A mixture of sensuous luxury and aesthetic simplicity, the historic Moroccan city of Marrakech attracts a fashionable crowd of winter sun seekers. The dusky, pink-walled Medina, the 'old city', boasts a greater density of chic boutique lodgings than possibly anywhere else in the world and the multitude of emporia will keep shopaholics busy for days. Even non-shoppers will be amazed by the colour, diversity and vibrancy surrounding the souks. In short, fabulous nightclubs, new-wave riads and radical new Moroccan food makes this the coolest place to be.

Always consult the Foreign Office before travelling.

AMANJENA
Route de Ouarzazate (00 212 24 403 353; fax: 403 477; www.amanresorts.com). Still a major player in Marrakech's luxury league, with a series of gorgeous pavilions surrounding a vast bassin, a massive fish-filled reservoir at the centre of the resort. Amanjena is a palatial and very private retreat, and the type of guests who check in here value the peace and serenity that the location ensures. Accommodation is in eight individual 'pavilions' and larger, two-storey 'maisons'. Green-tiled roofs are reflected in shallow, blue, water channels that converge on the bassin. Top-class Thai food is served beside the pool. £££££

CARAVANSERAI
264 Ouled Ben Rahmoune (00 212 24 300 302; fax: 300 262; www.caravanserai.com). Since its opening in 2001, CaravanSerai is still the hottest example of mud-hut chic in the Marrakech area. Ten kilometres north of the city, it is a cluster of traditional Berber houses that have been fused together to create an ochre-toned compound with walls, arches and domes made of pisé (dried mud mixed with lime), ceilings with eucalyptus beams and original, gnarly wood doors and windows. The centrepiece is a courtyard pool framed by a massive, cotton-draped gateway. Televisions and other distractions are unavailable; instead there is a coolly elegant restaurant area leading through to a bar for laid-back lounging. Of the 17 generously sized rooms and suites, two have their own private courtyards and plunge pools. Cool, calming and comfortable, and the hammam is divine. CaravanSerai was featured in The Hot List 2002. ££

DAR LES CIGOGNES
108 rue de Berima Medina (00 212 24 382 740; fax: 384 767; www.lescigognes.com). Named for the storks nesting on nearby roofs, the decor of this design temple is courtesy of Moroccan architect Charles Boccara, the sumptuously comfortable interiors make generous use of tadlekt, a limestone plaster. There are 11 rooms and suites and facilities include a hammam and spa, a small library and boutique but no pool. The restaurant serves local specialities such as slow-cooked, lamb tanzhiyya; and a rooftop café offers views of the snowcapped Atlas peaks. £

DAR MOUASSINE
148 Derb Snane, Mouassine (00 212 24 445 287; www.darmouassine.com). Erick and Carole Kolenc are the charming owners of this small, historic riad, restored with impeccable taste and a fine eye for an artistic object. Located in the much-talked-about Mouassine district of the Medina. Take in views of the Koutoubia mosque and the sparkling white teeth of the distant Atlas Mountains from the top-floor terrace. £

DAR SEVEN
Sidi Benslimane, Derb Ibn Moussa (00 39 347 7337098; fax: 06 68808083; www.darseven.com). With imposing candlesticks, cream drapes and crystal glasses, all is grand and comfortable in this dreamy haven with four bedrooms in the north of the medina. Dar Seven is owned by Princess Letizia Ruspoli, whose super-luxurious Residenza Napoleone III apartment is one of the ultimate places to stay in Rome. She designed the Marrakech property as a holiday home for her own family, and you can rent one or all of the four rooms when they are not in residence. The riad is decorated in tranquil whites, creams and browns, the sitting room lined with antique black-and-white prints of Turkish pashas and the courtyard doorways hung with old, lined doors. The staff of three serve breakfast and other meals either downstairs or on the roof terrace, which is fringed with agaves and banana trees. They will also book restaurants and visits to nearby hammams or organise in-house treatments. £

DAR ZEMORA
Rue El Aandalib, Palmeraie (00 212 24 328 200; 328 201; www.darzemora.com). This English-owned house, if not the most luxurious in the Palmeraie, is certainly one if the most tasteful. Two gorgeous suites and three rooms are set in a garden. ££

ES SAADI GARDENS AND RESORT
Avenue El Quadissia, Marrakesh (00 212 24 44 88 11; www.essaadi.com). Set in a big park in the heart of Marrakesh, Es Saadi Gardens and Resort is secluded and exclusive. The hotel has 150 rooms and the palace 10 suites, but it is the 10 villas that really set this place apart. Each is located within its own garden, with their own swimming pools and butlers. £££

