El Fenn, Marrakech
EL FENN: MARRAKECH
19-21/06/16
By Beth
For our final two nights in Marrakech, we were visiting another of the Branson families properties and staying at El Fenn, the Riad run by Vanessa Branson. After two days of relaxation in the Atlas Mountains, it was nice to throw ourselves into the hustle and bustle of Marrakech again before heading home and El Fenn is situated right in the centre near the main square Jemaa el-Fnaa.
As soon as we entered El Fenn, we knew we would love the style of the whole place. Pops of colour, bursts of pattern and eclectic homewares are everywhere and we couldn’t stop excitedly looking at everything. We were taken through to one of the central courtyards and given some fresh mint tea whilst we lay back in a bright purple lounger and were checked in.
Out of the corner of our eye we spotted some small objects moving across the tiled floor – turtles! El Fenn has a collection of turtles that live on the ground floor and they were very cute to watch slowly making their way around the floor, occasionally stopping for a bite of lettuce.
After enjoying our mint tea, we were taken up a few flights of winding stairs to our room. Each room at El Fenn is either situated off one of the courtyards or hidden away at the top of a staircase, and ours was the latter, and felt very private with a large courtyard with a table and chairs all to ourselves. The room itself was the smallest we’d experienced during our Moroccan travels but it was perfectly formed with a large, comfortable bed, bedside tables, wall hanging space and an open bathroom leading off it with bath, shower, sink and toilet. There was complimentary water and red wine and delicious smelling toiletries, and underneath the bedside tables, was an array of coffee table and travel books for those quiet periods of ultimate relaxation.
After unpacking we went for a wander around the property. Every corner at El Fenn is filled with fabulous furniture and accessories and I loved the mixture of décor with the likes of leopard print patterns next to old leather and wicker tables alongside brightly patterned rugs.
Our staircase led down to the spa following onto the gift shop, which was a fantastic room filled with an array of goodies! The walls were ordained with colourful artwork such as bright pink flamingos and to the side of the shop was a café bar. I could have bought a lot in the shop but sadly I would have needed a lot of extra holiday spends to do so as everything was very expensively priced.
Pulling myself away from the shop, we headed up to the roof terrace, which was decorated with large wicker basket style lights, large plant pots, tiled tables and striped cotton seating with big cushions. We took a seat in the shade and ordered a Mojito each, which was wonderfully made and was perfectly refreshing.
After the morning’s travelling we were tired that evening so retired to bed early. We woke after a comfortable night’s sleep and enjoyed the freshly made tea that was left on our terrace before getting dressed and heading up to the roof terrace for breakfast. There was a good selection to choose from at breakfast and we enjoyed a continental selection of cheese, tomatoes, crusty bread and pastries and a coffee, which was filled to the top with frothy milk!
We spent our last day at the Beldi Country Club so arrived back to El Fenn late that afternoon to find tea and cake laid out in, what I liked to call, The Turtle Courtyard. We enjoyed some delicious Almond Cake, biscuits and macarons along with fresh mint tea and sat lounging in the shade with the lovely Turtles roaming at our feet.
We had an enjoyable stay at El Fenn. The style of the property is cool and modern with a very relaxed feel to it and it was a nice place for our final two nights in Marrakech.
Dotty Dishes was a guest of El Fenn.
El Fenn, Derb Moulay Abdullah Ben Hezzian, 2, Marrakesh 40000, Morocco.
