Selman Marrakech

A palace named after a stallion

Selman is a family project, led by Saida and Abdeslam Bennani Smires. Abdeslam launched it in 2005 to fulfil his grandfather's wish to build a palace in his home town. The designer Jacques Garcia drew the first sketch in 2006, at a meeting with the family, and the hotel opened in 2012 at kilometre 5 of the Amizmiz road, south of the medina, facing the Atlas.

The name comes from the horse. Selman is the Arabian stallion behind the family's breeding programme, Selman Arabians, a private stud of purebred Arabians that has been repeatedly recognised at international competitions. The hotel was built around this stud: by day the horses roam freely across five paddocks, on a six-hectare estate.

The building is recent and follows the plan of a Moroccan palace. You enter through a mechouar, the great courtyard of honour of royal palaces, then a monumental archway leads to the lounges. Jacques Garcia designed it all, from the geometric facades and Andalusian fountain gardens to the bar. The Michelin Guide, which awards it one Key (the Michelin Guide's hotel distinction), describes rooms where Art Nouveau meets Berber influences: wood, leather, copper, zellige (glazed terracotta mosaic) and large bathrooms.

The stud at the heart of the stay

The red-painted stables are also by Jacques Garcia, who drew on both Andalusian palaces and the architecture of Rajasthan. Guests can visit them freely. From Le Pavillon restaurant you can watch the horses in the paddocks.

The stud offers activities for every level, from beginner to experienced rider: dressage, equine therapy (using the horse as therapeutic support) and corporate coaching. Two sessions are booked through the concierge:

• Basics of Dressage, 30 minutes: a private lesson on a highly trained horse, practising classical dressage movements;
• Working in Liberty, 40 minutes: the principles of dressage and liberty work, then figures performed with the horse left free.

The "signature" meals take place among the horses: a gourmet breakfast or lunch in the grounds, with a presentation of the Arabian horse collection, or dinner in the stables themselves, for a couple or a group.

A Chenot cure at the foot of the Atlas

Selman's spa is one of six Chenot spas in the world. The method was developed by Henri Chenot at the Hotel Merano in northern Italy, over nearly fifty years of research: it pairs treatments with a dietary regime and draws on principles of traditional Chinese medicine and a diagnosis of the body's condition. The spa offers 3, 5 or 10-day programmes, including the Chenot Relax Programme, focused on detoxifying and calming the nervous system.

The spa covers 1,200 m², in a setting that recalls the old baths of Istanbul. It has seven treatment rooms, four hydrotherapy rooms, two hammams, an indoor pool and a hydro-massage pool, a gym and a boutique. Hammam rituals use products from the Moroccan brand marocMaroc.

Outside, the 80 m pool stretches between the gardens, alongside the Pool Bar.

Jean-François Piège in the kitchen

Since 2024 the French chef Jean-François Piège has directed the hotel's kitchens. Born in the Drôme, he was Alain Ducasse's chef at the Plaza Athénée, then chef of Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel de Crillon, where he earned two stars; his Grand Restaurant in Paris received two stars in 2016.

At Selman he runs two restaurants. SABO, opened in spring 2025, is the gourmet table, under a large glass roof and candlelit at night: flambéed red prawns, snails in parsley butter, strawberries and raspberries with champagne. La Terrasse looks over the palace buildings. The Pool Bar menu is also his. There is also Assyl, a Moroccan restaurant in a setting inspired by an Ottoman palace, Le Pavillon for brunch facing the paddocks, and the Bar Selman.

Terrace, suite or garden villa

Superior, Deluxe and Deluxe Premier rooms have a private terrace; the Deluxe Premier, about 55 m², overlooks the 80 m pool and the Andalusian gardens. For a honeymoon, a suite adds a living room and one or two terraces over the pool and gardens. The five private villas, 580 to 700 m², are spread through the gardens and suit a family or a cure that calls for quiet.

Sabaro's view

For whom: couples and honeymooners, riders and horse lovers, travellers coming for a wellness cure of several days.

Strengths: the Arabian horse stud the hotel was built around; the Chenot spa and its programmes; Jean-François Piège's cooking; the 80 m pool.

Good to know: the hotel is away from the medina, on the Amizmiz road between the airport and the city, so every trip into town is by car.

Our advice: for a Chenot cure, allow at least five nights and book the programme with the room; to see the horses up close, book dinner in the stables.