Where to Stay in Marrakech (2026): The Best Areas, 12 Hotels and the Tourist Tax

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A Marrakech hotel bill carries two extras. The first is a tourist tax of MAD 2 to MAD 30 a person a night, depending on the category of the hotel or riad; the second is 10% VAT on accommodation. Where you stay decides the rest. Inside the medina, many riads are reached on foot through narrow lanes, while in the new town you can be driven to the door.

This guide covers five areas, from the square at the heart of the medina to the avenues of Hivernage, 12 hotels, the airport and the tax. The hotels are researched picks, chosen for location, what each property publishes and consistent guest feedback, and each was checked as operating in October 2026. No hotel pays to appear here.

The short answer

Not sure which area? Rank these areas for your trip: pick what matters and see the reasons.

Marrakech’s tourist tax and VAT

The tourist tax (taxe de séjour) comes from Law 47-06 on local taxation, in articles 70 to 76 of the consolidated text that the tax authority, the Direction Générale des Impôts, hosts online (in Arabic). It is charged per person and per night, it is added to the accommodation price, and children under 12 are exempt. The operator collects it, and invoices must show the amount on its own line.

The law sets a range for each category, and under its article 168 the rate is fixed by a decision of the commune after the communal council approves it. We could not find the rate the Marrakech council has set, so the table gives the legal ranges, not Marrakech’s own rate:

VAT is separate. The tax authority’s VAT page lists accommodation and restaurant services at the reduced rate of 10%, against 20% for the standard rate. Trade sites also mention a separate national tourism-promotion charge; we found no official source for its rate or its scope, so it is not counted here.

Our arithmetic, not an official example: two adults spending four nights in a riad, in the legal range of MAD 10 to 25, pay 2 × 4 × MAD 10 to 25 = MAD 80 to 200 in tourist tax. If the room is quoted at MAD 1,800 a night before VAT, four nights come to MAD 7,200 and the VAT is MAD 720. None of the hotels’ own sites that we read says whether its published rates include these charges, so ask before you book. For how other cities compare, see hotel taxes around the world.

Getting in from the airport, and around

Marrakech Menara (RAK) is the city’s airport. The hotels’ own pages put it between a 9-minute and a 20-minute drive from the Hivernage and Gueliz hotels: Es Saadi says 9 minutes, Sofitel 15 and Radisson Blu 20, and El Fenn says it is 15 minutes from the airport.

• By bus, the city network changed hands in December 2025, when Supratours replaced Alsa, which had run it for 26 years, according to Morocco World News. At the handover the standard fare was reported at MAD 5, with approved increases to follow the Africa Cup of Nations, so the current fare may differ. Alsa’s own site no longer lists Marrakech, and we could not reach an official page with a fare for the airport service that tourist guides call line 19, so we print no airport-bus fare. The Radisson Blu’s directions tell guests to take bus L18 from the airport, at Jardin Menara towards Alfadl, and get off at Grand Poste.
• By taxi, ONDA’s airport pages did not open for our checks, so we have no official fare to quote. Agree the price before you get in, or book the hotel’s own transfer. El Fenn’s directions, for one, say that with your own taxi you should “get ready to haggle”.
• In the medina, El Fenn’s directions say no cars are allowed in the medina, so depending on where you stay it can mean a long walk to a taxi. Les Borjs de la Kasbah describes itself as easily accessible by taxi, minibus and horse-drawn calèche. In Gueliz and Hivernage, taxis reach the door.

The Medina near Jemaa el-Fnaa: the first-trip base

Jemaa el-Fnaa is the big open square of the old city, with the souks running north from it and the Koutoubia Mosque a short walk away. Stay here and the sights are on foot; the price is noise and the narrow lanes.

Where to stay near Jemaa el-Fnaa

How the hotel links work: a hotel’s name goes to its own website. “Check rates” opens it on Booking.com through our partner Stay22, which pays us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you.