KASBAH TAMADOT
Asni, Marrakech (00 212 24 368 200; www.virginlimitededition.com/kasbah). Before Richard Branson bought Kasbah Tamadot at his mother Eve's suggestion, it was owned by an American antiques dealer who liked to entertain in style and seclusion. The kasbah's mix of carved Indian doors, Indonesian statues, elaborate mosaics, and ornate silver chairs and sofas is as impressive as the location in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Approached after dark along winding roads, the house appears, illuminated like a fairy-tale castle; mammoth wooden gates swing open and the Moorish-Asian fantasy begins. You'll find a gorgeous infinity-edged pool and a wing of bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, reflecting pool and 'studio' (now a three-bedroom mini-kasbah in the garden). Staff are from the local Berber village and are unfailingly friendly and enthusiastic. After the bedrooms, the restaurant decor may seem strangely denuded, but the cuisine is as rich as you would expect from the land of the tagine, with a lighter touch added by head chef Jean Mundell-Murphy. Activities include ballooning and riding. Kasbah Tamadot was featured in The Hot List 2006. £££

KSAR CHAR-BAGH
Djnan Abiaf, Palmeraie (00 212 24 329 244; fax: 329 214; www.ksarcharbagh.com). Extravagant and expensive beyond most people's dreams, Ksar Char-Bagh lies beyond the walls of the Medina in the Palmeraie, a vast, dry and dusty oasis 10 minutes' drive from town where luxury private hotels are currently springing from the baked earth like palm trees. The main court at the heart of the hotel is an outrageous take on Granada's Moorish palace, the Alhambra, while the extensive gardens are designed along more Persian lines; suites are decorated with imported and local treasures. Ksar Char-Bagh was featured in The Hot List 2004. £££££

LA MAISON ARABE
1 Derb Assehbe, Bab Doukkala (00 212 24 387 010; fax: 387 221; www.lamaisonarabe.com). A restored, lavishly furnished old house with nine rooms and eight suites around two leafy courtyards. £

LA MAMOUNIA
Avenue Bab Jdid (00 212 24 388 600; fax: 444 940; www.mamounia.com). Formerly the palace of the Crown Prince of Morocco, the hotel, in a prime site in the south-west corner of the Medina, was a favourite haunt of Sir Winston Churchill. The hotel is closed for major refurbishment and will reopen in 2008.

LE BLED
Douar Coucouc, Oasis hassan II Taseltanet (00 212 24 385 939; fax: 389 799; www.lebled-marrakech.com). Designer Pierre Balmain's former country property a few miles out of town now has rooms for rent. The garden supplies most of the vegetables for Marrakech's finest restaurant, Dar Moha (see Where to Eat). Rural tranquillity and a down-home atmosphere are guaranteed. £

MAISON MK
14 Derb Sebaai, Quartier Ksour, Medina, Marrakech (00 212 24 37 61 73; www.maisonmk.com). This hip new all-suite riad from owner Paul Hopkins is located in the middle of the medina, a short stroll from the main square. The six en-suite bedrooms are extravagant and stylish, combining cutting-edge design with a traditional Moroccan framework. The sundrenched roof terraces are ideal for sunbathing, transforming into a lounge by night. The MK gym and spa provide entertainment, and guests can plunge into the designer pool. A highly experienced European chef creates a French/Moroccan fusion menu for the rooftop patio and a private dining room, and you can choose to dine under the stars. The six suites can be rented individually or as a whole, sleeping twelve. ££

MURANO ORIENTAL
Douar Abiad, La Palmeraie (00 212 24 327 000; fax: 328 666; www.muranoresort.com). Located in the palm-filled northern suburb of La Palmeraie, home to grand villas and hip hotels, the Murano Oriental is the sister property to one of Paris's most style-conscious hotels, the Murano Urban Resort. Thirty-two spacious, brick-floored bedrooms are housed in four terracotta-coloured riads, each with a sizeable swimming pool, set in lovely grounds planted with mandarin and olive trees. The architecture is distinctly Moorish, with lovely domed doors and windows, but the colour scheme is predominantly white, punctuated by an occasional vintage jazz or pop-art poster and splashes of red or black. The focal point of every room, all with high ceilings so even the smallest feel spacious, is an enormous meringue-like bed. There is a French-Moroccan restaurant in the central riad, where a 30ft-long white leather sofa beneath a huge, milky-white Murano glass chandelier sets the scene in front of an open fire. The Murano Oriental was featured in The Hot List 2007. ££

RIAD 72
72 Arset Awsel, Bab Doukkala (00 212 24 387 629; fax: 384 718; www.riad72.com). One of the first, and arguably the most successful of the new-wave riads. Italian owner Giovana Cinel has created a soothing space with a minimum of fuss. The rooftop terrace has wide-angle views over the whole of the Medina. £

RIAD AL JAZIRA
8 Derb Cherfa Lakabir, Mouassine (00 212 24 426 463; fax: 426 511; www.marrakech-riads.net). The owner, Abdelatif, has restored a number of Medina houses as maisons d'hôtes and also owns the café-gallery Dar Cherifa (see What to Do). All make a virtue of sensitive, authentic restoration. £

