Le Farnatchi riad hotel in Marrakech is enhancing the connection it forges with the locale through the launch of a new partnership with Moroccan wellness brand Botanika.
The rooftop of Le Farnatchi riad hotel in the medina of Marrakech.
Tucked into an alleyway off the maze of frenetic streets making up the city’s historic medina, Le Farnatchi places you within just moments of the terracotta-color-walled Medersa Ben Youssef and Musée de Marrakech and only steps from Maison de la Photographie as well as this historic area’s atmospheric souk. This distinctly Moroccan riad hotel occupies six merchant houses, with some parts dating back 450 years, offering a serenity that juxtaposes with the non-stop freneticism of the alleys you step straight into outside.
Past the entry way, a courtyard is centered around an ornately tiled emerald pool, with corridors and winding stairs leading away from here to just 10 individually designed suites pairing contemporary comfort with Moroccan style. These rooms are joined by a rooftop terrace with views over the medina in each direction, a second tree-filled courtyard and the marble-clad Farnatchi Spa.
Inside the main courtyard of Le Farnatchi, Marrakech.
A riad across the alley then houses the hotel’s laidback fine dining restaurant, Le Trou Au Mur, which translates as ‘the hole in the wall’, where the restaurant’s take on European classics and Moroccan specialties are served in a space spanning three floors including an open-air rooftop. In each space, the open-air courtyards, arched doorways and high ceilings of the riad are met with traditional Moroccan tiling, mosaic and intricate white stucco carvings. Moroccan paintings and fabrics bring vibrant pops of red and green to each room.
Reflecting its name, which references the traditional furnace used to heat a Moroccan hammam – sometimes seen alongside traditional hammam bath houses throughout the medina – Le Farnatchi introduces guests to the Moroccan wellness traditions that are the focus of this hotel’s intimate tiled and stucco-adorned spa where arched doorways lead to private marble hammams and other treatment rooms.
Detail of le Farnatchi's Moroccan architecture and interiors.
Born out of its commitment to locality as well as sustainability, and heightening its focus on wellbeing, the boutique hideaway recently launched a new partnership with the natural Moroccan wellness brand Botanika Marrakech. These Moroccan products now feature in the geometrically tiled bathrooms of each guest room and have become the focus of the holistic wellness therapies at Farnatchi Spa.
A curated series of treatments, including the traditional hammam, a specially designed facial and massage, draw inspiration from ancestral values of Moroccan beauty rituals and incorporate these natural products, which are based on argan oil and argan leaf extract – a product Morocco is known for producing.
Inside one of the individually designed suites of Le Farnatchi.
In addition to organising your travel arrangements overall, the travel specialist Wix Squared, which is founded by Alex and James Wix who are also behind Le Farnatchi, offers a series of local insider experiences. A walking food tour of the medina, led by a local guide, also gives insight into Moroccan wellness traditions through an introduction to some of the spices, oils and teas used in Moroccan cuisine as well as for other health uses.
This guided culinary walking tour leads you through the Kasbah, Jewish Quarter, main square Jemaa el-Fna and souk of the medina to discover some of Morocco’s most prized delicacies, including a myriad of spices and Morocco’s famous ras el hanout, and to meet some of the local people who’ve become legendary for preparing signature Moroccan dishes, like this country’s sticky sweet pastries.
Entering Le Trou Au Mur, the restaurant of Le Farnatchi.
Other experiences offered in Marrakech and its surroundings by Le Farnatchi and Wix Squared include visits to a saffron farm in the Ourika Valley, exclusive perfume-making workshops and more adventurous journeys venturing into the Agafay desert and Atlas Mountains. As well as reflecting Morocco’s wellness traditions through its spa and new partnership, Le Farnatchi provides a meaningful connection with Marrakech, the medina and aspects of Moroccan life and culture, from its arts to the local food.
