Riad AnaYela, Marrakech Medina, Morocco

Intimate, stylish riad aimed at romancing couples and creative types seeking privacy and inspiration (5 rooms)

AnaYela is a truly special 5-bedroom riad, located in the oldest, least touristy part of Marrakech’s medina.

Owned by German entrepreneur Bernd Kolb and his wife Andrea, it is a painstakingly restored 300-year-old palace that offers a genuine Marrakchi experience. Authenticity is key: over 100 local artisans helped to refurbish it, using every traditional technique from silver-beating to wood carving, and working by candle-light throughout.

The end result is a hushed sanctuary decorated in Berber-style natural colours (no jewel-bright limes and oranges, or heavy dark wood) and, unusually for a riad, there’s no overgrown, tatty vegetation.

Huge engraved silver lanterns hang at every corner, white hand-stitched pouffes line the floors, and good taste seeps from the walls. It is also the setting for a delightful love story: AnaYela means ‘I am Yela’, and the riad is named after a 16-year-old girl who lived there and left a note, unearthed during the restoration process, written on the eve of her wedding as she prepared to leave her grandfather’s house. It feels like a house of love.

Intimate, stylish riad in Marrakech Medina with 5 rooms, with doubles costing from €290 for Bed and Breakfast.

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