Step off a noisy derb and through an unmarked door, and the medina falls silent. A restored riad turns its back on the street and inward to a cool courtyard of citrus trees, tilework and trickling water.
The best riads are family-run and small — half a dozen rooms around the central court, a rooftop for breakfast under the Atlas light and a hammam in the basement for the dust of the souks.
Yours might once have been a single merchant's home, the rooms now individually styled with tadelakt plaster, carved cedar and lanterns that throw lace patterns at night.
Book one with a daytime concierge who can arrange a guide for the first foray into the souks — finding your way back is the real Marrakech rite of passage.
Good to know
- Choose a small, family-run riad with a rooftop terrace and a hammam.
- Arrange a daytime guide for your first foray into the souks.
- Expect to get lost finding your way back; that is the rite of passage.