RIAD AL MASSARAH
26 Derb Djid, Bab Doukkala (00 212 24 383 206; www.riadalmassarah.com). Real charm combines with great style at this neat budget option within walking distance of Marrakech's Marjorelle Gardens (see What to Do). The riad opened in October 2006 after 18 months' refurbishment and owners Michel Contreras and Michael Matthews (French and British respectively) have recast the house in cool, contemporary colours. Michel and Michael live on site and are very hands-on, serving breakfast, dispensing advice, mixing martinis. In keeping with the house-party atmosphere, guests eat at a long table in the dining area off the courtyard. There is a small pool, a hammam and a very comfortable sitting room with chess, solitaire and a wall of great books, plus a roof terrace for sunbathing and relaxing. The five bedrooms are decorated in cream with splashes of deep orange, reds and greens. £

RIAD EL FENN
Derb Moullay Abdullah Ben Hezzian, Bab el Ksour (00 212 24 441 210; fax: 441 211; www.riadelfenn.com). With more hip hotels per square kilometre than any other city in the world, it's hard for a new Marrakech riad to stand out from the crowd. That Riad El Fenn manages to do so is tribute to the investment and enthusiasm of owners Howell James and Vanessa Branson (sister of Richard) and, to the skills and experience of their in-house managers Frédéric Scholl and Viviana Gonzalez, formerly of Hippo Point, Kenya. Together they've renovated a historic property, creating seven spacious, sorbet-coloured guest suites. Despite the grandeur of the architecture and some serious modern art on the walls, the mood is relaxed and playful, with plenty of private spaces and a rooftop terrace with views of the Atlas Mountains. The riad is almost unique in having a modest swimming pool, a luxury which - within the walls of the old city - is otherwise limited to the international five-stars. There's also a hammam, two massage rooms, a library and a screening room for DVDs. It's all totally fenn, which in local parlance means 'cool'. Riad el Fenn was featured in The Hot List 2005. £

RIAD ENIJA
9 Derb Mesfioui, Rahba Lakdima (00 212 24 440 926; fax: 440 014; www.riadenija.com). Much written about, and with good reason, this sensational Maison d'hôtes pushes East-West fusion to the limit and is a real glamourpuss. Its eight rooms and suites boast beds as works of art (one in Gothic-looking wrought iron, another a green muslin-wrapped four-poster), minimal, modern furnishings and bathrooms resembling subterranean throne chambers. Central to the three adjoining houses (which originally belonged to a wealthy merchant from Fes) is a Moorish courtyard garden gone wild. Services include visiting aromatherapists and masseurs; and even heli-skiing excursions can be arranged. Occasional snootiness and erratic service can let it down. ££

RIAD FARNATCHI
2 Derb El Farnatchi, Qa'at Ben Ahid (00 212 24 384 910; fax: 384 913; www.riadfarnatchi.com). Jonathan Wix, former owner of 42 The Calls in Leeds, bought this with the idea of making a home for himself, but has now opened its nine suites to the paying public. ££

RIAD FAWAKEY
Azbezt 74 Derb El Cadi (00 212 723 99580; www.riadfawakay.com). Riad Fawakey is now available to rent. Owners Dawn and Francis Boys-Stones have spent a year renovating the three-bedroom, 300-year-old house, adding local furniture, heirlooms and modern art, helped by Dawn's day job as a personal shopper in the city. ££

RIAD LOTUS PRIVILEGE
22 Fhal Zefriti, Quartier Ksour (00 212 24 431 537; fax: 437 942; www.riadslotus.com). This fantastically glitzy hotel is down an improbably dark lane in the northern part of the medina. As with most riads, the street front is modest, which makes the courtyard seem all the more astonishing. Set against a pure white wall, two tall obelisks clad in mirrors stand sentry beside a pool in the centre of a black-and-beige marble floor. To either side are cream sofas, and a row of orange trees screens off the dining and sitting rooms. The decor is a fusion of contemporary chic and French Orient. Part of the style-conscious Lotus group, the hotel was designed by Antoine Van Doorne with his trademark edgy glamour. The extravagance continues in the five bedrooms, spacious hammam and on the bamboo-lined roof terrace. The three suites and two double bedrooms are huge and are decorated in strong colours. All have Bang & Olufsen sound systems and Wi-Fi is available on the ground floor. The bathrooms have plenty of marble and mirrors. ££

RIAD MADANI
64 Derb Moulay Abdelkader, Derb Dabachi (00 212 24 441 884; www.riadmadani.com). This astonishing and little-known riad is the property of French diplomat Thierry Martin de Beauce. It boasts a huge central garden of 1,000 square metres, possibly the biggest in the Medina, and walls hung with Picassos, Dufys and Mirós. £

