Royal Mansour Hotel

Marrakesh 40000, Morocco

You know you’re staying at a seriously plush hotel when your room comes stocked with a supply of goldembossed, personalised stationery. Actually, forget ‘room’ – at the Royal Mansour, you get your own three-storey riad. Sprawled over several square kilometres inside the ancient medina walls, the hotel was commissioned by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. Part palace, part mini- Moroccan city, the astonishing edifice took 1,500 workers three and a half years to complete. There’s remarkable craftsmanship and headacheinducing detail – from the creative carvings, frescoes and hypnotic dripping fountain in the reception, to the library’s electronic retractable roof that enables you to star-gaze through a telescope. The 2,500 square metre spa, meanwhile, is a temple to wellbeing. As for your fellow guests, they’re the sort who come here to escape, rather than to be seen. They stuff themselves with morning pastries under the palms, nibble on dates in their courtyards and sunbathe on their roof terraces, where there are private plunge pools to cool off. Staff dash around through hidden doors and underground passages, so while a small army keeps the place working like clockwork you wouldn’t know it walking through the tranquil streets. Until of course you return to your riad to find every shirt perfectly folded, every luxurious toiletry replenished. Throw in the excellent Moroccan and French restaurants, and cocktails in the rose gold-bedecked Le Bar, and it’s very tempting to spend your entire stay in Marrakech within the hotel walls. Many guests do. AM. Riads from £850.