• El Fenn, splurge. At Bab El Ksour, with 41 individually styled rooms and suites, three swimming pools and a 1,300 square metre roof terrace with a bar. The hotel’s own directions say you can take a taxi right outside the entrance to its boutique. Choose it for a design hotel with a taxi at the gate. Watch out: price; the hotel’s site lists its cheapest rooms, the Small and Cosy rooms, from €342. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Les Jardins de la Koutoubia, comfortable. At 26 rue de la Koutoubia, with 108 rooms, three restaurants and a spa, in a riad that the hotel dates to the 13th century. The Koutoubia Suite has private access to one of the outdoor pools. Choose it for a larger hotel with pools near the square. Watch out: at 108 rooms it is far bigger than a riad; the entry-level Medina Room measures 30 m². Check rates on Booking.com →
• Royal Mansour Marrakech, splurge. On Rue Abou El Abbas Sebti, built as 53 private riads in gardens, from the 140 m² Superior riad with one bedroom to the 1,800 m² Grand riad, with winding alleyways between them, by the hotel’s description. The hotel says it is a few steps from Jemaa el-Fnaa. Choose it for a private riad inside a hotel. Watch out: the hotel’s site publishes no room rates; you ask for a quote. Check rates on Booking.com →

Mouassine and Bab Doukkala: the northern Medina

North-west of the square, Mouassine and the streets by the Bab Doukkala gate hold many of the old city’s riads. It is the medina as most visitors picture it: narrow lanes, doors that open on courtyards, and the souks close by. Plan to walk to your door.

Where to stay in Mouassine and Bab Doukkala

• Equity Point Marrakech, budget. A hostel in what it calls a 15th-century riad, in the heart of the Medina, with a large swimming pool, terraces with hammocks, and a bar and restaurant. Rooms run from private doubles with a bathtub to dorms of four to ten beds. Choose it for the lowest price in the old city, with a pool. Watch out: the cheapest beds are in shared dorms, and private rooms cost more. Check rates on Booking.com →
• La Maison Arabe, comfortable. At 1 Derb Assehbé, in Bab Doukkala, a riad-hotel with two swimming pools, a spa with a hammam, a piano-jazz bar and a cooking school, and a restaurant that has served since 1946. Choose it for a classic riad-hotel with a cooking class. Watch out: its Country Club, in the Palmeraie, is a shuttle ride away, not on the doorstep. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Riad Kniza, comfortable. At 34 Derb l’Hotel, Bab Doukkala, a small “Hotel de Charme” in an 18th-century house restored by its owner, with its own restaurant. Choose it for an old house with a restaurant on site. Watch out: the hotel’s site lists no room types or rates, so ask for both before you book. Check rates on Booking.com →

The Kasbah and the southern Medina: palaces and gardens

South of the square lie the Kasbah and the area around the Royal Palace, with the Saadian Tombs and the palaces of the old city close by. It is the quarter for sights rather than for evenings, a longer walk from the square than the northern lanes.

Where to stay in the Kasbah and the southern Medina

• Les Borjs de la Kasbah, comfortable. In the Kasbah quarter, yards from the Royal Palace, built over four years from six small town houses and a riad, with a pool, a spa and a restaurant. The hotel says it is easily accessible by taxi, minibus and horse-drawn calèche. Choose it for a quiet courtyard hotel with a pool, reachable by car. Watch out: it is spread across several former houses, so room layouts vary; ask for a plan. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Marrakech Riads Angsana Heritage Collection, comfortable. At 24 Derb Si Said, 700 m from Jemaa el-Fnaa by Accor’s count, a collection of riads that the group says are not a conventional hotel experience: each is an individual heritage house, with a restaurant, rooftop terraces and a plunge pool. Choose it for a house-style stay in the southern Medina. Watch out: it is several houses, not one building; ask which riad you are booked into and how far it is from the lane where the taxi stops. Check rates on Booking.com →

Gueliz: the new town

Gueliz is the new town outside the old walls, with avenues, cafés and shops, and taxis that reach every door. The Majorelle Garden is there, and the Radisson Blu’s page puts the medina 2.52 km away and Jemaa el-Fnaa 2.34 km, so the old city is a taxi ride.

