Riad BE Marrakech

On a derb beside the great mosque in the heart of the Medina, Riad BE Marrakech is a wellness riad spread across two adjoining houses joined high up on the roof. The name says the intention, BE in the moment, and the place is built around it: a still courtyard below, a spa, an indoor yoga studio, and rooftop terraces that run between the two riads above the old city. The street outside is all noise and trade; inside, the volume drops to water, light and tadelakt. Rooms open onto the courtyards in the traditional way, finished by hand in warm local materials, the scale intimate and domestic. The day has its own slow rhythm of hammam and massage, a yoga session as the light softens, a cookery class learning the flavours of Moroccan cooking. It draws travellers who come to the Medina to slow down rather than to tick off sights, and locals dropping in for a lunch and spa day. The roof is the heart of it: yoga terraces and lounging space open to the sky, the rooftops of the Medina running out toward the Atlas on a clear morning. A few turns from the souks and Jemaa el-Fna, it keeps the old city close while holding its own pocket of calm, a place to stay that behaves more like a retreat.