Best spa hotels in Marrakech

The spa at Royal Mansour Marrakech fills 2,500 m² over three floors, inside the walled estate. At its heart is a hammam in white marble, and beside it a heated indoor pool under an orangery-style canopy. There are 10 treatment rooms and three spa suites, a hair and beauty salon and a fitness room, and it opens from 9am to 9pm, late enough for a treatment after a day in the souks.

The riads carry the idea home. Every riad has a roof terrace with its own plunge pool, and the one-bedroom riads a solarium too, so the rest after the hammam can happen in private, over the Medina rooftops. The three-bedroom Prestige riads go further, with a hammam of their own. Outside, the 30-metre garden pool sits among gardens of a little more than 2.5 hectares.

Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech has the largest spa on this list: 3,500 m², built like a modern riad, with treatment rooms, hammam rituals and an indoor pool. It is for guests aged 18 and over, so parents get a quiet afternoon while the children are at the free Kids' Club for ages 3 to 12. The 1,500 m² Fitness Centre, with a semi-Olympic lap pool, is also for adults.

Around it is a 231-hectare estate in an old olive grove on the Route d'Amizmiz, with the High Atlas on the horizon. The main pool is 100 metres long and heated to 28°C, and there are four clay tennis courts, two padel courts and an 18-hole golf course. Jemaa el-Fna is a 20-minute drive, and a free shuttle runs into the city at set times.

The spa at Palais Namaskar is 650 m², and its strength is privacy. There are six treatment rooms, two of them private duo suites, each with its own hammam; the larger has a fireplace and a heated pool. The products are by Aromatherapy Associates and Botanika, and the fitness studio opens from 07:00 to 23:00.

The resort around it is made for slow days. Lakes, cascades and reflecting pools run through five hectares of gardens beyond the Palmeraie, every one of the 41 rooms, suites, villas and palaces has its own terrace, and the Junior Suites, Pool Suites, villas and palaces have private pools. Guests praise the quiet water gardens away from the city. The Medina is about 24 minutes by car, which suits a stay built around the spa.

Dar Rhizlane's spa is a traditional hammam, a hot, humid steam bath with scrubs, followed by massages, facials and wraps in the treatment rooms, with a relaxation area and hot drinks afterwards. There is a gym too.

The setting does much of the work. The house stands behind a gate in Hivernage among lily and papyrus pools, grapefruit trees and palms, with an outdoor pool in the Andalusian garden. Lunch and dinner move to the terrace beside the pool in good weather, and Le Mimouna cooks inventive Moroccan dishes with seasonal produce, so a hammam afternoon can end with dinner at home. The Medina is about 5 minutes by taxi on clear roads, nearer 15 in heavy traffic.