"These are some serious digs: a total of 54 deeply private, one- and two-bedroom villas, all with creamy stone floors and carved tadelakt walls framed by stately columns (there are also nine first-floor rooms with fabulous Atlas views). The outdoor showers are enclosed with bamboo, while the courtyards have crackling wood fires and there are marble hammams in the bathrooms. A stroll through the 20 hectares of gardens, perfumed with the scent of 100,000 roses, leads to a spa and hammam of epic proportions, which unfurls in a series of graceful arches like those of the Mezquita in Córdoba. It's the attention to hand-crafted details like these that set the Mandarin apart from the city's more blingy five stars, and there's other carefully curated stuff, too—from making dinner-party dishes with high-flying chefs to touring the organic fruit and vegetable garden. When the heat of the day gets too much, just sneak back to the villa and spend the afternoon snoozing on a king-size daybed by the pool. This is somewhere to waft around indulging in all the extras, from yoga sessions to an in-room supper whipped up by a private chef. —Tara Stevens"