RIAD NOIR D'IVOIRE
31 Derb Jdid, Bab Doukkala (00 212 24 380 975; fax: 381 653; www.noir-d-ivoire.com). This sumptuous riad, which opened in December 2006 in the north-west of the medina, is only five minutes' walk along Bab Doukkala from the food market. Access to the courtyard is through tall, cream-coloured archways; the courtyard itself is dominated by an enormous wrought-iron chandelier and by a pool fringed with banana trees. To the sides are seating and dining areas decorated with beautifully-lit objets.Co-owner and manager Jill Fechtmann is an interior designer and it shows. Her attention to detail extends to lending guests mobile phones so that if they get lost in the souk they can be guided back. As well as a shop, other facilities include a hammam, a roof terrace and a European-style salon with a library. Jazz is played most evenings on the grand piano. 'Elephant' with its silver bathtub, is the most lavish of the four suites. ££

RIAD W
41 Derb Boutouil, Kennaria (00 212 65 367 936; www.riadw.com). Understated and very elegant, this is a gem of a place with only 5 rooms. Owner-manager Elsa Bauza comes from Mallorca (by way of Paris) and has introduced a subtly Mediterranean mood. Light is important to her, so she has created balconies and added small windows. There's a play of textures, too: some walls are simply whitewashed, others coated with a rich, red-brown earthen plaster. The facilities are simple but very restful: a cream-and-brown sitting room with lots of books and no television set; an L-shaped pool in the tranquil courtyard; a leafy roof terrace with lovely views where breakfasts of Moroccan crêpes and fresh orange juice are served. The peace here is palpable, yet you're only four minutes' walk from the bustle of Marrakech's great Jemaa el-Fna square. £

RIYAD EL CADI
87 Derb Moulay Abdelkader (00 212 24 37 8 655; fax: 378 478; www.riyadelcadi.com). A few minutes' walk from the Medina's central square, Riyad El Cadi is made up of no less than eight interconnected houses and offers a total of 12 supremely comfortable suites and bedrooms plus various salons, corridors and landings that serve as gallery spaces for the fine collection of Islamic and ethnic art and artefacts. Despite the trappings of antiquity, the overall feel is uncluttered and contemporary. £

RYAD DYOR
1 Derb Driba, Jdida Sidi Ben Slimane (00 212 24 375 980; fax: 375 982; www.ryaddyor.com). The two Dutch owners of the Ryad Dyor, a newly converted guesthouse deep in the Marrakech medina, are no newcomers to the business of creating chic properties. Based in Amsterdam, interior and fashion-designer pairing Yvonna Hulst and Alberto Cortes have already transformed eight luxury villas in Ibiza. The Dyor, formerly a pair of family-owned townhouses, has five suites, two double bedrooms, a mosaic-tiled courtyard, plunge pool and a roof terrace overlooking the Koutoubia Mosque and the city's fudge-coloured brick rooftops (plus, on a clear day, the Atlas Mountains). Contemporary furniture and ceramics include pieces from Bali, Italy and North Africa. The bathrooms are finished in tadlekt and stocked with huge, hammam-style towels, and jewelled Moroccan slippers. ££

TIGMI
Douar Tagadert el Kadi (0845 026 4588; www.tigmi.com). A rural retreat in the Berber village of Tagadert, 15 miles out of Marrakech. This project - like CaravanSerai - is the creation of Chris Lawrence and his Arabic-speaking son Max. Design-wise, rustic minimalism is the order of the day. Ambience-wise, Tigim is a heavenly hideaway. ££

OUTSIDE THE CITY

KASBAH TAMAMDOT
Asni, Marrakech (00 212 0 24 36 82 00; www.virginlimitededition.com). Richard Branson's Moroccan retreat lies high up in the Atlas Mountains near the Berber village of Asni. Owned by an Italian-American art dealer, the contents of the property fell to Branson upon purchase, including a warehouse stuffed with treasures. The renovation took some time, and the Kasbah finally opened to guests in March 2005. Branson made a point of employing staff from Asni, the local Berber village, which is undoubtedly his master-stroke: they are unfailingly friendly, charming and enthusiastic about the Kasbah, which has brought employment and better schooling to the area. There are 18 rooms and suites; varying in size, all have a mix of carved Indian doors, Indonesian statues, elaborate mosaics, and ornate silver chairs and sofas. There are mini Bose stereos and a good range of cds to choose from, comfortable Moroccan slippers, electric blankets on all beds and torchs and adaptors are provided. Plasma TVs and DVD players can be brought to the rooms. The Aman Suite has a huge terrace and its own pool. A gorgeous infinity-edged pool takes centre stage, with a poolside restaurant attached, and a glorious view of the green river-capped valley and snow-capped peaks. The spa with traditional hammam and sauna also has a large indoor pool, and activities include ballooning, tennis and one or two hour mule mountain treks. The fine dining restaurant serves Moroccan and European food, masterminded by head chef Jean Mundell-Murphy, who was poached from Necker Island. ££

