Which room should I book?

The Garden Deluxe. I stayed in one, and for a deluxe it is large. The view over the gardens, with the snow on the Atlas beyond, is the best view I had in the hotel, and nothing in the room fell short of it.

Is breakfast included?

With us, yes. I stayed in March with breakfast included. Booked online, breakfast is not included by default, so check the booking before you travel.

Can I get an upgrade?

Upgrades are offered at check-in when a room is free. I would ask for one when you book with us, and I would not count on it.

Should I book the hammam before I arrive?

Yes, at the same time as the room. Couples' slots go early in high season, so do not leave it until you are at the desk.

LA MAMOUNIA

Q: Where is it?

Inside the walls of the medina, next to the Koutoubia Mosque and about five minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The walls keep the street out, and inside the hotel is a world of its own.

I went to La Mamounia in March 2025 and stayed in a Garden Deluxe, with breakfast included in the booking. This is a hotel people talk about before they arrive, so it deserves more than a list of its facilities.

The hotel opened in 1923 on ground that had belonged to a garden older than the building. The sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah used to give his sons an estate outside the Kasbah as a wedding gift, and one of them, Prince Al-Mamun, held splendid parties there under the trees. When the grand hotel went up on that green land, it took the name of the garden and of the prince, Arset al-Mamoun.

It opened with a limited number of rooms, and it now counts more than two hundred. It was extended after the war, renovated in the 1980s, and in 2000 and 2001 every guest room was redone. For most of its life the building was owned by the state railway company that had commissioned it. In 2024 the state sold stakes in the hotel to OCP Group, which is now its controlling shareholder. Churchill came in 1943, after the conference at Casablanca, and he painted here during the war. The bar that carries his name is one of the places in the hotel where the history is easiest to feel.

The lit entrance of La Mamounia at night, the arcades glowing and a man in a red cape crossing the forecourt — The arrival at night, with the medina beyond the walls.

Arrival

You are not kept standing at a desk. Check-in takes place in a private salon, where a small welcome arrives: dates and almond milk, and the paperwork is dealt with while you sit. It is a good way to begin, and it sets the pace for the rest of the stay.

A dark brown leather card holder held in a hand, with the name La Mamounia Marrakech pressed into the cover above a carved plaster ceiling and zellige tiles — The leather card holder with the house name pressed into the cover.

A tray on a dark marble table with two glasses, a folded napkin, a date and a lamp — Welcome with dates and almond milk.

The Chandelier du Centenaire hangs over the entrance hall. It was installed for the centenary in 2023, and it is made by the Czech glassmaker Lasvit. Its form takes its cue from the traditional Berber necklaces, with a weave of cord and blown glass and silver pendants, and the light it throws onto the marble is the first thing you notice. Beyond it the arcades open onto a run of rooms, each with its own tiles, lanterns and way of making you slow down.

The glass chandelier over the entrance floor, seen between the white marble columns towards the hall beyond — The Chandelier du Centenaire, from the entrance floor between the columns.

A chandelier of illuminated tubes strung in loops over a lounge, with a red painted ceiling above — A second chandelier, in woven tubes, under the painted ceiling of the public rooms.

A doorman in a dark red cape and white trousers standing in an arched doorway beside zellige tiles — The doorman at the garden entrance, in the robe of the house.

A lounge in a courtyard with blue sofas, a dark table and a lantern on it — The courtyard lounge, where you can sit down.

A cat asleep on a navy armchair in a courtyard with a green and white tiled floor — The house cat, who has the best seat in the courtyard.

A courtyard at night with a carved wooden ceiling, arches and a lantern hanging over the floor — The same courtyard after dark, with the ceiling lit from below.

A long corridor with mosaic columns, arches and a red lantern at the far end — The corridor between the public rooms, lined with mosaic.

A lounge with navy velvet pouffes, gold side tables and a lit chandelier behind — The lounge in the blue room, with its gold side tables.

