Ornate and extravagant - The Dream Riad of Marrakesh

We stayed at a dream Riad during our magical vacation in Marrakesh whose magic still lingered like, well, a Dream.

Riad & Spa Laurence Olivier

‘A long time ago, in the Red City, a discreet door opened into the house of a wealthy merchant's home. This same house, renovated by the owner of the Riad « Laurence », kept its beautiful indoor spaces. At Riad Laurence olivier, the friendly and attentive service will make you feel at home. Refined elegance and style are the hallmarks of this luxury hotel in Marrakech. The Laurence Olivier is one of the most recommended riads in Marrakech with its quality price ratio (as a luxury riad) and its service and situation closed to the main square.‘—luxury.riads.com

Just hear out this dream-like description--who would be able to resist, even the ones with a shallow pocket but greedy on the luxurious world like us poor.

And so, we managed to snap a deal on Voyager Prive for 90€/night (!!!! Price alert: normal price is €150-€300 during peak season as checked on booking.com). What was even more wonderful, is that we arrived to discover that we have been upgraded to a suite--Suite Matisse, a Luxury and large suite in the 1st floor, with a tremendous bathroom tastefully decorated with the finest oriental style.

The owner Laurence, a well-known French poet, is also a true ambassador of morroccan culture, which made the place truly fascinating. She has managed to create the most exquisite and tasteful Riad in the middle of the medina, that combines all the different cultures where she’s lived in. With cross-cultural influences between the Arabic Andalusian and the Moghol Indian heritage, every single detail in this gem of a Riad, from the living-room, dining room or library, down to chinaware, stemware and other dining essentials are are all exquisite and charmingly laid out. Riad Laurence olivier offers all the comfort and calm you would expect from a luxury riad; heated swimming pool, spa, garden, terrace, solarium... Each one of the five rooms and suites is unique, drawing on the rich cultural heritage of Moorish art and décor. The beds and bathrooms have been designed with the highest level of well-being in mind. You can also enjoy the hammam and the excellent body treatments offered at the Spa of the riad. The riad offers courses of Moroccan cuisine, and the restaurant serves the best of local cuisine. The terrace offers an amazing view on the Medina and the Atlas mountains. For winter nights, you will relax by the fireplaces, all decorated with opulant zelliges and copper.

With just 10 minutes walk into the souks but like an oasis away from all the crazy world of Marrakesh’s bustling medina, we found this Riad just as what we wanted—away from all the noise and hassle yet still an excellent base for exploring the city.

After a morning getting lost in the kaleidoscopic souks, we often retreated back to our world of charm and peace in this heavenly . Thanks to the off-season timing, the Riad in the afternoon was always an oasis of calm—there was literally no one around and the staff keeps their discrete presence in the background while letting us (almost) dissolve in our paradise. The beautiful orange tree garden adds to its authentic charm as we frolicked around bare-footed and plucked juicy plumpy orange heavily laden on the trees. The pool right next to it concludes that heavenly sensation.

The riad itself is impeccably maintained but what truly blows me away was how kind and attentive the staff could be. I wanted to arrange a romantic candle-light dinner as a date night in the spirit of '1001 nights', and sent an email to the riad well before arrival, to which the owner Laurence immediately responded and even called me on whatsapp to arrange all the details. Talk about true Hospitality.

Laurence was however not around when we were actually staying there, but the staffs were always so kind, so calm, so soft-spoken, catering to every of our wish—breakfast on the dream terrasse, peppermint tea by the pool, even packed breakfast with extremely delicious freshly squeezed orange juice from the garden the day of departure, as we had to regrettably leave very early for Essaouira. Writing about this already makes me wanna go back.