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Africa & Middle East > Morocco > Marrakech > Marrakech > Articles > Luxury Marrakesh

Luxury Marrakesh

by James Henderson

In the traveller’s equation that balances reliable winter sun, easy accessibilty and an exotic destination, it is surely Morocco that comes out on top

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In the traveller’s equation that balances reliable winter sun, easy accessibilty and an exotic destination, it is surely Morocco that comes out on top. Within Morocco, it is Marrakesh that has built the most sympathetic following among foreign visitors.

Not without reason. The city lies in the south, where the light and heat are that much more intense. It is removed from the centres of modern power, so it has a liberal air, and its people, a mix of Arabs and Berbers from the Atlas Mountains, are known for their sense of humour and easy manner. Also, satisfyingly, Marrakesh is easy on the visitor at the moment. Even the hassle-factor is quite low.

The city offers the European visitor a genuine shock of the exotic. The moment you pass through a bab (gate), beneath the crenellated regularity of Marrakesh’s red-ochre city walls (pricked here and there by the shaggy mess of a stork’s nest), you will taste the mystery of the Medina: alleys that end in alluring wooden doors, the madding activity of the souk, traffic as tight as an olive press and of course the Djemaa el Fna, the central square which whirls like a dervish. Look closer and there is highly polished tadelakt plaster, honeycomb naksh stucco and wooden moucharabieh louvres. It’s easy to see why Marrakesh has attracted so many film directors and fashion designers, their actors and models. Yves St Laurent has had a house here for years.

The formal centre of Marrakesh is the Koutoubia Mosque. Built in the 12th century, its minaret stands visible for miles, but its influence stretched far further (the Giralda in Seville is a copy). Unfortunately, as a working mosque it is closed to non-Muslims. For Moroccan architecture you will have to visit the riads and former palaces of the medina.

But then the pleasures of Marrakesh are more alive than architectural anyway. The real heart of the town is close by, the Djemaa el Fna. By day this plain, L-shaped stretch of tarmac is a market patrolled by gaudily-dressed watersellers, henna-ladies offering latticework tattoos and shoe-shine men. But then as dusk approaches it gathers a new momentum. You should come here at the end of an afternoon’s sight-seeing or shopping, find a balcony seat in one of the cafes above the square, and watch.

Gradually the square becomes a whirl of people. They swarm around the barbecue stalls with soup, sausages and snails and a haze of smoke punctured by acid-white paraffin lamps. They press around the herbalists and quack doctors, listening to the sales patter, and then pass on to the wail of pipes and tumble of drums, closing around the snake charmers, acrobats and story tellers. This sounds like theme-Morocco, but its authenticity is not in question. There are always more Marrakeshis enjoying the spectacle than tourists.

In the face of such a cultural onslaught, your choice of hotel is doubly important. You will need a calm retreat from the noisome fray. Traditionally visitors stay in the city’s modern suburbs, or even further out, in the Palmeraie (palm grove). The Mamounia Hotel has held pride of place in Marrakesh for many years and has attracted visitors as varied as Churchill and Tom Cruise. It has 20 hectares of calm and magnificent gardens just inside the city walls. The Hotel Tichka, in the northern district of Semlalia, is sometimes called the mini-Mamounia. It is decorated in a riot of tadelakt plaster (ochre, turquoise, azure). Even quieter and further removed from hectic city life is Les Deux Tours, which is set in the Palmeraie to the northeast, in its own walled garden festooned with ferns and bougainvillea. There are 24 rooms in villas that were recently built, adapting traditional Moroccan designs.

Interestingly, in the past year a number of small hotels and guesthouses have also opened up in the riads (palaces) of the medina. If you want to immerse yourself completely in city life, then these are oases within. Reaching La Maison Arabe involves walking along a dusty (or muddy) alley of pise walls. But in the way of the medina, the drab outside gives onto an exquisite interior. Once Marrakesh’s most famous restaurant, this palace has been restored to luxurious standards, with sculpted, cedar-wood ceilings, zouak painted patterns and burnished tadelakt walls in pistachio green and earthy yellow. There are six suites and four rooms around the two small patios, where they even serve afternoon tea. The Riad Moucharabieh hides at the end of a covered alley. Inside, its white, green and blue colouring and geometrical zellij tiles echo Rabat rather than Marrakesh, but the air is equally convivial. There are just four rooms. Like all houses in the medina, there is a roof terrace (now sundeck) with a view over the city. These hotels tend not to have a pool, but they have arrangements that their guests can use the pools at the larger hotels.

If you don’t stay in one of the riads, you need not necessarily miss out. Many of Marrakesh’s finest restaurants are also set in them. At Dar Yacout, you take drinks on the roof terrace before descending to alcoves and rooms around the central courtyard and pool. You sit on divans at low tables, as waiters in fezzes and djellebas produce dishes like magicians from velvet tagine-shaped platters, to a background timp of drums and a thrum of guitar.

The meal, in the Moroccan way, is substantial, relentless and delicious. A volley of salads comes, then a pastilla (pigeon pie with pastry inlaid with nuts, honey and spices), then a tagine (chicken perhaps, stewed in lemon and olives) and then a mound of couscous aux sept legumes (seven vegetables). Simply lean back on the divan between courses. If you can manage, follow with an orange and cinnamon and sweet pastries flavoured curiously like airline towelettes.

