Marrakech, Morocco

Riad No 37

Price per night from$283.51

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR254.80), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Riad No 37 Photos

Style

North African Nordic

Setting

Time-out from the Medina

Explore

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The morning birdsong rings through the peaceful courtyards at adults-only Marrakech hideaway Riad No 37, juxtaposing the heaving bustle of Marrakech’s Medina just outside. A riad was traditionally a place where guests were received and shown hospitality, and that tradition continues (with a Scandi feel) inside these old tadelakt-daubed walls. Cleverly executed design brings just 16 guests together for shared experience, but equally gives space for secluded relaxation, and a home-style kitchen lovingly prepares fresh and healthy meals. They’re served around a communal dining table or up on the rooftop terrace with views over Marrakech’s landmarks, a dreamy start to an expedition in the souks or to the desert beyond.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A signature cocktail each (gin, lemon juice and verbena syrup)

Facilities

Photos Riad No 37 facilities

Need to know

Rooms

There are just eight double rooms, three of which are suites, so peace is ensured. The hotel will never have more than 16 guests at any one time.

Check–Out

Check-in is from 2pm, and check-out by 11am. Both times are flexible, subect to availability.

More details

Room rates include a healthy local breakfast (with homemade Moroccan breads, jams and yoghurt, plus fruit salad, avo and omelettes), served on the rooftop terrace as the Medina wakes for the day and a welcome mint tea. There is a two-night minimum stay.

Also

Unfortunately the historic riad layout here doesn’t allow for accessible rooms and public spaces.

At the hotel

Rooftop terrace with sunloungers, break-out spaces with lounges, free WiFi, free steaming service (and charged laundry service), and airport shuttle. In rooms: air-conditioning, free bottled water, tea- and coffee-making kit, luggage rack, handmade furniture, bathrobes, and Les Sens de Marrakech bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Room 8 has lush indoor plants and the original latticework on the windows, casting intriguing shadows as the sun traverses the sky. And rooms 1 and 2 share a green-tiled patio.

Poolside

Respite from the searing Moroccan heat comes from either of Riad No 37’s two pools. On the rooftop terrace, plunge into the cool water with views across the Medina to the Dar el Bacha Museum and out to the 12th-century minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque. Sunloungers are plentiful for lazy post-swim naps in the afternoon heat, and even though it never gets truly cold in Marrakech, there are fireplaces to soften the chill of the balmy winter evenings. On the ground floor, follow the path to a secluded patio where you’ll find a second plunge-pool nestled among orange and olive trees. A cleverly placed day-bed allows the dangling of legs into the pool during naps – all the better for keeping cool.

Spa

In-room massage therapies and spa treatments can be arranged via the hotel concierge.

Packing tips

A secret notebook to jot tips down as you observe the chefs cooking up a storm.

Also

Book the entire hotel for your party – not only will the kitchen team design a bespoke menu for your event, but you’ll have the entire rooftop terrace with its enchanting sunset views, too.

Children

A place of peace, this riad is adults-only.

Food and Drink

Photos Riad No 37 food and drink

Top Table

Fresh fruits at breakfast served on the rooftop terrace as the Medina wakes up.

Dress Code

Whatever feels appropriate – the table is yours…

Hotel restaurant

In keeping with the aesthetics, the kitchen at Riad No 37 whips up storied dishes that blend the best of local and Nordic influences. The kitchen team all trained at Um Mami, a Danish non-profit foundation with an outpost in Marrakech that teaches culinary skills to vulnerable people. It’s a project of Claus Meyer, co-founder of Copenhagen’s storied triple-Michelin-starred restaurant Noma, so the curriculum is world-class. Despite the influence, dining at Riad No 37 is not so much a fine-dining experience as it is a communal gathering around the family table. When it’s not too hot, breakfast is served on the rooftop terrace on specially designed breakfast bars that take in the Medina skyline. And for dinner there’s no menu as such, it’s more of a ‘this is what we’re making tonight’ kind of attitude. The hotel doesn’t usually serve dinner as there are countless options in the Medina, and trying as many as you can is one of the primary reasons to come here. But if you’d prefer to dine in, they’ll happily cook up something you’ll love with the best seasonal local ingredients to hand. It’s all served on a long marble dining table in an ornate room off the main terrace, which offers the potential for outrageously extravagant group meals lasting late into the night.

Hotel bar

There's no set bar at the riad, but you can waft from peaceful courtyard to peaceful courtyard with a negroni or the signature Aeris cocktail (with gin, lemon and verbena syrup) in hand. There's also refreshing lemonade and mint tea, strong coffee from Marrakech's Bloom roasters and Casablanca beer. 

Last orders

Breakfast is from 8am until noon, lunch from noon until 3pm, and dinner from 7pm until 10pm.

Location

Photos Riad No 37 location
Address
Riad No 37
Quartier Bab Doukkala Dar El Bacha No. 37 Et 37 Bis Médina
Marrakech
40030
Morocco

Riad No 37 sits in the north-east of Marrakech’s labyrinthine Medina, near the Bab Doukkala gate and a 10-minute walk from the bustling Djemaa el Fna square.

Planes

Marrakech Menara Airport is just 20 minutes away by car and is well connected to many European destinations; airport transfers are €25 one-way for up to two guests and €35 for up to six (let the hotel know your flight details in advance).

