There is so much more to Marrakech than the European rock stars who have famously partied here and the iconic expats, like Yves Saint Laurent, who adopted it as their home. The past two decades have seen this North African city become accessible to more travelers as an armada of courtyard homes, or riads, within the ochre walls of the medina have been transformed into chic but affordable boutique hotels, providing options beyond the lavish hotels owned by Morocco's king.
During the COVID pandemic, the city continued to evolve, leaning into its rich artisanal traditions in new ways. This past fall, Marrakech's high season, numerous long-delayed projects were set to have their grand debut, including a flurry of new hotels in the medina, like Izza, Riad Alena, and Maison Brummell Majorelle. On the outskirts of town, the four-bedroom former artist retreat Farasha Farmhouse planned to open with photographs and sculptures by the Moroccan artist Amine El Gotaibi and a 164-foot-long olive-tree-lined swimming pool. Then came the 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck central Morocco last September 8, devastating hundreds of villages in the High Atlas Mountains. Marrakech itself was largely spared, but some of the openings were put on hold again.
Now, several of these hoteliers are joining forces to promote the city—especially to travelers who mistakenly think that the appropriate thing to do is stay away. “Just the opposite! We need people to come,” says the Brazilian-born, Marrakech-based clothing designer Adriana Bittencourt, whose Riad Nour—with interiors by Bill Willis, the designer behind two of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé's Marrakech homes—is now available to book. Bittencourt is brainstorming marketing campaigns alongside her new medina neighbor, Laurence Leenaert, the Belgian designer behind the new riad Rosemary and the made-in-Morocco lifestyle brand Lrnce, and the fashion legend Romeo Gigli. In December, Gigli opened Romeo, a five-bedroom contemporary riad with origami-like chandeliers and flamboyant hand-painted headboards. Gigli and his wife, Lara, bought the house 18 years ago, but the pandemic gave them time to tear out the interiors and rebuild every detail, down to the evil-eye floor tiles. The couple's daughter Diletta runs the hotel, and Lara will soon sell her Berber- and Tuareg-inspired silver cuffs and brass rings in its tiny boutique.
Such life pivots are common here. Many who come on vacation decide to put down roots. French designer Stella Cadente decamped from Paris during the pandemic and in 2022 opened her eponymous concept store in the medina's gentrifying Dar El Bacha quarter. The 1940s riad, now clad in shiny zellige tiles and lacquered Majorelle blue, includes a rooftop bistro. Few, however, have undertaken as much literal root planting as Aziz Nahas, the Casablanca-born former J.P. Morgan banker who, like many others, spent the pandemic rethinking his life goals and baking sourdough with his mom. Intense experimentation led respectively to Marrakech's most sought-after crusty loaves and the flourishing of Nahas's 25-acre Sanctuary Slimane, a regenerative farm, animal refuge, and artists' residency in Marrakech's southeastern suburbs. What grows there appears on the menu at his Blue Ribbon bakery, which opened last spring in the city's hip Gueliz neighborhood. The adjacent Farm Slimane sells seasonal produce within an elegant Art Deco arcade, which will soon house a restaurant, a wine bar, and a Morocco-centric bookstore.
Refreshingly, this new Marrakech increasingly recognizes its homegrown creatives. Take medina-reared restaurateur Kamal Laftimi, whose Mediterranean-leaning Pétanque Social Club is the hottest dining address in town, stylishly designed within a 1930s building with frenzied graffiti by Moroccan painter Yassine Balbzioui. Then there is Sana Benzaitar, the daughter of a traditional rug merchant, whose Studio Sana Benzaitar sells fresh, one-of-a-kind creations. “I wanted to unite our centuries-old heritage with female-driven innovation,” Benzaitar explains as she points to an unconventional carpet of abstracted stepping stones, woven by Amazigh women in two Middle Atlas villages. “The women have been doing this so much longer than I have,” Benzaitar says of their partnership. “I encourage them to take risks.” The same holds true for Idries Karnachi, the ex–Studio KO architect whom Benzaitar directed to demolish and rebuild one of her gallery walls that now displays her trailblazing weavings. Karnachi has also been busy gathering experts to undertake culturally sensitive reconstruction in the old medina, the part of the city most damaged in the quake.
Anyone can participate in the recovery by visiting Marrakech, where tourism employs about 10 percent of the population. Open your wallet at places like De Bouche à Oreille for handmade tapestries by a regional women's cooperative. Or visit the El Fenn Boutique, where you can scoop up En Shalla totes upcycled from industrial food bags and embroidered by local women, along with a Patrice Kouadio caftan, whose floaty, floor-length silhouette—like those originally turned out by Saint Laurent—feels like an homage to this vibrant melting pot.
This article appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
