El Fenn

Vanessa Branson — yes, Richard's sister — opened El Fenn in 2004 with a simple idea: create a riad that doubles as a contemporary art gallery, without either one overshadowing the other. Twenty years later, the bet holds. El Fenn is the only hotel in Marrakech where you can sleep in a room hung with original works, have breakfast beneath a light installation, and end the day with a cocktail on the most spectacular rooftop in the city.

The rooftop, then. Three levels of terraces overlooking the medina, with the Koutoubia as backdrop and the Atlas in the distance. At sunset, when the light turns pink and the muezzin sings, it's one of the most beautiful moments Marrakech can offer. The cocktails are serious — the bartender works with local ingredients (orange blossom water, saffron, garden citrus) — and the Moroccan wine list is one of the most thoughtful in the city.

Rooms range from modest to sumptuous, all different. The suites with private pools are exceptional, but even the standard rooms have that blend of contemporary comfort and Moroccan craftsmanship that is the house signature. The zellige in the bathrooms is laid by the same maalems who work on palaces.

El Fenn attracts a creative clientele: artists, filmmakers, architects, designers. It's the kind of place where you run into a London gallerist at breakfast and a Nigerian musician at dinner. The vibe is relaxed but never careless — the staff knows every guest's first name by the second day.

The Sunday brunch is open to non-residents and has become a fixture of the Marrakech creative scene. Book ahead.

El Fenn earns its rank because it did what nobody else dared: put contemporary art at the heart of Marrakech hospitality.