El Fenn Hotel, Restaurant and Rooftop Bar

The 12 Best Hotels in Morocco (2025) | Condé Nast Traveler

"It’s easy to forget what a game-changer this place was when it opened two decades ago on the edge of the medina with just six jewel-toned bedrooms, plumes of bougainvillea, and a rooftop that felt like a fabulous house party, stitching itself into the fabric of the Red City with color-clashing walls, lounges of thickly woven Berber and velvet fabrics, Moorish keyhole archways, and orange trees. Moving with the times, co-owner Vanessa Branson gradually bought up neighboring riads to create a wondrous labyrinth of 13 interconnected buildings, three pools, and 41 bedrooms in blush pinks, mustards, and acid yellows; some have zellige tiles, others hand-stitched camel leather floors and carved wooden ceilings, all offset with pop art and bright contemporary installations, with sun-dappled courtyards leading to a new wood-carved annex that references traditional Arabic motifs in its latticework and stained-glass windows. I recently stayed in one of the “cozy” rooms behind an ornate cedar door, where a contemporary dot painting by Moroccan artist Abdelmalek Berhiss hangs on a hand-plastered tadelakt wall and a timeworn iridescent mother-of-pearl chandelier dangles above the bed; it’s nearly impossible to tell old from new thanks to local artisanship, natural fabrics, and upcycled furniture. The open-air, guest-only Colonnade Café, dotted with olive trees, and a modern spiral staircase connecting the ground-floor boutique with the sprawling spruced-up rooftop keep the mood contemporary, yet amid the rooftop’s pool, sunbeds, and pops of color, the old magic of Marrakech endures." - Lauren Burvill