Riad Idra

Riad Idra's location within the bustle of Marakech's Medina puts guests close to souks, marketplaces, and important sights. The intimate hotel, which delivers the atmosphere of an upscale inn, attracts mostly couples. They spend their days sightseeing and their evenings resting beneath the high-thread-count linens atop the stylish beds within the cocoon-like rooms. 

The hotel's immaculate Moroccan style features arched doorways, intricately carved wooden doors and shutters, original artwork, and an interior courtyard with a bubbling fountain and climbing vines of bougainvillea, a serene space to escape the buzz of the street. Breakfast is taken on the rooftop terrace among potted plants and wooden lanterns while dinner is a more formal affair, served in a romantic dining room with tables finished with white linen and crystal glassware. The hotel offers plenty of nooks to read -- on the rooftop, in the courtyard, or in the jewel-box lobby beside the fireplace.

Set in the historic Dar el Bacha area of the Medina, Riad Idra is close to several souks and a three-minute walk from Dar El Bacha Palace, where uniformed guards stand at the gate (it's still in use by the Moroccan royal family and not open to the public). Jemaa EL Fnaa square, the hub of the medina and one of its key sights, is an 11-minute walk. 

• 13-minute walk to Koutoubia Mosque
• Eight-minute drive to the Royal Palace
• Eight-minute drive to the Saadian Tombs
• Nine-minute drive to the Bahia Palace
• 9-minute drive to Dar Si Said Museum
• 10-minute drive to Majorelle Gardens
• 17-minute drive to Menara Gardens
• 20-minute drive to the Marrakech Menara Airport
• 50-minute drive to Agafay Stone Desert

Riad Idra's seven guest rooms are individually decorated in Moraccan style, featuring warm color palettes as well as more traditional black and white design. The rooms are priced in three different categories. The smallest rooms -- Warda, Basma, and Ahlam -- are finished in tones of blue, highlighted by intricately carved wooden doors and trim, curvy fabric headboards, small seating areas, arched windows, and bathrooms with single vanities and glass enclosed showers.

The larger Nour, Kamal, and Amal rooms are styled in jewel tones of soft yellow, red, and orange. They feature vaulted and domed ceilings, larger sitting areas, colorful large-scale artwork, and bathrooms with wider single vanities and deep tubs with showers.

The Aliya suite, located on the top floor of the riad, is elegantly styled with white marble floors, an ebony-color four-poster bed, a sitting area with chairs and a window seat covered in a soft lilac color fabric, an ornate writing desk, and a crystal chandelier. The large bathroom, also finished in white marble, includes a double vanity, separate tub and shower, and a water closet.

All of the rooms feature minibars, safes, robes and slippers, small flat-screen TVs, vases of fresh roses, and spa-quality toiletries. The rooms are accessed via two staircases or the elevator, a rare amenity for Marrakech.

Riad Idra's intimate spa specializes in massage and body treatments, which can be enjoyed in the massage room or in the Beldi traditional hammam. Traditional scrubs incorporate eucalyptus black soap and clay with orange flower while relaxing massage treatments use rose and bergamot essential oils.

In the evenings, the hotel's restaurant offers a multi-course menu inspired by cuisine from Morocco's northern, southern, desert, and mountain regions. The dreamy dining room features tall windows trimmed with ornate woodwork and balloon-like window treatments, elegant chandeliers, and tables set with white table cloths, crystal, and vases of white roses.