El Fenn

A house that grew next door

El Fenn opened in 2004 with six bedrooms in a large historic riad (a traditional house built around a courtyard). It was founded by Vanessa Branson and Howell James. Within about three years it had taken over the neighbouring houses, adding rooms, suites, a bar, a restaurant and a performance space. Today its 41 rooms and suites fill 13 interconnected buildings on a two-acre site, about 0.8 hectares.

Ownership has changed twice. In 2017 the artist and designer Madeline Weinrib and Graham Head, former president of the New York store ABC Carpet & Home, became co-owners. In November 2025 El Fenn joined Akan, a collection of boutique hotels run by the Benabbés-Taarji family, rooted in Marrakesh for five generations; Akan also owns La Villa des Orangers and Les Deux Tours.

That piecemeal growth explains the layout: several courtyards, each with its own use — pool, café, spa. Around 90 people work here, drawn from the local area according to the hotel.

Art on every wall

The collection began as Vanessa Branson's own; she also founded the Marrakech Biennale in 2005, which ran for six editions. Works hang in the lounges, corridors and bedrooms, and sit on shelves and floors.

The hotel names William Kentridge, Terry Frost and David Shrigley among the artists; another page mentions Antony Gormley. Moroccan artists are well represented: Hassan Hajjaj, Yto Barrada, Ali Maimoun, Abelmalik Berhiss, and the photographer Leila Alaoui with her series Les Marocains. Artists from elsewhere in Africa include Thandiwe Muriu (Kenya) and Joana Choumali (Ivory Coast).

Two temporary exhibitions a year are staged with a Marrakesh gallery, currently Siniya28 in the Gueliz district. For the 2026 edition of 1-54 (the contemporary African art fair), the artist Rita Alaoui painted murals and showed The Inner Garden, a set of seven paintings.

The interiors follow the same line: saturated colours, mid-century European furniture, cedar ceilings and hand-carved plasterwork (gebs). Rooms combine tadelakt (a smooth, waterproof lime plaster), zellige (glazed terracotta mosaic) and, in some, leather-lined walls or a gold-leaf headboard.

The hotel boutique carries on the visit: rugs, cushions, ceramics, jewellery, fashion and design books, with Moroccan makers who use traditional techniques. It is open daily from 11 am to 10 pm.

A day on the roof

The rooftop covers 1,300 m², facing the Koutoubia minaret, with the medina's roofs all around and the Atlas in the distance. It is open from noon to 11 pm local time, to guests and visitors alike, and its marble bar runs to 30 feet, about 9 m.

The mood changes through the day. At midday there is lunch at the rooftop restaurant (12.30 to 3 pm) or a shaded day bed. At sunset the candles come out and the bar shakes its house margarita with hibiscus and ginger. Dinner starts at 7 pm, and in winter the fires are lit. Every other Sunday, "Sol Sundays" bring a DJ to the roof.

The roof is open to the public, with no booking needed for drinks, subject to space. Hotel guests have a place of their own downstairs, the Colonnade Café: breakfast, then afternoon tea from 3 to 6 pm.

The kitchen works with seasonal produce from nearby farms and markets, meat from the Atlas and fish from the Atlantic; the hotel says it flies in no food.

Pools and spa

The hotel has three pools and a small children's pool: a 13 m rooftop pool heated to 24 °C; a 12 m ground-floor lap pool in the Colonnade courtyard; an 8 m spa pool heated all year; and a 70 cm-deep plunge pool for children. The pools are for hotel guests only.

The spa is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Its hammam is a tadelakt-lined steam room, and treatments use the Moroccan brand Maison D'Asa (orange blossom, verbena, argan oil, prickly pear oil).

Sabaro's view

For whom: couples, lovers of art and design, travellers who want to be in the heart of the medina in a lively house.

Strengths: an art collection you live with throughout the house; the rooftop facing the Koutoubia; Jemaa el-Fna square a five-minute walk away; regular places on the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List (2017, 2021, 2022, 2024).

Good to know: the roof is open to the public and can be busy in the evening; the smallest rooms start at 15 m²; the 9.7/10 Booking.com rating rests on 18 reviews; El Fenn is not in the 2026 Michelin Keys selection (the Michelin Guide's hotel award).

Our tip: to enjoy the roof quietly, go up when it opens at noon, or book a room with its own terrace; in winter, a room with a fireplace makes the evenings (most categories have one).