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For a city that's been fashionable since the 1950s, Marrakech has remarkable staying power. Now the owners of one of Paris's most style-conscious hotels, the Murano Urban Resort, have just opened an outpost in the palm-filled northern suburb of La Palmeraie, home to grand villas and hip hotels such as Ksar Char-Bagh. After a soft opening in January (there were builders still working on the red-tiled swimming pool when we visited) the hotel officially opened last month. The 32 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 (cushions, lanterns) or black (the leather bar, marble bathrooms, intricately carved doors). 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.
WHEN TO GO
Any time: between the heated indoor pool, the spa (opening in June in the sixth riad), the bar with its guest DJs and the restaurant, there's plenty to keep you entertained whatever the weather.
ROOM TO BOOK
A ground-floor Double Deluxe which has a large terrace and opens right onto the lovely gardens.
CONTACT
Douar Abiad, La Palmeraie, Marrakech
(00 212 2432 8666; www.muranoresort.com).
COST
Doubles from 180 euros; Double Deluxe from 320 euros
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