AL FASSIA
55 Boulevard Zerktouni, Guéliz (00 212 24 434 060; www.alfassia.com). Moroccan à la carte is a rarity but it can be found at Al Fassia, which is also unique because it's run by a women's co-operative: the chefs, waiting staff and management are all female. The tagines and couscous dishes are superb. Al Fassia is north of the Medina in the new-town district of Guéliz

CAFE ARABE
184 rue Mouassine (00 212 24 42 97 28; www.cafearabe.com). The first proper café in the sinuous alleys of the Medina,Café Arabe fills most of an old traditional-style house, with seating beneath orange trees in the courtyard and in a couple of colourful adjacent salons. It serves Italian food (the café's owners are from Rome) and a lengthy menu of traditional, Moroccan and fruit teas, plus juices, a buffet of salads and pastas, and a selection of own-made quiches, tarts and pastries.

CAFE GLACIER
Hotel CTM, Jemaa el-Fna (00 212 24 42 23 25). Several cafés and restaurants have upper terraces with fine ringside seating from which to observe the mayhem of Jemaa el-Fna. The best of the lot is the Café Glacier, which is above the Hotel CTM. Here, the compulsory purchase of one soft drink gives access to a rooftop with a sweeping, 270-degree view. Come at dusk for purple skies clouded by drifts and curls of smoke as 100 food stalls fire up the griddles and the smell of grilling meat overlaps with the insistent clattering of hand drums.

CHEZ CHEGROUNI
Jemaa el-Fna (00 212 24 65 47 4615). The humble Chez Chegrouni is everybody's favourite cheap restaurant in the Medina. It looks like a garage space with a small terrace out front but it is clean, well run and popular with both locals and tourists. Choose from soups, salads, grilled meats, couscous and tagines on the menu (in English) and scribble your order on one of the paper napkins in the table-glasses; hand it to a waiter and it will come back as your bill at the end of the meal.

DAR MOHA
81 rue Dar el Bacha (00 212 24 386 400; fax: 386 998; www.darmoha.ma). The former home of designer Pierre Balmain now plays host to what is very possibly Marrakech's finest restaurant, the 19th-century riad setting only enhances the experience, especially if you are lucky enough to nab a table in the walled garden. Book well ahead for Friday and Saturday nights.

DAR YACOUT
79 rue Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Arset Ihiri (00 212 24 38 29 29). The food is similar in quality and quantity to that at Le Tobsil, but here the restaurant's reputation rests as much on its looks as its tastes. The building is a madcap mansion with flowering columns, candy striping, fireplaces in the bathrooms and a yellow crenellated rooftop terrace on which drinks are served prior to dining.

KM 9
Route de l'Ourika, Km9 (00 212 24 37 63 73). Dining at KM 9 begins with a taxi ride: it is nine kilometres south of the city centre. There is nothing quite like it in town - this is a super-stylish roadhouse on an open country road that combines an informal bar-lounge with intimate dining. The food is Italian, presented in the form of four good-value set menus, each of which kicks off with a superb buffet of antipasti. Plates cleared, guests can spill out into a back garden hung with hundreds of coloured lanterns plus disco lights, glitter ball and a state-of-the-art sound system.

LE FONDOUK
55 Souk Hal Fassi, Kat Bennahïd (00 212 24 378 190; www.foundouk.com). This is the most ragingly chic of the city's new-style restaurants, with a dark, moody decor that invites you to lounge on cushions pondering the relative merits of a croquant de chocolat noir, coulis de fraises or glaces de pistache. Le Fondouk applies cutting-edge European interior design to a fine old riad. The food is Moroccan with excursions into French and Italian cuisine. Book ahead at weekends.

LES TERRASSES DE L'ALHAMBRA
Jemaa el-Fna (00 212 24 42 75 70; 64 16 79 42/63 18 93 60). Outstanding views come as standard at Les Terrasses de l'Alhambra, which is on the edge of Jemaa el-Fna, at the heart of the Medina. It's a smart, French-run operation with coffee, tea and ice cream served on the ground floor and dining on the first-floor terrace from a menu based around salads, pizzas and pasta accompanied by freshly squeezed juices. If the heat is too intense (and it often is) there is the option of the air-conditioned interior.

LE TOBSIL
22 Derb Abdellah Ben Hessaien, Bab Ksour (00 212 24 444 052). In typical Marrakech fashion, the food at Le Tobsil just keeps on coming, course after course after course. But far from being a test of endurance, the experience is more like unwrapping presents at Christmas: you can't wait to see what's next. Aperitifs (included in the price, as is the wine) are followed by a swarm of small vegetarian meze dishes; then comes a flaky pastilla, followed by a tagine and a couscous dish; finally there is fruit and tea/coffee accompanied by cakes or pastries. The setting is equally rich, a gorgeous old house deep in the Medina where guests are seated on two levels around a courtyard and entertained by gnawa musicians playing a trance-inducing Moroccan form of blues.