The room

I stayed in a Garden Deluxe, and for a deluxe it is large. The room I was given had the view I would ask for again: the palm groves and citrus below, the old olive trees and the bougainvillea, and beyond the walls of the hotel the Atlas, with snow still on the peaks. I found nothing in the room that fell short of the rest of the stay.

The hotel describes its Park Deluxe rooms as facing the gardens, and its Agdal Deluxe rooms as looking over the pool towards the Agdal quarter. I would choose by the view first and the floor second, and I would not pay for a higher category without first asking what the view will be.

Orange-and-white woven cloth, a handbag and a pair of heels on a green and white tiled floor, seen from above — Shoes on the tiles, seen from above.

A bedroom seen through a carved wooden arch, with a bed, a green lamp and a striped curtain — The bedroom, through the carved door.

A balcony with white curtains opening onto the medina roofs and palms beyond — The medina roofs from the balcony, and beyond them the Atlas Mountains.

A bathroom with white marble walls, a zellige shower panel, a bathtub and a towel rail — The marble bathroom, with the shower in its own tiled alcove.

A freestanding bathtub with white robes hung on a hook beside it — The bathtub, with the robes hung ready.

A carved wooden mirror above a marble basin, with a lamp and a glass on the shelf — The basin and the mirror, in the house style.

A white basin on a marble counter, with a mirror and a carved wooden door at the edge — The second basin, by the carved door.

A silver teapot on a tray beside a pleated lamp and a glass of mint tea — Mint tea, served after the spa treatment.

Looking down at the poolside, with a woven orange cloth on a sun lounger and bare feet resting on a pillow — The pool in the afternoon, with the cloth and the lounger.

The spa and the hammam

The spa is the thing people talk about, and it earns it. The pools sit under arches and vaulted ceilings, with mosaic on every surface and lanterns hanging over the water. Before a treatment, the house sprays a scent of dates and orange blossom into the air. It was made for the hotel alone by Fragonard, and it can be bought in the boutique afterwards.

I would book the spa at the same time as the room. The treatment rooms are few, and the couples' slots go first in high season. The order I would follow is the hammam first, then the argan oil massage, which comes after the heat and leaves you feeling put back together, and then the pool with nothing to do.

A tiled pool with a lit ceiling of arches, lanterns hanging over the edge and loungers along one side — The hammam pool, with the loungers along the side.

Red and white lanterns standing over a dark pool with arches reflected in its surface — The lanterns in the water at the spa.

A pale octagonal marble basin in a room with green walls, red benches and a lantern above — The marble basin in the warm room.

A white arch above a pool, with red and white lanterns on the tiled edge — Through the arch to the pool in the spa.

A carved wooden dome above a marble fountain, with a patterned floor beneath — The fountain under the dome.

A white daybed with cream cushions set at the edge of a blue-tiled pool beneath an arch — The daybed over the water at the inside pool.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in the Pavillon de la Piscine, beside the pool, and it is included when you book with us. The buffet is large: pastries, bread, and a round island of dishes under a gold ring of light. The same room serves lunch and the brunch later on, so the morning does not have to end when the breakfast does.

Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon on a white plate, with a glass of water and a cup of coffee beside it — Eggs Benedict, with the coffee beside it.

Croissants and small pastries arranged on wooden trays, with bread rolls at the edge — The pastries on their trays.

A round buffet counter with a blue central island, copper dishes and a dome of pastries — The buffet, under the large gold ring of light.

Afternoons and drinks

Afternoon tea arrives on white china, and the champagne is poured at the table on the terrace. The palms shade the terraces from the middle of the day.

Bar Majorelle is the heart of the hotel. It is never quite still, and it is open to people from outside, so you will sit beside Marrakech as well as the guests. The room is full of colour, a nod to the painter Jacques Majorelle, who worked here, and the terrace is the place to be when the light goes. Le Club is on the top floor above Le Marocain. It is the hotel's quieter secret: a sunset cocktail, a tent, and the bar terrace looking over the gardens.

