El Fenn.

At the centre of a city famous for colour lies one of the world’s most exuberant hotels.

When the British writer, Gerald Durrell, moved from Bournemouth to Corfu in 1935, he described it as stepping out of a black-and-white film and into colour. Arriving in Marrakech for the first time can feel the same. Much like Greece, Morocco is a land of abundance with light, flavour and simple pleasures on tap.

I first travelled to the fabled pink city back in 2000 when the airport was tiny, La Mamounia was still a place of faded beauty and smart places were few and far between. Not that it mattered, the town was magic: a whirlwind of the senses unlike anywhere else in the world.

I made a business of Marrakech, trading for many years in Berber rugs, textiles and ceramics, forming friendships and falling in love with Morocco each and every trip. It was the last trip, though, after more than a decade away, that Durrell’s words rang especially loud, crossing the threshold of an ancient doorway on the edge of the medina, checking into the technicolour wonderland of El Fenn.

A gorgeous patio at El Fenn, Marrakech, with the green-and-white tiled floor Morocco is famous for.
Many of El Fenn's 41 guest rooms come with a fireplace.
A work from artist Leila Alaoui's photographic series, Les Marocains, at El Fenn boutique hotel in Marrakech.

El Fenn turns 21 this year, although the hotel has long been a bastion of kaleidoscopic cool. The story begins in 2002, when the art-loving Vanessa Branson and British entrepreneur Howell James bought a crumbling riad and discovered upon signing the contract that it came with four adjoining houses. Too large to be the holiday pad they’d planned, the pair instead opened a six-room guesthouse, with jewel-toned interiors and a party-perfect rooftop, blazing a trail on the Moroccan hotel scene ever since. 

Neighbouring houses were bought as they hit the market and today, El Fenn spans 12 interconnecting buildings over two acres, a labyrinth of cool pools, shaded courtyards and sun-dappled terraces on the edge of the Marrakech medina. With its wealth of riads, the town has no shortage of enclosed gardens, but the sanctuary-like courtyards of El Fenn are as pretty as they get.

When you’re ready for action, cultural jewels like Dar El Bacha and Le Jardin Secret as well as the main square, Jemaa el-Fna, are all an eight-minute walk away. Its street-side location on Rue Fatima Zahra also affords direct-as-it-gets access to cosmopolitan Gueliz.

A series of 12 interconnecting riads, El Fenn is home to some of the most beautiful courtyards in Marrakech.
A palatial Extra-Large Suite at Marrakech boutique hotel, El Fenn.

Forty-one guest rooms go from the compact Cosy (26m2) to Extra Large (61m2) in a palette that shifts between sand, charcoal and turmeric, sea green and bubble-gum pink. (Two and three bedroom suites are so expansive they feel like riads unto themselves.) All feature king-size beds with hand-stitched Egyptian cotton linen and bathrobes, alongside sumptuous tadelakt bathrooms. Filtered water comes in glass bottles, while bathroom products are locally made form natural ingredients. Not a TV in sight—heaven—and no locks on the doors, reinforcing the feeling of being in a home rather than a hotel.

One of the more earthy of El Fenn's 41 guest rooms in the Marrakech Medina, Morocco.

El Fenn turns 21 this year, although the hotel has long been a bastion of kaleidoscopic cool.

One of three swimming pools at boutique hotel El Fenn in Marrakech, Morocco.
A corner of El Fenn's 1,300m2 roof terrace in Marrakech, Morocco.

Magical is El Fenn’s mix of traditional Moroccan elements—carved plaster, green and white zellige tiles, doors and windows in geometric stained glass and earthy rugs from the Middle Atlas—with Bauhaus lamps, mid-century Italian armchairs and punchy art. Branson used pieces from her own collection when she opened El Fenn in 2004 and today, works by Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley, Terry Frost and Leila Alaoui are dotted throughout the bedrooms and public spaces of the hotel. ‘El Fenn’ in fact translates as ‘House of Art’.

The ground floor is home to El Fenn’s boutique, a wunderkammer of local craft, fashion and magnificent jewellery, designed by Marrakech resident Marisa Berenson, alongside a cafe/restaurant and spa with hammam and heated pool. Think fireside massage, tadelakt-lined steam rooms and treatments using Maison d’Asa, a Moroccan beauty brand rich in local botanicals and nutrient-filled argan oil and prickly pear.

A colourful corner of the courtyard, El Fenn boutique hotel Marrakech.
El Fenn's 1,300m2 room terrace features a bar, restaurant and swimming pool overlooking Koutoubia Mosque and the Marrakech Medina.

Trumping the lot is El Fenn’s roof terrace—an epic 1,300m2—home to one of three swimming pools, a restaurant, cocktail bar and cosy corners in red stripes and suzani-esque patterns (textile designer Madeline Weinrib is also one of El Fenn’s co-owners) with bang-on views of Koutoubia Mosque. The lavish breakfast spread is a treat. Chat with the waiters—some have been with El Fenn for years. Hit the souk, wander the new town and return to the rooftop for sundowners as they flick the light switch on Koutoubia’s minaret. Breeze blowing, Atlas Mountains along the horizon, it’s like something out of The Arabian Nights—albeit with a cocktail in hand.

Book your stay at El Fenn.

Photography: Joanna Vestey, Kasia, Gatkowska, Cécile Tréal, Cécile Perrinet Lhermitte, Igor Demba, Mitchell van Voorbergen, Mark Francis, Matt Bryans and Jason Mowen.

A tadelakt bathroom resembles a hammam in one of the larger suites at El Fenn, a boutique hotel in the Marrakech Medina, Morocco.