STALLS IN THE MEDINA
As the sun sets on the central square of Jemaa el-Fna, 100 open kitchens are swiftly set up in tightly drawn rows, set with benches and illuminated by lights strung overhead. Within the space of no more than half an hour a public thoroughfare is transformed into what must be one of the world's biggest open-air eateries. Most stalls specialise in one particular dish. Novices can play safe with familiar-looking fare such as grilled brochettes, the spicy sausage known as merguez or harira, the local broth of lamb, lentils, chickpeas and vegetables. Followers in the footsteps of Anthony Bourdain can test their mettle with boiled sheep heads, eel and mounds of snails cooked in an herb-rich sauce. Discs of bread take the place of cutlery. Language isn't an issue as menus and prices hang above most stalls; otherwise, just point at what you want.

CAFE ARABE
184 rue el Mouassine (00 212 4442 9728; www.cafearabe.com). Café Arabe is a firm favourite among the foreign contingent. The rooftop terrace practically overlooks the nearby mosque. (The call to prayer sounds particularly fine at sundown). Perfect spot for an alfresco drink.

CAFE DE FRANCE
Jemaa el-Fna. Sip mint tea on the top-floor terrace while you watch the theatrics below.

JAD MAHAL
Avenue Haroun Errachid, Hivernage (00 212 24 436 984; fax: 435 591). This is a complex of bar, restaurant and dance space beside the roundabout just over the way from the Mamounia. Take in the outrageous folie de grandeur of this contemporary orientalist fantasy.

LE COMPTOIR
Avenue Echouhada, Hivernage (00 212 24 437 702; fax: 447 747; www.comptoirdarna.com). For post-dinner drinks on a Saturday night, le tout Marrakech decamps to Le Comptoir for funky music in a gorgeous setting, resplendent with black and red tadlekt walls and a slinky grand staircase littered with pink rose petals. Well-heeled Marrakech comes out to play, with expensive drinks and a ritzy clientele. Interesting as an experience of modern Morocco at its most Westernised and fashion-conscious.

PACHA
Boulevard Mohamed VI (00 212 24 388 400; www.pachamarrakech.com). Sister to the iconic Ibiza club, Pacha Marrakech has a club, two restaurants, a pool and a bar in the sprawling complex.

THEATRO
Hotel Es Saadi, Ave el Quadissia (00 212 24 448 811; www.theatromarrakech.com). Marrakech's trendiest disco which turns out the most jaw-droppingly fabulous of the lot.

ALI BEN YOUSSEF MEDERSA
Place Ben Youssef (00 212 24 441 893). Visit the Ali Ben Youseef Medersa for its spectacular interiors, so striking that it upstaged Kate Winslet in the scenes they shared in the film Hideous Kinky. The 16th-century Koranic school, where up to 900 students would have lived and studied, was lovingly restored and buffed up to perfection in the late 1990s. The serene courtyard has a central water-filled basin and façades enhanced with tiling, stucco and carved cedar.

BAHIA PALACE
Riad Zitoun el Jedid (00 212 24 389 564). A 19th-century palace with lush decoration so highly worked that it verges on kitsch. Open daily from 8.45am to 11.45am, 2.45pm to 5.45pm.

CITY WALLS
Hop into a horse-drawn calèche for a tour around the outside of the city walls. First constructed in the 12th century, these form a neat circuit of six miles punctuated by about 200 towers and 20 gates. Made of pisé, the fortifications possess a pinkish tinge and glow beautifully in the setting sun. A complete whirl around takes the best part of an hour; prices are fixed by the municipality and are posted beside the carriages, which wait in line on the north side of place de Foucauld (just follow your nose).

DAR CHERIFA
8 Derb Charfa Lakbir Mouassine, off Rue Mouassine (00 212 44 42 64 63; www.marrakech-riads.net). Set in a restored townhouse among the souks, Dar Cherifa is a literary café and gallery space. Owner Abdelatif Ben Abdellah is a leading light in the rejuvenation of the old city. Here he has taken great pains to expose carved beams and stucco work while leaving walls and floors bare and free of distraction, all the better to enhance the hanging of regular exhibitions by resident local and foreign artists. The venue also hosts occasional performances by gnawa and Sufi musicians and incorporates a small library. Anybody is free to drop by, and tea and coffee are served.

