La Sultana

La Sultana Marrakech sits within the Kasbah quarter of the Medina, inside the UNESCO-listed perimeter and a short walk from the Saadian Tombs, the Royal Palace, and the Bahia Palace, a density of historical architecture that the hotel uses as a context rather than a selling point. Twenty-eight rooms and suites are each individually designed, the interiors constructed around Moroccan craftsmanship: vaulted ceilings, carved wood, marble, and copper appear in configurations that vary from room to room, the collection of objects and artworks accumulating across the building into a whole that has the texture of a private residence built over time. The heated pool and the two-thousand-square-metre rooftop terrace provide the outdoor dimensions of a property whose architectural bones are those of the old city. The rooftop view encompasses the layered roofscape of the Kasbah neighborhood, one of the most significant concentrations of historic buildings in Marrakech. Two restaurants and a cocktail bar operate across the floors; a terrace space is dedicated to cookery classes. The spa is substantial for a property of this size: two hammams, a sauna, an indoor pool, and massage rooms with treatments using locally sourced argan oil, rose, and prickly pear seed oil. La Sultana gives access to a part of the Medina that most visitors walk through on their way to the Saadian Tombs and then leave; staying here is a reason to stay.