La Villa des Orangers

La Villa des Orangers began as a riad, a Moroccan house built around an inner courtyard, put up in the 1930s for a prominent figure who lived in it until 1998. Craftsmen then spent nine months turning it into a hotel, and it has been a member of Relais & Châteaux since 2001. A restoration and expansion, overseen by Studio KO and Aire au Carré, brought in marble workers, plasterers, painters of cedar ceilings and zellige cutters, and the house now holds an art collection of sub-Saharan tribal pieces, carved Ottoman furniture and contemporary work. Today it belongs to Morocco's AKAN Collection, and the MICHELIN Guide gives it a Key.

There are 33 rooms and suites, set around courtyards and patios, and no two are alike. The Deluxe Rooms, 20 m², are on the ground floor and open onto a courtyard, with a bath and a shower. The Rooms with Terrace are the same size, one floor up, with a staircase to a private terrace above the bedroom that looks over the Medina, and from some of them gives a glimpse of the Koutoubia or, on clear days, the Atlas. The suites run from the 28 m² Junior Suites around the patios to the 45 m² Large Suites with Terrace, the two-storey 100 m² Master Suites with fireplaces and a balcony over the pool, and a 185 m² Private Riad with two suites and its own pool, heated in season.

It is chosen as the one to book because it does everything well at once. The main courtyard has a fountain and orange trees, a second patio holds a 16-metre pool among citrus trees and arches, heated in season, and there is a plunge pool on the roof; the rooftop bar faces the Koutoubia minaret from 18:00 to 21:00; the 60 m² hammam, in marble and mosaic with columns, is designed in the spirit of a Roman bath. The restaurant cooks Moroccan home dishes alongside French classics, with bread and gazelle horns baked in the house ovens, and a bar in a hidden patio pours cocktails until midnight, later at weekends. Outside the door, the Koutoubia is 8 minutes on foot and Jemaa el-Fna 11, and a taxi drops you at the entrance.

The trade is space and stairs. The entry rooms are 20 m², there is no lift, and the terraces and the roof are reached on foot. In spring the rate climbs steeply, and March stays need at least three nights. Book it for a first or a fifth trip to Marrakech, take a Room with Terrace, and let the courtyards do the rest.