JEMAA EL-FNA
Jemaa el-Fna, the main open space in Marrakech, is as old as the city itself. It is thronged day and night with a carnival of local life, including snake-charmers (a few dirhams for a photograph with a snake draped over your shoulders, and a few more to have it removed); dentists (teeth pulled on the spot); scribes (letters written to order); herbalists (cures for everything and nothing); and beggars (to whom Moroccans give generously). In the evenings, the square becomes a venue for alfresco eating and entertainment of a bizarre nature with troupes of costumed acrobats, storytellers, magicians, transvestite dancers and semi-mystical gnawa musicians attended by small knots of wild-eyed devotees giddy on the repetitive rhythms. Tourists are welcome to watch but nothing here is staged for their benefit.

KOUTOUBIA MOSQUE
Avenue Mohammed V. The centrepiece of Marrakech is the square tower of the Koutoubia minaret, attached to the Koutoubia Mosque, built in the early 1100s. It's not particularly high but it towers over the Medina thanks to a long-standing planning ordinance that forbids any other building in the old city to rise above the height of a palm tree. The mosque is closed to non-muslims and women.

LES BAINS DE MARRAKECH
2 Derb Sedra, Bab Agnaou, Kasbah (00 212 24 381 428; www.lesbainsdemarrakech.com). Les Bains de Marrakech is an elegant spa centre located in an old townhouse pressed up against the 12th-century city walls in the southern kasbah quarter. A full range of treatments, from water massage to shiatsu, plus steam-cleaning in a traditional hammam, are on offer.

MAJORELLE GARDEN
Avenue Yacoub el-Mansour (00 212 24 301 852; www.jardinmajorelle.com). Privately owned by fashion designer and long-time Marrakech resident Yves Saint Laurent, the Majorelle Garden was created in the 1930s by two generations of French artists, Louis Majorelle and his son Jacques. The former's speciality was furniture, the latter's Orientalism, but the enduring Majorelle legacy is a virulent shade of powder-blue that carries their name. It colours the water channels, urns and the artists' former studio (now a museum of Islamic art), making a striking contrast with bamboo groves, cacti, great palms and pools floating with water lilies. The effect is like walking through a Gauguin painting.

MUSEE D'ART REGIONAL DAR SI SAID
Riad Zitoun el Jedid (00 212 24 389 564). Displays Moroccan art and handicrafts, including silver Berber jewellery, pottery, marble and beautiful carpets. Open Wed to Mon.

MUSEE DE MARRAKECH
Place Ben Youssef (00 212 24 441 893; fax: 441 901; www.museedemarrakech.ma). At the heart of the Medina, the Musée de Marrakech is a conversion of an opulent, early 20th-century house formerly belonging to a local grandee. Exhibits rotate but concentrate on Moroccan and/or Islamic arts and crafts such as court ceramics and tribal textiles. The star attraction is the building itself, particularly the polychromic-tiled central court. There's a pleasant courtyard café and a very good bookshop. Crucially, the museum is one of the very few air-conditioned buildings in the old city - worth the price of admission alone during the hot summer months. Open daily.

KASBAH DU TOUBKAL
BP31, Imlil (00 212 24 485 611; fax: 485 636; www.kasbahdutoubkal.com). A stunning restoration of an abandoned hilltop stronghold by two English brothers and their Moroccan partner, Kasbah du Toubkal is two hours south of Marrakech on the lower slopes of Jbel Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. Guests are driven from the city to the village of Imlil, then transferred by mule. A simple Berber lunch is taken on the kasbah's upper terrace with snowy peaks looming high above. Afterwards, there is a spot of trekking before the trip back to the city, arriving by 6pm. For those reluctant to leave, the kasbah offers accommodation ranging from dormitory beds to a split-level, glass-walled suite.

AKKAL
Quartier Industriel Sidi Ghanem 322, route de Safi (00 212 24 335 938; www.akkal.net). Committed shopaholics should take a ride out to the Quartier Industriel at Sidi Ghanem. This is the city's warehouse belt, home to several fine factory showrooms. Akkal does modern takes on classic Moroccan shapes in furniture and ceramics, but also sells linens, clothes and pick n' mix dinnerware in the most fantastic colours. Prices are half what you'd pay in Europe.

BELDI
9-11 rue Mouassine, Bab Fteuh (00 212 24 441 076). Wealthy Marrakech socialites hoping to turn heads at the next soirée pay a visit to Beldi. A tiny kiosk of a boutique at the entrance to the souks, it is the display space for the work of brothers Toufik and Abdelhafid. Together they tailor seasonal men's and women's collections of Moroccan clothing in the most beautiful colours and fabrics, fashioned with flair and an eye to Western tastes. Beautiful handmade velvet coats lined with silk start from around Dhs1,700, men's shirts in fine linen start from about Dhs500.

KULCHI
1 Rue Ksour, off Rue Sidi El Yamani, Bab El Ksour (00 212 24 429 177). Florence Taranne's Kulchi boutique, near the Medina's Bab El Ksour gate, had its origins in her small shop in the courtyard garden of supper club Le Comptoir (see Nightlife). Her own-label clothing is light and playful, marrying trippy colours and patterning with Moroccan cuts and embroidery. Accessories include raffia shoes from Essaouira, leather shopping bags with khamsa (hand) motifs and T-shirts by Hassan Hajjaj (as worn by staff at hip London restaurant Momo).

