Riad El Fenn

Riad El Fenn

Walk through the boutique on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra, past shelves of local ceramics and vintage jewelry, and the entrance to Riad El Fenn is easy to miss until you reach the rooftop, where the Koutoubia minaret catches the last light over the medina rooftops. The hotel sits in the center of Marrakesh's medina, a five-minute walk from Jemaa El Fna and close enough to Majorelle Garden, the Koutoubia Minaret and Mouassine Mosque to reach on foot. Inside, no two of the 41 rooms match: some have hand-stitched camel leather floors, others hand-mixed lime plaster walls, and all mix mid-century European furniture with carved plasterwork and cedar ceilings. Art runs through the building rather than sitting on it, part of a collection assembled by co-owner Vanessa Branson that includes William Kentridge and David Shrigley alongside Moroccan and African artists including Hassan Hajjaj and Yto Barrada, work recognized on Condé Nast's Gold List in 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2024. Three swimming pools and a 1,300 square metre roof terrace anchor the property, with a library, a mini golf area, a spa offering massage and solarium, and a barbecue corner where a family of resident tortoises wanders in between. Two restaurants and two bars mean few reasons to leave for a meal, and the colonnade cafe runs from 7:30am. This suits travellers who want colour, pattern and a sense of a real house rather than a template, and who don't mind booking ahead for dinner. Unmarried couples should know a marriage certificate may be requested at check-in, and a 200 EUR deposit is standard. What lingers after checkout is not the pools but the tortoises underfoot. A 41-room riad in Marrakesh's medina, five minutes from Jemaa El Fna, where no two rooms match and the art includes William Kentridge and Hassan Hajjaj. Three pools, two restaurants and a rooftop bar over the Koutoubia come with a family of resident tortoises.