A grand, Liberty-style Marrakech villa turned ‘palais d’hôtes’, with 20 romantic rooms overlooking a fountain-filled garden with a large pool, lined with rustling papyrus. A very smart address indeed.
Dar Rhizlane has a smart address in the upscale Hivernage quarter, midway between the old city and the Ville Nouvelle (New Town). A garden suburb, created in the 1920s, it still boasts leafy streets and the large secluded villas of the well-to-do, as well as some of the best restaurants and bars in town. A taxi to the Djemaa el-Fna takes 10 minutes.
With its mature gardens and two honey-hued villas there’s enough romance here to satisfy any would-be Scheherezade. Dar Rhizlane was originally intended as a secluded villa and thus escapes the inevitable uniformity of a hotel’s identikit corridors and bedrooms.
Instead, rooms jigsaw around sumptuously decorated Moorish salons, and balconies are trimmed with intricate moucharabieh screens. Large picture windows offer pretty views over lily-filled ponds, fountains and flower-fringed lawns. In a secluded corner of the garden is a large, zellij-lined swimming pool lined with double-loungers for canoodling couples. Come evening and they all disappear up to the roof terrace with its romantic trelliage dressed in gauzy drapery against the cool evening wind.
Guests are encouraged to make themselves at home here, only home is a small palace with all the attendant comforts and services of a very good hotel. Aside from the pretty pool, there’s a hammam and wellness centre, a 24-hour concierge service, a gourmet restaurant, room service and even free parking.
The spacious rooms and suites bear the names of exotic oriental perfumes such as Musk and Sandalwood, and are individually decorated in the same rich and romantic mould. Walls are troweled smooth with tadelakt plaster, floors are tiled bejmat-style and antiques run to vintage kilims, chests inlaid with mother-of-pearl and nicely carved cedarwood furniture. All the rooms have either a terrace or a secluded garden, a classic beehive fireplace, ornate bathrooms trimmed with zellij tiles and TVs.
The restaurant, like the rest of the house, is highly glamorous with oversized, linen-clad chairs, chandeliers and dreamy garden views, which are backlit at night. Breakfast is a delightful buffet followed by a nouvelle cuisine lunch and dinner from a mixed Moroccan-French menu. Lighter snacks can be taken by the pool at lunch time.
No.
Not really, this is a romantic retreat. That said, children under two stay free and extra beds are charged at £44 per night. Only one additional bed is permitted in a room.
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