Trains

Marrakech Railway Station is connected on a direct line to Casablanca, and to Tangier in the north (hotel transfers one-way are €25). European travellers can catch a train to Algeciras in southern Spain, and then hop on a short ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to the port of Tangier Ville.

Automobiles

A road trip through Morocco is an exciting prospect and Marrakech a brilliant waypoint – how often can you say you’ve driven to the Sahara Desert? Parking in the Medina is limited and often inconvenient (some streets are closed off to cars), but there’s a safe garage five minutes’ walk from the hotel.

Other

Arrive direct from the Sahara on a desert trek over the Atlas Mountains, and really savour that first plunge into the pool.

Worth getting out of bed for

Situated in the heart of the Medina’s most revered Bab Doukkala quarter and with the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert not far out of town, there’s really no limit when it comes to filling your days. Riad No 37 is close to Marrakech’s most famous sights, so it’s an ideal base to discover this exciting city. Nearby is the Dar el Bacha, the palace of Pasha (governor) Thami El Glaoui from 1910. In its day it hosted the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill, but now you should visit for the exemplary Moroccan architecture, the chequered marble floors, and the remarkable hand-cut zellige mosaics. In 2017 it was restored and opened as the Musée des Confluences, focused on science and anthropology. Yves Saint Laurent fell for Marrakech, and two properties mark his legacy – his mansion Jardin Majorelle and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, where you’ll find an impressive collection of the revered designer’s work. Gain an understanding of royal burial practises at Saadien’s Tombs, the necropolis of the Saadian dynasty, and find peace at Koutoubia Mosque, which is less than a mile away. The most important mosque in town was founded in 1147, and its 77-metre-tall minaret (no other building in the city can be built higher) dates back to 1195. Wander through Le Jardin Secret, an impressively preserved Arabic palace and gardens that have recently been opened to the public for the first time in its 400-year history; and, Bahia Palace, royal residence of King Hassan II until 1956, is just a few minutes away on foot, too. For some fancy digs of your own, if you need some space to delve into your life’s work? Riad No 37 offers residencies for artists and creatives – contact the hotel for details. 

Local restaurants

Things move fast in the Medina with the most exciting restaurants coming and going with alarming pace, but Riad No 37’s concierge team will tell you what’s hot in-the-minute. The main concentration of restaurants is found close to the Unesco World Heritage-listed Djemaa el Fna square, one of the most impressive of its kind in Africa and just a 10-minute walk from the hotel, but you may want to delve a little deeper to find a truly memorable meal. The lively brasserie Grand Café de la Poste has been serving dishes on its colonial-style verandas since 1920 and is best for a Parisian brunch. It’s worth visiting Restaurant Le Jardin for lunch in its banana-tree-filled courtyard, and at night the sea of glittering candles is a romantic backdrop to a fragrant tagine. For a Moroccan-French fusion meal enjoyed poolside, try the couscous with foie gras at Dar Moha.

Local cafés

Authentic Moroccan spiced coffee can be found almost everywhere in the Medina, and to calmly sip one in a square is a soothing start to your day. But for a little more, take in the Atlas Mountains with your coffee on the rooftop at Café Des Épices and for a more chilled-out aesthetic, try Café Clock. 

Local bars

The Medina is a warren of bars, and getting deeply lost attempting to experience them all is some of the best fun you can have. Baromètre Marrakech is a project of the local Hadni brothers, and their brilliant effort at recreating a prohibition-era speakeasy is the first true mixology bar in Morocco. It’s worth coming earlier than you’d expect – doors are closed once the small bar is full. And no visit to the Medina is complete without a drink or two at a rooftop bar, and Mr Smith always heads to the La Pergola Jazz Bar at Riad Monceau. A lush garden setting, live jazz, spectacular views over Koutoubia, and a solid cocktail menu make this a must-visit.

Reviews

Photos Riad No 37 reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this ravishingly dressed riad in Marrakech and unpacked their souk-sought tagine and dallah coffee-pot, a full account of their soulful break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Riad No.37 in the Medina of Marrakech…

There’s a beautiful moment amid the urban bustle in Marrakech’s Medina: when you step through the door of a riad into its calm coolness, and the stress of the world seems to disappear right as you close it behind you. From vociferous shopkeeps, zipping scooters and eager crowds, you suddenly find yourself in a haven of intricate tiles, orange trees swaying in a gentle breeze, and slices of bright sunlight that cut the dark shadow like white-hot scythes. The ancient Riad No 37 was restored from ruins in 2019, painted with a Nordic brush that introduces the clean, pragmatic aesthetic into the Moroccan mien. In rooms, sinks are hefty and cut from solid hunks of marble, yet the furnishings are handmade from organic local materials by neighbourhood craftspeople. It’s this clashing of the ordered and the unruly, the contemporary and the ancient, that sets Riad No 37 apart. The spaces have been carefully crafted to promote togetherness among guests, yet to also give breakaway nooks for an individual or couple to nap or read novels during the afternoon heat. It’s a neat trick, and a wonderful break from the endlessly thrumming atmosphere of the Medina; here’s a place where you know there’s always a refreshing mint tea and a calm corner waiting for you after a full day of exploring. 

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