15pp.
• Derb Sidi Ahmed Benacer 23 , Kaat Benahid, double with traditional Moroccan breakfast from £75, +212 524 381 910, leriadberbere.com
Riad Dar Kleta
Rooftop area at the Riad Dar Kleta. Photograph: John Brunton
Just down the road from the minimalist Berbere, Dar Kleta is a more laid-back, affordable address, decorated in bright colours and furnished with flea market bargains. The fashionable French owners, Julien and Françoise Gaumont, live in the riad with their menagerie of cats and exotic birds. The red-brick and green-tiled rooftop looks like a scene from Arabian Nights, with colourful sofas and armchairs, billowing curtains and views across the Medina roofs to the Atlas mountains. The couple came to Marrakech on holiday five years ago but stayed on, abandoning careers in France to reinvent themselves as hoteliers and fashion designers. Their a chic boutique, Bazarkech, showcases their clothes and accessories made from recycled vintage Moroccan textiles. A Moroccan dinner on the rooftop for guests is £16pp.
• Derb Sidi Ahmed Ben Nacer 3, Kaat Benahid, doubles from £66 B&B, +212 524 381 359, riaddarkleta.com
Riad Andaloussia
The perfect bolthole for travellers wanting an experience without the touts and souvenir stalls that dominate Djemaa el-Fna square. The quiet four-room Andaloussia is in the gritty-but-welcoming Bab Taghzoute neighbourhood, right at the medina’s edge. It is more like staying in a village, with chickens running around, a bustling food market and makeshift stalls on the surrounding streets where you can sip mint tea sitting on the pavement. The riad’s patio is decorated with swirling Moorish designs, rooms are simple but well-equipped, and the friendly owner, Christophe Pigy from Luxembourg, is a mine of local information. In the evening, cook Madame Halima prepares a three-course Moroccan dinner of salads, tagine or couscous and a dessert for just £8pp.
• 1 Derb Merstane, Bab Taghzoute, doubles from £22 B&B, +212 524 381 211, riad-andaloussia.com
Riad Lamzia
In the less-touristy Darb Dabashi quarter of the medina, Lamzia is a riad with a difference, offering great-value. Moroccan-owned but managed by a French couple, the ancient riad has retained its traditional architecture but the decor is a surprising mix of arresting works by local artists and a collection of vintage typewriters, turntables and lamps. The art comes from the Jardin Rouge foundation, and includes a stunning black-and-white African hanging cloth by Kouka Ntadi and bright funky murals on the roof patio by Reso, a graffiti artist. Rooms are spacious, with Moroccan tadelakt (polished plaster) bathrooms, while a home-cooked dinner of chicken and lemon tagine, salads, and a dessert of orange poached with cinnamon, costs £11pp.
• Derb El Hajra 11, Derb Dabachi, +212 661 978 475, doubles from £40 B&B, on Facebook
Chambres d’Amis
View from the courtyard at Chambres d’Amis. Photograph: John Brunton
A narrow passageway with sunlight streaming through the slats of a bamboo roof leads out of the teeming alleyways of the medina’s souks, into calmer streets lined with anonymous wooden doors, each hiding the peace of a riad. Chambres d’Amis is owned by Anke van der Pluijm, a Dutch interior designer who has decorated the property in a minimalist, modern Moroccan style. Rooms are not enormous but all have balconies or terrace patios. Its restaurant offers a varied menu of local and contemporary cuisine, including vegetarian options (dinner £18pp), and there is a bar serving cocktails and Moroccan wines. Anke offers a variety of in-house activities, from yoga classes to vegetarian cooking workshops.
• Derb Moulay Abdelkader 46, Derb Dabachi, doubles from £75 B&B, +212 524 426 965, chambresdamis.com
Riad Des Arts
Just a couple of minutes’ walk down the street from Chambre d’Amis, the Riad des Arts initially looks more luxurious, though rates are actually lower since the new management took over recently. The ornamental pool in the middle of the arcaded interior courtyard can be used as a plunge pool in summer, and while there is a small spa, it is more fun to walk over to Hamamelis, a modern hammam across the street. In addition to four standard rooms, there is also a chambre berbère on the roof terrace with fabulous views and its own hot tub.
• Derb Moulay Abdelkader 116, Derb Dabachi, doubles from £62 B&B, +212 524 443 040, riadesarts.com
Riad Ta’achchaqa
Courtyard at Riad Ta’achchaqa. Photograph: John Brunton
This sumptuous 18th-century riad is in the middle of a maze of alleyways near the Souk des Teinturiers, marked by brightly coloured dyed wool hanging up to dry. It is not easy to find but well worth the effort when you enter the dramatic courtyard, a jungle of palms and tall bamboo, with two arches, decorated with intricate Arabic mosaics, that were part of the original house was first built. The five rooms and suites are spacious and romantically decorated, and the roof terrace has a hammam and a plunge pool. A three-course dinner costs £15pp and it is worth watching the cook, Latifa, preparing dishes in her ancient red stone kitchen.
• 19 Derb Ouayhah, Sidi Abdelaziz, doubles from £44 B&B, +212 680 747 787, taachchaqa.com
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