[MARRAKESH, MOROCCO] — It was midnight on a full moon in Marrakesh. A late flight from Barcelona after a many-hours transfer in Casablanca. The driver pulls over on a very busy, unremarkable street, next to a gas station, an LP gas depot and about the world’s most frenetic bus stop and taxi stand, drivers wailing and waving, engines gunning. Everyone looked to be in charge, yelling at other drivers to be doing something other than what they were doing.

Buses, trucks and loud scooters screamed by, drowning out the shouts of the cab stand. The luxury van stopped in the middle of the street and the door swung open. A nondescript wood door lay before me; no sign, no grand entrance, just two guys in muted brown tunics.

“This is it?” I asked. “It’s Marrakesh, there’s always a surprise behind the doors. You will be surprised.” the driver smiled.

I ducked low beneath the carved wood apse of the doorway and instantly I got it. I was in a long hall lit with lanterns, flame light flicking off the cool walls. It was only six feet, but the chaos outside felt a world away and instantly vanished.

“Welcome to La Villa des Orangers” said the smiling man, allow me. Would you like some mint tea?” The hallway opened up into another candlelit room. Quiet was everywhere. Bunches of roses, all pink and orange, lined up in pots along the walls, in alcoves and niches, arranged on the front desk, everywhere. Their scent hit me like a cool shower.  This was what I was looking for.

Once you pass the doors, the chaos of Marrakesh is a world away.

I’d never heard of this hotel before. I asked to stay at some more well known palaces, but the kind folks at Abercrombie & Kent, my arrangers for this tour, talked me into this place. “Those other places are just showpieces, places for people to see and be seen. This is a real place. You’ll like it.”

And they were right.

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The first time I came to Marrakesh, I was scared shit-less. It was my first Arab country and I didn’t know what to expect. I’d read and heard so many things about how chaotic the Medina was. The usual overblown stories of ignorant tourists doing stupid things and being taken advantage of.

As I stepped out of the van into the sweltering midnight humidity and dust and honking, I had no idea what to expect. My radar was on Eleven.

Everything was completely opposite of what I’d heard.

The crazy street scene way behind us, as I was taken to my room we went from grand porticoes to open air lounges; people quietly enjoying a cocktail in one area, a meal by the shimmering pool the next.

Hushed conversations and soothing Moroccan music wafted over the cool night air. We zigzagged through different courtyards, past more and more pink roses and ducked in yet another carved entrance.

“This is your private riad within the grounds of the hotel. Two rooms share the pool, the sitting area, but really it is more like staying in your own riad. You have your own pool here, there is another we just passed. And one on the roof.”

The hotel is built within a restored 1930s riad. It has three pools — I only got a chance to see one, shamed I missed the rooftop pool everyone raves about. — and about 30 rooms. Everyone is spread out in buildings and courtyards that seemed to go for blocks. The guest-to-surface-area ratio is like you barely saw other people and like you had the whole place to yourself.

Everything in Marrakesh is “inward”. Tall walls create the private spaces, often loaded with cooling trees and shimmering pools and fountains. God I love the writing in Mr & Mrs Smith and their descriptions of Villa des Orangers completely nails it.

I’ve never seen a hotel so beautifully and meticulously decorated, in such an understated and elegant way. Carved colonnades, muted colors, deep, rich tile. Impeccable service. Dozens of outdoor rooms within rooms; a quiet palace inside these great walls.

The Rooms at Villa des Orangers

I got upgraded to what they call a Riad Millésime suite. #22. Like a private riad inside the hotel. Other categories of rooms have terraces or open onto the vast network of outdoor rooms. Two suites share a common private pool and different sitting areas. I never saw anybody else inside our private warren of outdoor rooms.

In the morning, the sweet suite staff bring a full-on Moroccan breakfast and set it up on your own private patio. Still amazing that the cacophony of the Medina is so buffered, you only hear the birdsong flitting between the trees. I ordered a nous-nous coffee, which is an Arabic half-and-half combo of espresso and milk. I’d never had Moroccan bread before, soft little pancake-like breads you dip in your coffee, spread with local jams or dip in your soft-boiled eggs like soldiers.

A tin shoe of ground pepper, the waft gets your nose as soon as you stir it. I’ve never had such wonderful pepper and have searched for it ever since.

This is La Villa des Orangers. It’s not cheap, but for the money, I can think of no other place I’ve stayed that felt like you were getting every penny of it. It sits within the Medina, so you can walk anywhere, but come back and have your own cool retreat to regenerate with some mint tea.

Dining at Villa des Orangers

My guide told me Villa des Orangers has the best chef in Marrakesh, doing his own contemporary twists on traditional Moroccan food. I’ve stayed at the hotel twice and have come here twice — once over Christmas — whilst staying in other hotels, it’s always an incredible experience. It feels like a romantic French movie set.

In summer, they set up elegant tables around the pool, spaced far apart so you feel like it’s your own private meal. When I came in winter, they built fire pits and torches, so you can sit outside and have an aperitivo or post-dinner Amaro. Or go look at the beautifully-lit pool.

Some places in Marrakech are a bit theme-showy, with belly dancers and Berber drummers putting on a stage show. This, like the rest of the hotel, is understated and elegant, with rhythmic Moroccan music gently wafting over the bushes and trees.

During lunch, the muted sunlight filters between the leaves and peeks between the elaborate colonnade that frames each courtyard. You hear no car honking or shouting from over the tall walls, just the gentle breeze and hushed polite questions from the attentive staff.

— First visit May 2015, Last visited December 2018, Post updated dramatically July 2024 —

Other Information on Villa des Orangers

There are fantastic videos and photos on their website. Here is the Condé Nast Traveler overview. And the review and booking link on the fantastic Relais & Chateaux website. And a review on the Michelin Guide. And I always love The Telegraph’s honest reviews of places like this. And a short blurb in AFAR. and a Fodor’s review of Villa des Orangers. And here’s The Telegraph’s always spot-on honest review.