Art-filled rooms in linked Medina buildings, three pools and a 1,300 m² roof terrace facing the Koutoubia, with taxis at the gate.
€€€€From about €680 a night
El Fenn is a hotel in Medina with 41 rooms.
Medina, MoroccoEl Fenn began in 2002 with one large historic riad just inside Bab el Ksour, on the western side of the Medina. It opened in 2004 with six bedrooms and spread into the houses around it: today there are 41 rooms and suites in 13 interconnected buildings on a two-acre site, with a spa, a boutique and resident tortoises. Its first name, Riad El Fenn, means house of art. In November 2025 it passed to a Marrakech family whose roots in the city go back five generations, with a promise to keep its character.
No two rooms are alike. Walls run from hot pink to teal, some floors are hand-stitched camel leather, and mid-century European furniture sits under carved plaster and cedar ceilings. The ladder starts with the Cosy Rooms, from 15 m², redecorated in 2026 around a zellige courtyard with a plunge pool, and the 20 m² Small Rooms. Medium Rooms, from 30 m² in the original house, add a sitting area and an open fire; Large Rooms, from 42 m², an oversized bath and a separate shower; Extra Large Rooms, from 46 m², a lounge and a separate large bathroom. At the top are a 65 m² room with its own 30 m² terrace over the pool courtyard, and family suites of 98 m² and 138 m², the larger with a roof terrace and plunge pool.
Design is the reason to book it. The collection began with pieces from a founder's own walls, by William Kentridge, Sir Terry Frost and David Shrigley, and now leans to Moroccan and African artists: Hassan Hajjaj, Yto Barrada, Ali Maimoun, Leila Alaoui, Joana Choumali. Twice a year a Marrakech gallery hangs a temporary show; in 2026 Rita Alaoui painted murals along the entrance corridors. Above it all is a 1,300 m² roof terrace with day beds, a 30-foot marble bar, a 13 m pool heated to 24°C and a close view of the Koutoubia. Downstairs, guests have a marble-lined lap pool in a vine-filled courtyard beside the Colonnade Café, and an 8 m spa pool heated all year. Condé Nast Traveler has put it on its Gold List four times, most recently in 2024.
The trade is privacy on the roof. The terrace and its bar are open to everyone from 12:00 to 23:00, the rooftop restaurant serves non-residents at lunch and dinner, drinks are first come, first served and it fills at sunset; for quiet, go up before noon or stay in the courtyards. The entry rooms are small for the price. Book it to sleep inside a working art collection with a heated pool on the roof, a taxi at the gate and Jemaa el-Fna nine minutes away on foot.
Go deeper on El Fenn
Getting from the airport in Marrakech
By car from RAK 10 min
The taxi stops at Bab el Ksour on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra; walk through the gate, take the first right and the door is 5 metres along, so the cases go a few steps; 10 to 15 minutes, and the hotel also arranges private transfers.
The airport guideBook a private transfer
Booked with
A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
Medium Rooms start at 30 m² in the original house, half as big again as the 20 m² Small Rooms, and add a small sitting area and an open fire, which matter on cool winter evenings in a hotel built around open courtyards.
The tables at this hotel that are a reason to come, and how hard they are to get.
The roof most visitors come through the boutique door for: day beds, a 30-foot marble bar and the Koutoubia minaret close enough to frame every photograph, with the call to prayer at sunset and candles after dark. Drinks are first come, first served, so come at opening or after the sunset rush if you want a good seat; the hibiscus El Fenn Margarita is the house drink.
Walk in
A relaxed rooftop dining room serving lunch and dinner every day, built on local, seasonal produce, with tables held for two hours and drinks at the bar before or after. Book ahead; guests also have the Colonnade Café downstairs for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea.
Reserve ahead
Hotel DNA
What guests keep saying
Recurring themes in recent guest reviews, in our words. No quotes, no scores.
Praised again and again
The recurring complaint
Read the reviews yourself before you book.
El Fenn sits just inside Bab el Ksour, a stone gate in the western Medina, a few streets from the Koutoubia. Cars cannot enter the Medina, but a taxi can stop at the gate on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra, which is rare here: walk through, take the first street on the right, and the hotel door is 5 metres along. Non-residents use the boutique entrance outside the gate, which leads up to the roof. On foot, the Koutoubia is 7 minutes away, Jemaa el-Fna and Le Jardin Secret 9, the Ben Youssef Madrasa 13, the Saadian Tombs 20 and the Bahia Palace 22. Jardin Majorelle is a 31-minute walk or about 5 minutes by taxi off-peak. Menara airport is about 10 minutes by road off-peak, and the hotel arranges private transfers. The evening call to prayer carries across the roof terrace at sunset. Off-peak drives: Imlil, in the High Atlas, 79 minutes; Essaouira 160.
The nearest of the experiences we would book, by car from the hotel.
The hammamFrom €55.694.6(3,700)2 min by carHotel or riad pickup
The sunrise balloonFrom €604.8(3,000)2 min by carHotel or riad pickup
The blue gardenFrom €26.904.5(13,900)5 min by car
The Medina and its palacesFrom €15.104.7(8,000)11 min by carRiad pickup, private option
Questions people ask
The Medina's design riad at full scale: art, craft and colour in every room, three pools and a roof terrace facing the Koutoubia. Check availability for a Medium Room. A characterful, art-led riad hotel that is also one of the Medina's best-known addresses, with a lively roof terrace open to the city. You are a short walk from the souks and a taxi from the gate.
It has a rooftop pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
It is in Medina, Morocco, about 0.4 km from centre_marrakech and around 10 minutes by car from RAK airport.
Entry rooms typically start from about €680 a night outside peak dates. We show typical rates, never live prices or invented discounts.
Medium Rooms. Medium Rooms start at 30 m² in the original house, half as big again as the 20 m² Small Rooms, and add a small sitting area and an open fire, which matter on cool winter evenings in a hotel built around open courtyards. Every room here is decorated differently, so tell the hotel what matters most when you book, such as a bathtub.
El Fenn Rooftop Bar. The roof most visitors come through the boutique door for: day beds, a 30-foot marble bar and the Koutoubia minaret close enough to frame every photograph, with the call to prayer at sunset and candles after dark. Drinks are first come, first served, so come at opening or after the sunset rush if you want a good seat; the hibiscus El Fenn Margarita is the house drink.
No, but it suits couples more than families.
Our verdict
The Medina's design riad at full scale: art, craft and colour in every room, three pools and a roof terrace facing the Koutoubia. Check availability for a Medium Room.
€€€€From about €680 a night
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