Marrakech: sun, shopping, spices and a sumptuous hotel
The red city is bursting with colour and flavour - and the sun shines throughout the winter
Walking in the souk in the Medina in Marrakech can be an assault on the senses. A labyrinth of tiny alleyways and shops, some of which look indistinguishable from each other, it would be very easy to lose one’s way. You share the narrow paths with cyclists and scooters and you might be jostled along during busy times. You’ll smell baked goods and spices and see ceramics, clothes, custom-made leather shoes, carpets (and more) of all colours, tightly packed, and stallholders will attempt to cajole you into purchasing their wares. I absolutely loved it!
However, I had travelled only with hand luggage so had to be circumspect about what to bring home. I attempted to haggle but, being British, found it painfully hard, eventually choosing a traditional Moroccan platter. Luckily, I could not spend all afternoon shopping, for we had hired a guide. Younos Ajana steered us to the stunning Dar El Bacha museum, an 18th century palace that used to be home to Marrakech’s Pasha. While the traditional Moroccan architecture and artifacts it showcases inside are fascinating, equally beautiful – and Instagrammable – is its courtyard, full of luscious orange trees and fountains.
If you are not one for shopping and would prefer to check in for some R and R, the hotel we stayed at is a must. Beloved by celebrities including Christiano Ronaldo, Amanda Holden and Constance Jablonski, and just a 20-minute car ride from the Medina (free shuttles are every two hours) and the airport, the five-star Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech is a panacea for the hubbub of the souk.
We arrived at the hotel – which is set in an olive grove and trees line its paths – in time for a cocktail at the magnificent jazz-inspired Le Bar (it also serves delicious sushi). At Al Aïn oriental restaurant, we were served beautifully presented Lebanese dishes with a Moroccan twist, such as spinach fatayer and sayadieh samak.
By rights, we shouldn’t have been hungry the next morning but the hotel – which is set in 231 hectares and impresses with its impossibly high ceilings, moody interiors and tastefully luxe décor – is a haven for foodies. The buffet breakfast was a smorgasbord of cereals and yoghurt, fresh and dried fruit, fish, pastries and Moroccan Msemen breads.
With four restaurants on the complex – and the option of in-room dining – you won’t go hungry. If you’re one for fine dining, Italian restaurant Capricci is a feast for the senses. Stand-out dishes included grilled salmon served with avocado in a basil sauce and a saffron-infused risotto with caramelised onions and sauteed almonds. Meals at Le Sabra at the Country Club are a lighter affair, with options including quinoa salad and roasted sea bream.
The 134 guest rooms, suites and villas, offer stunning views of the Atlas Mountains or the gardens. Mine was an extremely spacious deluxe suite decked out in dark wood and moucharabieh panels, Berber rugs and bespoke furniture, a sunken marble bath and a separate shower room with beijmat-tiled floors, plus a beautiful patio from which I could watch the beautiful golden sunrise.
Golf buggies are available to transport you around the vast complex, but we explored with a leisurely bike ride, taking in the 18-hole golf course and its two swimming pools, one of which is the city’s largest and meanders through the site.
The hotel is wonderfully family-friendly with a Kids’ Club for children aged three to 12. For the fitness fan, options include a dedicated centre, a squash court, clay tennis courts and padel courts – and we did have lots of fun trying out this new-to-us racquet sport.
We booked in for a hammam treatment at the beautiful spa, which is designed like a modern riad and oozes a sense of tranquillity. Iqbal scrubbed my skin with the traditional black soap and a kessa glove and, after the application of a Ghassoul clay mask and Maroc products, I felt like a lizard, with my new skin revealed. This was followed by a wonderful vitamin C facial by Fatima using Natura Bissé products and I left with my skin glowing.
It is also easy to see why the hotel plays host not just to holidays but also to weddings, including around 10 Jewish weddings annually, mostly to couples with roots in Morocco. Jews are recorded as being present in Morocco since before Roman times, with many moving there after the Iberian expulsion. Indeed, Morocco was once home to the largest number of Jews in a Muslim country, with more than 250,000 Jews living there at one time. Now only around 2,500 remain, a few hundred of whom are in Marrakech.
The historic ongoing presence of Jews in Morocco is noted in the new Constitution of 2011, and the Kingdom (as well as private entities) has instigated archaeological and restoration projects of Jewish places of interest. Morocco normalised relations with Israel in 2020 with the signing of the Abraham Accords.
There are several synagogues in Marrakech, including the 16th century Slat Lazama Synagogue in the Mellah, the historic Jewish quarter. Located less than 10 minutes away from Jemaa El Fna, the main square in the heart of the Medina, it was built by Sephardi Jews as part of a riad and features a garden courtyard and museum. You can visit this synagogue as well as the Jewish cemetery and Jewish heritage tours are also available.
It is warm and sunny in the red city (so called because of the red walls of its houses) right into the autumn. There is so much to see and do, including visiting the Bahia Palace, the Yves Saint Laurent museum, the Jardin Majorelle and trekking in the Atlas mountains. But if, like me, you are looking for some downtime, the luxurious Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech is a discreet and wonderful place in which to recharge.
Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech, from £390 per night B&B. fairmont.com
Younos Ajana is with @specialtours_marrakech / visitmarrakech.com. For an English-language talk about Jewish Marrakech, email Kati Roumani at saltandochre@gmail.com; Jewish community of Marrakech: jmarrakech.org
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