Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech

Marrakech is famous for its pocket-sized riad houses, hidden away in the bustle of the city-center medina — but more or less the opposite approach is taken by the Fairmont Royal Palm Marrakech. With its 134 villas, suites, and rooms, it’s twenty times the size of a riad, and spread as it is over an estate that spans nearly a square mile, it offers the kind of tranquility that nothing in the old city can match.

That space includes an 18-hole golf course by the American architect Cabell Robinson, as well as a full-scale country club facility, with tennis and squash courts, a capacious spa, and a pair of swimming pools. Meanwhile another vast pool wraps around the main body of the resort, affording easy access for many of the rooms and suites.

The smallest of the accommodations spreads out over an extraordinary 72 square meters, while the suites start out in the 80s and climb well over 100. At all levels they’re faultlessly luxurious and handsomely stylish — Fairmont isn’t known for cutting-edge design experiments, but an eminently palatable attractiveness. And with four restaurants ranging from the poolside L’Olivier to the romantic Al Aïn, it’s got enough variety for a lengthy stay — though of course the city, just minutes away, offers attractions of its own.