Marrakesh
Forget pared-back minimalism: Dar Al Assad is a decadent dandy with sumptuous drapes and five jewel-coloured suites decorated with baroque chairs, arresting art and objets d'art. Unusually for a riad, the bathrooms are sleek and modern with big showers. Its French owners, Claude and Florence, live in Nice and at the time of writing were reconfiguring a couple of rooms as family suites.
It's relatively easy to find, off busy Derb Debachi.
1.5 MILES
French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought Jardin Majorelle in 1980 to preserve the vision of its original owner,…
0.36 MILES
Roll up, roll up for the greatest show on earth. Everywhere you look in Djemaa El Fna, Marrakesh’s main square (pronounced "jema" – the "d" is silent),…
1.61 MILES
This captivating museum, opened in 2017, showcases finely selected collections of haute couture clothing and accessories that span 40 years of creative…
0.44 MILES
La Bahia (The Beautiful) is an 8000-sq-metre, floor-to-ceiling extravagance of intricate marquetry, plasterwork and zouak (painted wood), and certainly…
0.68 MILES
Five times a day, one voice rises above the din of Djemaa El Fna as the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer from the Koutoubia Mosque. The mosque's…
0.79 MILES
Saadian Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour Ed Dahbi was just as extravagant in death as he was in life. After the "golden king" built Badia Palace in the 16th…
0.64 MILES
As 16th-century Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour (r 1578-1603) was paving the Badia Palace with gold, turquoise and crystal, his court jester wisecracked, ‘It’ll…
0.47 MILES
The foundations of this historic riad are more than 400 years old, and it was once owned by powerful qaid (local chief) U-Bihi. Here, though, it's not the…
0.22 MILES
Berber boucharouites (rag rugs made from recycled cloth) may be a poor cousin to the famous jewel-toned Moroccan carpets, but this beautifully collated…
0.23 MILES
The Alouani Bibi family have thrown open the doors of this old riad to display their eclectic and fascinating collection of Moroccan artefacts. From…
0.28 MILES
Si Said, the original owner of this 19th-century medina mansion, a monument to Moroccan mâalem (master artisans), was brother to Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed,…
0.29 MILES
The French name, Place des Épices, for this hopping little plaza derives from its high concentration of apothecaries who sell mysterious supplies to…
0.29 MILES
On the north side of Rahba Kedima, look for the archway with 'Le Souk Principal de Tapis' written above the door. Inside it's packed to the rafters with…
0.33 MILES
Opened in 2019 as a sister museum to MACMA in Gueliz, this small private gallery beautifully displays the big guns of Orientalist painting inside a 17th…
0.34 MILES
When Parisian Patrick Menac’h and Marrakshi Hamid Mergani realised they were both collecting vintage Moroccan photography, they decided to open a…
0.35 MILES
Travel to Timbuktu and back again via Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint’s art collection, crammed inside this ornate medina riad. Each room represents a…