Dar One
Style Minimalism à la mode
Setting The Marrakchi Marais
Take a Moroccan riad, renovate it in a contemporary minimalist style with Starck-ian bathroom fixtures, cubic leather furniture and boldly striped textiles à la Missoni or Paul Smith, and you’ve got Dar One. At the end of a gated alleyway in the Jewish quarter of the medina, this has to be one of Marrakech’s best-kept secrets: sleek, quiet, cosmopolitan and eminently affordable.
Need to know
- Rooms Six.
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Rates
Double rooms from $125.61 (€100), excluding tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €2.00 per person per night on checkout.
Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (€100), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
- More details Rates include breakfast. You can rent the riad exclusively for €530–€820 a day, accommodating 12 people.
- Facilities Courtyard with water feature, roof terrace with sun loungers and daybeds, free WiFi, open fireplaces, AC, hammam or beauty treatments and in-room massages by arrangement.
- Poolside No pool, but you can dip swollen feet into the courtyard fountain or freshen up after sunbathing on the roof with an alfresco shower.
- Check-out 11am, but flexible subject to availability. Earliest check-in, midday.
- Children Welcome. Cots and extra beds are charged at €30 a night for children staying in parents’ rooms. Sirocco on the roof terrace is the best room for families, although this designer den is more of an adults retreat. Babysitting can be arranged.
- Hotel closed 10–24 August 2010.
- Also Between 22 December and 6 January the riad must be booked in its entirety, for a minimum of five nights.
Food and drink at Dar One
- Hotel restaurant Take breakfast on the roof terrace or at a communal table in the salon. If you want to dine at the riad, a Morrocan three-course menu costs Dhs250 a head, and features tasty salads, aromatic tagines with couscous and fresh, fruity desserts.
- Dress code Whatever you like, but Jean’s chic wardrobe will have you wishing you’d packed your favourite crisply laundered shirts and Prada sundresses.
- Top table In the salon by the fire in winter; on the roof terrace in summer.
- Last orders There are no rules here: take breakfast whenever and wherever you like. You’ll have to give a few hours’ notice if you want lunch or dinner, however, so that cooks Meriem and Asma can pop out to buy fresh ingredients.
- Room service None, but a porter is on hand 24 hours a day if you need anything.
- Hotel bar Aperitifs are served each day and you can order beer, wine or champagne to drink wherever you please – we like the cosy lounge with its open fireplace.
Dar One 19 Derb Jemaa el Kebir, Hay Salam, Medina,, Marrakech, Marrakech 40,000
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Smith extra at Dar One
A bottle of wine on arrival, and a traditional Moroccan woven-silk tassel key fob
In the know
Our favourite rooms
Dune has an open fireplace, exposed beams, a sexy black marble sink and big tadelakt bath. Darkly elegant Mirage has a deep grey tadelakt bath and modern chandelier. Colourful St Ex (named after author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) features chocolate browns, cornflower blues and tomato reds. Sirocco is up on roof-terrace level, with a putty-coloured suede headboard, a red rug and stripey lampshades. All the rooms are about the same size, apart from Petit Prince, which is a touch smaller (and therefore costs a bit less).
Packing tips
There are sunhats to borrow on the roof terrace, so don’t worry if you forget yours. Bring comfy pumps or trainers for exploring the medina on foot, and a French phrasebook will come in handy.
Also
Owner Jean’s impeccably behaved dogs Loukoum and Tosca follow him loyally wherever he goes. He visits the riad every morning to help guests plan their day, and then hands over to his excellent team of staff. Book an airport transfer for €15 a person; almost as cheap as a regular taxi and much less of a headache. A vase of fresh roses will appear in your room every day.
From the Guestbook…
I cannot praise Dar One, its owner and staff more highly. We had a lovely, well cared for, relaxing week in the sun. I decided which Moroccan restaurants we would go to in advanc...
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