Where should I stay in Marrakech — which neighbourhood is best?

After years of placing guests across Marrakech, my honest answer is that there is no single best neighbourhood — there is the one that matches how you want to wake up. The medina, the walled old city, is where I send most first-timers and anyone chasing the Marrakech of their imagination: a riad with a tiled courtyard hidden down a derb (alley), the call to prayer over the rooftops, and Jemaa el-Fna a five-minute walk away. The trade-off is real, though — it is loud, you arrive by walking or a porter cart because cars can't reach most riads, and the lanes are a maze at first.

Within the medina I steer people toward the quieter quarters rather than right on the main square. Around Mouassine, Dar el Bacha, the Kasbah district near the Saadian Tombs, or the Mellah, you keep the atmosphere and the walkability but escape the relentless drumming and scooter noise of the square itself. If you are a light sleeper, ask your riad specifically how far from Jemaa el-Fna and from the nearest mosque you'll be, and request an interior courtyard room.

Gueliz, the French-built Ville Nouvelle, is my recommendation for travellers who want comfort and logistics to be effortless. Here you get proper hotels with lifts and pools, wide pavements, contemporary restaurants and wine bars, boutiques, and taxis you can simply flag — it feels like a normal, easy city. You sacrifice the postcard romance and you'll taxi the ten minutes into the medina for the sights, but for families, business travellers, or anyone who found the old city overwhelming on a previous trip, it is the calmer base.

The third option is resort-land: the Palmeraie (a palm-grove zone north of the city) and the smart Hivernage district sit a little out, with sprawling hotels, big pools, spas and golf. These suit a relax-by-the-pool, dip-into-the-city rhythm, often a honeymoon or a winter sun escape — but you are committing to a taxi for everything and you lose the spontaneity of stepping out of your door into Marrakech. My usual advice for a first visit: book a riad in a quiet medina derb, and if you crave a pool, choose one of the riads with a plunge pool rather than decamping to the suburbs.