Riad AnaYela

Intimate, stylish riad aimed at romancing couples and creative types seeking privacy and inspiration (5 rooms)

AnaYela is a truly special 5-bedroom riad, located in the oldest, least touristy part of Marrakech's medina. Owned by German entrepreneur Bernd Kolb and his wife Andrea, it is a painstakingly restored 300-year-old palace that offers a genuine Marrakchi experience. Authenticity is key: over 100 local artisans helped to refurbish it, using every traditional technique from silver-beating to wood carving, and working by candle-light throughout. The end result is a hushed sanctuary decorated in Berber-style natural colours (no jewel-bright limes and oranges, or heavy dark wood) and, unusually for a riad, there's no overgrown, tatty vegetation.

Huge engraved silver lanterns hang at every corner, white hand-stitched pouffes line the floors, and good taste seeps from the walls. It is also the setting for a delightful love story: AnaYela means 'I am Yela', and the riad is named after a 16-year-old girl who lived there and left a note, unearthed during the restoration process, written on the eve of her wedding as she prepared to leave her grandfather's house. It feels like a house of love.

Highs

• Cool, elegant and minimalist styling throughout, especially in the beautiful bedrooms
• i-escape guests will receive a pair of hand-stitched white babouches (Moroccan slippers) as a gift
• Highly personalised service and flexible mealtimes
• Roof terrace with wide-sweeping views across Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains, and a tapis volant (flying carpet) in the tower on which Yela and her love stole kisses each night and were transported across the rooftops

Lows

• Small rooms in which the windows are coloured glass; beautiful, but you may miss natural daylight
• So silent and intimate that you might feel self-conscious if you were the only guests staying
• Not suitable for young children, although families can book the whole riad and older children would be fine
• It's expensive even by Marrakech's rising norms, but the service is outstanding and the design truly gorgeous