Where to stay in Gueliz

• Radisson Blu Marrakech Carré Eden, comfortable. At 166-176 Avenue Mohamed V, a five-star hotel, which calls itself an urban resort, with a pool, a spa and rooms from 35 m². The hotel puts the Majorelle Garden 1.14 km away and the train station 1.2 km. When we checked, its page showed a lowest rate of €250.86 a night for the next 60 days. Choose it for a full-service hotel in Gueliz. Watch out: the old city is a taxi ride away, and the rate above is the lowest, not the typical. Check rates on Booking.com →
• ibis Marrakech Centre Gare, budget. On Avenue Hassan II, at the Place de la Gare, with 109 rooms, a buffet breakfast, a 24-hour bar, and a garden with a pool. The hotel puts Jemaa el-Fnaa at a 10-minute drive. Choose it for a plain base by the railway station. Watch out: it is a drive, not a walk, from the medina. Check rates on Booking.com →

Hivernage: pools and wide avenues

Hivernage lies just outside the walls on the south-west side, a residential district of palm-lined avenues, big hotels and nightlife. Es Saadi describes it as modern and peaceful, a contrast with the crowded lanes of the medina, with Avenue Mohammed VI modelled on the Champs-Élysées. It suits travellers who want a pool and a car at the door.

Where to stay in Hivernage

• Es Saadi Marrakech Resort Hotel, comfortable. On Avenue El Quadisia, a five-star hotel with a 1950s feel looking over a winter garden and a pool, with its own Oriental spa. The resort says Jemaa el-Fna is a 10-minute walk and the airport a 9-minute drive. Standard rooms of 35 m² are listed from €170 a night. Choose it for a garden resort close to the walls. Watch out: a casino and a night club sit in the same resort; ask for a room away from them. Check rates on Booking.com →
• Sofitel Marrakech Palais Impérial & Spa, splurge. On Rue Haroun Errachid, a five-star with four pools, one heated all year, four restaurants, two bars and a kids’ club. The hotel says it is a 15-minute walk from the Koutoubia and Jemaa el-Fna. Choose it for a large pool hotel for a family. Watch out: it is a big resort, not a riad, and the walk to the square takes about a quarter of an hour by the hotel’s own count. Check rates on Booking.com →

How to book Marrakech

• Count the tax and VAT. Add the tourist tax, MAD 2 to 30 a person a night depending on the category, and 10% VAT to every rate that does not already include them, and ask whether it does.
• Check how you get to the door. In the medina, plan for a walk from the nearest point a taxi can reach, and ask the riad to send someone for your bags.
• Check what you are booking. A riad can be one house or several: Les Borjs de la Kasbah is built from seven buildings, and the Angsana collection is a group of houses.
• Compare totals. Hotel booking sites compared goes through where to book, and direct booking against online agencies covers when to write to the hotel.

All 12 at a glance

Before you go

• Before you fly, sort out mobile data (the best travel eSIM) and cover (the best travel insurance).

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Direction Générale des Impôts: local taxes, with Law 47-06 on local taxation (the stay tax is in articles 70 to 76; Arabic)
• Direction Générale des Impôts: value added tax, reduced rate of 10% for accommodation
• Morocco World News: Supratours replaces Alsa as Marrakech bus operator
• Alsa Maroc: the cities it serves
• El Fenn: how to find us
• Radisson Blu Marrakech Carré Eden: location and directions
• Es Saadi: access and contact
• Official websites of each hotel named above, checked in October 2026

Prices, fares and hotel terms change. Every detail here was checked in October 2026; confirm rates, room types and cancellation terms with the hotel before booking. These are researched picks, not reviews. This article contains affiliate links: hotel rates on Booking.com and other booking sites through Stay22, and tours, transfers and eSIMs through our partners; if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No hotel pays to be included.

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