Champagne being poured into a glass on a marble table in the garden, with water and nuts beside it — Champagne on the terrace, poured at the table.

A sandwich on a white plate beside chips, a glass of lemonade and a cup of tea — Afternoon tea, with the chips.

A bottle of champagne in a cloth-wrapped ice bucket, with a chocolate biscuit on a plate — The champagne and a chocolate cake as the welcome gift.

A red-lit bar with stools, a long shelf of bottles behind and a glowing counter — The red bar, in the evening.

A curved bar in a dark red room, with its counter lit from beneath — The curved counter, seen from the far side.

A bar with a lit back shelf of bottles, a white vase of flowers and tall leather stools — The bar, lit like a shop window.

Restaurants

L'Asiatique, by Jean-Georges, is the most ambitious of the restaurants and one of the finest additions since the latest refurbishment. The menu draws on many Asian kitchens, and the finish is a selection of exotic fruit, of which the mango is the one I still think about.

L'Italien, by Simone Zanoni, is a sophisticated Italian room with a winter garden, frescoes of playful cats and furnishings in almond green. The cooking is plain Italian done carefully, with a woodfired pizza for those who want something simpler. Le Marocain sits in its own building in the garden, and the tajine of the chef Rachid Agouray, who has cooked here for more than thirty-five years, is the reason to go.

A menu printed with palm fronds on a white tablecloth, beside a glass and a folded napkin — The menu at L'Italien, printed with palms.

A wine room with glass cabinets, a long white table and bottles lit on a shelf — The wine room, set for a private table.

A dining room with wicker pendant lamps over a bench of brown leather and high windows onto the garden — The dining room under the wicker lamps.

A dining room under a sculpted canvas canopy, with tables set for lunch and green chairs — The terrace dining room under its canopy, set for lunch.

A lounge with a curved black metal bench and leather seats under a lit ceiling of tubes — The lounge with the curved iron bench.

A terrace at night with orange cushions on a low sofa and the garden lit below — The terrace after dark, facing the garden.

Le Churchill

Le Churchill is the most intimate of the bars, and it is designed as a Pullman carriage, a nod to the railway that built the hotel. The panelling is smoky oak, the walls are warm and backlit, and the centrepiece is Patrick Jouin's black marble counter, glowing green through the stone. The house serves a caviar made for La Mamounia by Kaviari, to be eaten with a whisky or a glass of champagne. It is the place I would end the evening.

A card printed with palm trees and a wading bird, held in a hand against zellige tiles — The card from the house perfume, sold only in the hotel.

A date resting in a white ceramic tagine dish, held in an open palm — A date in its dish, as it comes with the tea.

The gardens

The gardens are the part of the hotel most people walk past, and they are the part I would give the most time to. There is an olive grove with trees that have stood for a very long time, cactus and bougainvillea, citrus and the palms, and a long pool under them. Go early, before the crowds and the heat. Walk the grove first, while the light is still low, and then sit at the pool.

A tiled path beside a pool, with banana leaves and palms in front and sun loungers across the water — The pool through the banana leaves.

A wooden pavilion with a carved ceiling and white parasols over a terrace of tiles — The pavilion at the end of the terrace, where the parasols go up.

The pool at the edge of the gardens, with a white pavilion and palms reflected in the still water — The long pool, seen from the pavilion.

Is it worth it?

Yes. The hotel is an experience inside the experience of Marrakech, and the gardens, the spa and the historic setting are exceptional. The standard rooms can disappoint if you expect the space of a suite, so I would start from a deluxe, and I would stay for at least two or three nights, so that the pool and the gardens get the time they need.

It is also a large hotel, and large hotels have busy halls, some noise in the corridors and a service that varies from one person to the next. I would say that to anyone, and I would still go back.

Where it is

The hotel sits inside the walls of the medina, beside the Koutoubia Mosque and about five minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. The walls are guarded, and inside them the hotel is a world of its own. The months I would choose are January to March, before the heat. High summer is very hot, and October, April and the Christmas weeks are the most expensive.