MINISTRO DEL GUSTO
Derb Azouz 22, el Mouassine (00 212 24 426 455; www.ministerodelgusto.com). This gallery is owned by fashion-editor-turned-furniture-designer Alessandra Lippini and her partner, Fabrizio Bizzarri. It has become a key shopping destination in Marrakech. Go for the gorgeous wooden furniture, bas-relief panels and local objets d'art. Lippini often works by special commission from interior designers. Appointments are preferred, but there is always someone there to open the door to a casual visitor.

MUSTAPHA BLAOUI
142-144 Bab Doukkala (00 212 24 385 240). It's a lazy cliché but no description better fits Mustapha Blaoui than 'an Aladdin's cave'. Hidden behind blank-faced double doors, it's a warehouse piled with floor-to-ceiling irresistibles from candlesticks and lanterns (from Dhs100 and Dhs150 respectively) to pots and bowls and tables and chairs. There's enough ornamentation and inspiration here to furnish a whole series of Changing Rooms. The helpful staff will happily organise shipping overseas.

RIAD TAMSNA
Riad Zitoun Jdid 23, Derb Zanda Daika (00 212 24 385 272; www.tamsna.com). Riad Tamsna houses a gallery, as well as an emporium selling all sorts of homewares, from bed and bath products to local delicacies and pots of preserves. There is also a restaurant specialising in a Moroccan fusion of Indian, French and Lebanese cuisine.

SCENES DE LIN
70 rue de la Liberté (00 212 24 436 108). Shops in the souk specialise in the pretty but useless, so for beautiful and functional things head to the new town of Guéliz, just a 10-minute taxi ride from the central Medina. Owned by Anne-Marie Chaoui, Scènes de Lin deals mainly in linens but also offers striped woven cloth in a huge range of brilliant hues and organdie in delicate pastels. Any combination can be ordered for custom-made curtains, tablecloths or place settings. The shop stocks plenty of other top-quality stuff besides, including luxurious fringed hammam towels, cushions with Fes embroidery, natural essential oils and unusual contemporary lamps.

SOUKS
At the heart of Marrakech, filling the alleys north of the central square, are the souks, mile after constricted mile of tiny, closet-sized emporia. The sheer number of shops is overwhelming - 100 of them in 100 metres - although many seem compelled to offer exactly the same non-essential wares, particularly babouches (canary-yellow slippers, from Dhs30), jellabas (embroidered gowns, from Dhs100) and etched brass platters the size of manhole covers. Every section of the souk has its own speciality, with alleys devoted to everything from spices and ironwork to the ingredients necessary for casting magic spells. Areas worth seeking out include the Criée Berbère, a knot of dimly lit, roofed passageways that was once a slave market but is now the centre of the carpet trade, and the Kissaria, a ladder of arrow-straight, shoulder-width alleys lined with stallholders specialising in cotton, clothing, kaftans and blankets. The most photogenic is the Souk des Teinturiers, or dyers' souk, rendered dazzling by drying sheaves of coloured wool. The shops nearby major in pottery, lanterns and assorted pieces of metalwork. Souks are generally open daily 9am-7pm and closed Friday mornings. Hotels all but push guides on clients, warning of the dangers of unaccompanied forays into the souks; but you don't really need them. Thanks to government crackdowns, hassle from over-eager salesmen is a thing of the past. And it's almost impossible to get lost: the myriad alleys may be winding but the Medina is not that big and you only need ask a local for help to be set back on the right track. And as for guides securing cheaper prices when haggling, forget it - any savings made are more than gobbled up by their own commissions.

AIRPORT
Marrakech International Airport is 5km south-west of town.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Air France (0870 142 4343; www.airfrance.co.uk)
Atlas Blue (020 7307 5803; www.atlas-blue.com)
British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com)
easyJet (www.easyjet.com)
Royal Air Maroc (www.royalairmaroc.com)
Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com)

Abercrombie and Kent (0845 618 2200; www.abercrombiekent.co.uk)
Best of Morocco (08450 264 585; www.morocco-travel.com)
Carrier (0161 491 7650; www.carrier.co.uk)

Winter is 'the season' with temperatures averaging 22°C between November and March. This falls dramatically at night. Rain is rare, but certainly not unknown. In summer, temperatures soar, exacerbated by the chergui, a fiery desert wind.

Carry small change and tip 'little and often'. Try to have a few centimes for beggars, remembering the words of the Prophet: 'If you can spare it, give - and if you cannot, speak kindly'. The average wage is less than 5 dirhams an hour (30p).

The tourist office (00 212 24 436 057) is on Abdelmoumen Ben Ali square.