Where to stay in Marrakech: the Medina, the Koutoubia, Hivernage, Guéliz, the Palmeraie or the desert, area by area

This is the Medina people picture: the souks, the riads behind plain doors and the lanes north and west of Jemaa el-Fna, inside the walls of a city founded by the Almoravids in 1070 to 1072 and a World Heritage Site since 1985. Many lanes are too narrow for a car and busy with mopeds and handcarts, so where the taxi stops matters.

Everything here is on foot. From Le Jardin Secret in Mouassine, the Ben Youssef Madrasa is 7 minutes, Jemaa el-Fna 10, the Koutoubia 16, the Bahia Palace 21 and the Jardin Majorelle 30. Marrakech Menara airport is 9 to 16 minutes by road off-peak, and people posing as guides approach visitors: a genuine guide carries an official badge.

The cost: stairs, small pools at most riads, and spring, the dear season, fills early.

Ours: El Fenn, 41 rooms in 13 linked houses just inside Bab el Ksour, where the taxi stops at the gate and the door is 5 metres along the first street on the right, from about €680 in mid-November 2026; Dar Kandi, six suites in a 1915 house in the Bab Doukkala quarter, from about €205 with breakfast, where staff meet you at a guarded car park nearby and help with the bags; and Royal Mansour, 53 private riads with roof plunge pools and a taxi to its own gate, from about €2,300. All three suit couples.

The south-west side of the Medina is where the old city meets the avenues: the Koutoubia minaret and its gardens, Jemaa el-Fna a short walk east, and the Kasbah quarter to the south, around the Saadian Tombs. Here the hotels have roads to their doors, so there is no walk through the lanes with luggage.

From the Koutoubia, Jemaa el-Fna is 8 minutes on foot, and the Saadian Tombs and the Bahia Palace 16 minutes each; the Jardin Majorelle, in Guéliz, is 7 minutes by road off-peak. For taxis, the British government advises agreeing the fare first or checking that the meter is running. Marrakech Menara airport is 8 to 13 minutes by road off-peak.

The cost: the souks are across Jemaa el-Fna rather than outside the door, and both our hotels here start above €700 a night.

Ours: La Mamounia, in gardens inside the ramparts at Bab Jdid since 1923, with three MICHELIN Keys, a pool heated all year and cars to its entrance, from about €705, room only; and La Villa des Orangers, a 1930s riad between the Koutoubia and the Royal Palace, with one Key, a pool heated in season and a taxi to the door, from about €825 with breakfast, minimum three nights in March. Both suit a first visit in comfort, and couples.

Hivernage is the garden district between Guéliz and the Medina's western walls. Morocco's tourism office groups it with Guéliz as modern Marrakech, with airy avenues and international shops, and here a taxi reaches every door.

The Medina is close but not on the doorstep. From Dar Rhizlane's gate on Avenue du Président Kennedy, Marrakech station is 20 minutes on foot and the Koutoubia 25; Jemaa el-Fna is about half an hour's walk, or 20 minutes from Nobu, and a petit taxi takes 5 to 7 minutes off-peak, around 15 at busy times. By road, the Jardin Majorelle is 6 minutes and the Menara Gardens 6 to 12. Marrakech Menara airport is 9 to 12 minutes off-peak.

The cost: a taxi for every trip to the souks, and evenings that run late: Nobu's rooftop bar stays open until 1am, and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Ours: Nobu Hotel Marrakech, Nobu's first hotel in Africa, opened in 2023, 71 suites with a round rooftop facing the Atlas, from about €735 with breakfast; and Dar Rhizlane, a palace-style house of 2001 in water gardens behind a gate, with its own restaurant, pool and hammam, from about €295. Nobu suits food lovers and nights out; Dar Rhizlane suits couples who want a quiet base.

Guéliz is modern Marrakech, north-west of the Medina walls: Morocco's tourism office points to its boutiques, international shops and airy avenues. It is where the trains arrive, and where the Jardin Majorelle stands.

