What it is

Over-the-top, in both service and style (proof: you’ll have your own private riad).

What it isn't

Understaffed. In the hotel’s employ: a three-starred Michelin chef, an artistic director and a coiffeur.

What we think

King Mohammed VI opened Royal Mansour in 2010, after years of engaging some 1,500 artisans to get every detail of his hotel exactly and exactingly right. For instance, all 53 riads are fitted with the type of details you’d find in an entire hotel: three floors of leafy, intricately tiled courtyards, a plunge pool and solariums. (In-the-know guests ask for one with a view of the Atlas Mountains). Not that you’ll spend much time in yours; the hotel staff will arrange carriage rides through pomegranate groves and camelback trots across the Ch’gaga sand dunes. The salve for an evening spent sampling chef Yannick Alléno's interpretation of Moroccan cuisine, as a seven-course tasting menu, is a morning in the white lattice-walled spa, with a pink marble tile hammam and black soap scrubs to slough off whatever ails you.

You're here because

In a crowded city, you long for quiet, and staff here are so discreet they use underground tunnels to navigate the hotel.

The Moment

After an afternoon in the nearby souk, you want nothing more than to stroll the private labyrinth of the hotel’s Medina gardens, where rosemary, eucalyptus and gardenia fragrance the air.

Restaurants & Bars

La Grande Table Marocaine - Moroccan

La Grande Table Francaise - French

La Table - Mediterranean

Bar

Chimney Lounge

Cigar Lounge

Loggia - Afternoon Tea

Location

On the eastern side of the Old Medina, technically, though once you’re within the Royal Mansour's walls it feels like its own self-sufficient galaxy.