At Dar Marjana the fare is from Fez and Marrakesh, served in an open courtyard with orange trees and pillars hung with heavy drapes. The Palais Gharnatta restaurant is set in the finest building of them all, a late 18th century palace with walls covered in magnificent naksh stucco arches, and brightly painted, lacquered ceilings. Most of these restaurants have music and sometimes dancers.

If the volume of food becomes too daunting, then try Al Fassia on the Ave Mohammed V, where you can order good Moroccan food a la carte. But if it is something closer to home you need then the excellent French restaurant Le Pavillon is also set around a pleasant house and courtyard in the medina. There are also plenty of simple Italian and French restaurants in the modern quarters of Marrakesh, off Avenue Mohammed V. A word of warning: Marrakesh causes havoc on European stomachs. Do not eat salads or take ice outside the top restaurants and hotels, which are usually all right.

Of course an essential part of any visit to Marrakesh is a trip to the souk, the market, the vast complex of covered streets and alleys that rambles with its own logic north from the Djemaa el Fna. Moroccans come from as far as Casablanca and Rabat to buy the handicrafts in Marrakesh. There’s no point here in trying to give directions, but for once the suggestion that you should simply wander and explore (particularly before setting about any serious purchasing) is a legitimate one. Let the souk reveal itself. Eventually you will discover the alleys that specialize in metalwork, basketry, leatherware, spices...

For small items - babouche shoes, bronze, leatherware, bowls or small items of marquetry for instance - it is fine to set out on you own. Remember that there are no fixed prices and that any figure you mention becomes a bargaining position. A return bid of 40-50% of the quoted price is often suggested. Be tough, don’t be bullied by a certain judicious annoyance on their part, and don’t be persuaded into paying more than you think a thing is worth. Prices do sometimes fall in the evening. It helps to speak French.

For serious purchases - Moroccan antiques such as silver knives and rifles, Berber carpets and cedar or olive wood doors from the High Atlas and jewellery and works of art - you should take advice. You may consider taking a guide recommended by your hotel (this has the other advantage of keeping other guides away). They do take a cut, yes, but they provide an element of quality control and you have at least some recourse.

You will find the finest collection of antiques, possibly in all of Morocco, off the main street of the Souk Semmarine itself at La Lampe d’Aladin. It offers a calm retreat from the business of the street while you browse the furniture, ceremonial silverware and jewellery. On the Derb Ksour (on the western fringe of the souk), the Palais Vizir is set in a 19th century palace and specializes in carpets. If you’re very brave, you can bid for carpets at the open auction in the Rahba Kedima, an open square (often called the slave market) not far up the Souk Semmarine. Also set in a pleasant palatial interior, on Derb Dar el Bacha, north of the souk, the Khalid Art Gallery has some antiques among modern artefacts and some modern art. Increasingly shops are opening in the modern districts of the city, principally around Avenue Mohammed V. Tinmel has an excellent selection of carpets and the Gallery Badii and the Marco Polo, both in Gueliz, are worth a look for their antiques, furniture and some fine art.

There are few formal sights in Marrakesh, but the 16th century Saadien Tombs, at the top of the rue de la Kasbah, near the delicately decorated Bab Agnaou, are worth a look for the wasp-nest delicacy of their Hispano-Mooresque stucco - it was created by refugee craftsmen from the Spanish Conquest. Also, the Medersa Ben Youssef, a former seminary decorated with Koranic inscriptions, zellij tiles and magnificent carved wood. It is just north of the souk, you’ll need to ask.

Beyond the city walls there are royal gardens to visit - Agdal in the south and Menara in the west - but by far the loveliest is the Jardin Majorelle, which was created by French painter Jacques Majorelle and is now owned by Yves Saint Laurent. Hidden behind a wall in the suburb of Gueliz are several acres of palms, cacti, bamboos, bougainvillea and cascading succulents, offset by paths painted pink, apple green and a rich royal blue that reaches right down to the workmen’s overalls. The painter’s former studio houses the Musee d’Art Islamique, Yves St Laurent’s collections of Maghrebian carpets and ceramics and some paintings by Majorelle himself (unfortunately in reproduction).

But wherever you go, you should return to the Djemaa el Fna, just to enjoy the shock once more. It is vibrant, vital, utterly, utterly exotic; different from anywhere else in the world.

An Hour and a Bit Away

On a clear day, the snow-capped range of the Atlas Mountains hangs above Marrakesh like some silvery curtain. Take the Taroudannt road to the charming area of Ouirgane, 50 miles and a thousand years removed from hectic city life - local Berber houses cling to the hillside above irrigation canals and terraced fields of corn and orchards of rose hip, olive and walnut trees. If you want to stay the night, choose the Residence de la Roseraie, which has manicured gardens of roses and other wonderful flowers (spring is the best time). However, make sure to eat next door at Le Sanglier qui Fume, a local legend which has recently been reopened. Once it actually had a Michelin star - the French and Moroccan dining room is still excellent. Beyond Ijoukak, the Tin Mal mosque, with its proportions of five-to-one height to width, is the spiritual ancestor of the Koutoubia and is open to non-Mulsims. Should you want to go skiing, the lifts are open at Oukaimeden in the Ourika Valley between February (sometimes earlier) and April.