From Place du 16 Novembre, Marrakech station is 17 minutes on foot, with Al Atlas trains from Casablanca in 2 hours 54 minutes, and the Jardin Majorelle 23, open every day from 8am to 5.30pm, last entry 5pm. The Koutoubia is 27 minutes' walk, and Jemaa el-Fna 4 minutes by road off-peak. Marrakech Menara airport is 10 to 16 minutes off-peak, and ONDA lists a shuttle bus into the city every 20 minutes.

The cost: the old city is a walk or a taxi away every day, and you trade a riad's courtyard for city streets.

None of our ten is here. It suits travellers arriving or leaving by train, short stays built around the Jardin Majorelle, and anyone who would rather have a modern hotel among cafés and shops than a riad down a lane. Hivernage, next door, has two of ours.

Beyond the Palmeraie, on the north-eastern edge of Marrakech, the city gives way to open ground between the High Atlas to the south and the low Djebilet hills to the north. Out here you stay in a resort and drive to the city: nothing a visitor wants is within walking distance.

From Palais Namaskar, on Route de Bab Atlas, off-peak by road, the Jardin Majorelle is 21 to 26 minutes, Marrakech station 22 to 28, Jemaa el-Fna 24 to 31 and Imlil, in the High Atlas, 96 to 112. Marrakech Menara airport is 29 to 40 minutes. Transfers and trips into town go through the hotel and are best booked ahead.

The cost: every visit to the Medina is a car there and back, and dinner in town means a drive home.

Ours: Palais Namaskar, opened in 2012 on five hectares, with 41 rooms, suites, villas and palaces among lakes, cascades and reflecting pools, each with its own terrace and access to an outdoor or private pool, a 650 m² spa and a rooftop bar facing the Atlas, from about €460 with breakfast. It suits couples on a resort break and families taking a villa.

South-west of Marrakech the Route d'Amizmiz runs out into open country towards the High Atlas. At Km 12 our resort stands alone on a 231-hectare estate, an old olive grove of gardens and golf fairways: nothing is within walking distance, and the setting is quiet.

Off-peak by road, Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia are 20 to 30 minutes, the Jardin Majorelle 23 to 34, the Lalla Takerkoust lake 24 to 34 and Imlil, the trailhead village for Toubkal, 79 to 90. Marrakech Menara airport is 18 to 26 minutes, and the hotel arranges transfers. A free shuttle runs to several points in the city centre at set times; the concierge has the times.

The cost: the Medina means the shuttle, a taxi or a hotel car, and meals and drinks carry resort prices, a point guests raise often.

Ours: Fairmont Royal Palm, opened in 2013, with 135 rooms, suites and villas, an 18-hole course, a 100-metre pool heated to 28°C with a shallow children's zone, and a free kids' club for ages 3 to 12, from about €700 for a Junior Suite Garden View with breakfast, the entry room on sale for mid-March 2027. It suits families and winter-sun weeks by the pool.

The Agafay is a stony desert of bare hills on a plateau south-west of Marrakech, not golden sand dunes, with the High Atlas along the horizon, sharpest in winter when the peaks carry snow. The point is the emptiness, close to the city: nothing is within walking distance, and the nights are dark.

Off-peak by road from Inara Camp, the Lalla Takerkoust lake is 26 to 33 minutes, Jemaa el-Fna and the Jardin Majorelle 56 to 58, about an hour, and Imlil about 1 hour 45. Marrakech Menara airport is 50 to 64 minutes, and the camp arranges a transfer. Camel and quad rides start at the camp, and buggy and e-bike rides go out with a guide.

The cost: the Medina is a day trip, dinner in town means a long drive back, and the wifi is weak.

Ours: Inara Camp, 19 insulated tents and suites, each with a bathroom, a hot shower and air conditioning that warms the tent on winter nights, and two pools heated all year, from about €525 with breakfast in mid-November 2026. The tents sell out early, so book well ahead. It suits couples, and a last night or two after the Medina.