WHAT could be more perfect? After a leisurely buffet breakfast on the terrace,
I was set up to spend a day lounging under an olive tree, drinking chilled
local rosé with a book.
Then the music started - piped Euro lift music that went throughout the
grounds, so loudly that earplugs wouldn't come close to blocking it out. The
sound was loud enough to drive me to distraction when all I wanted was peace
and Piers Morgan's diaries.
The idea at the Murano Oriental, which opened last year in Marrakesh, is to
create a funky, country-club atmosphere. In part, they succeed - Sunday is
brunch day, with a fabulous mezze spread popular with hip Marrakeshis and
also guests from other hotels.
Music, they say, is part of the Murano “concept”. Fair enough in some common
parts, but must we all be subjected to it wherever we go?
Music aside, the Murano is a pleasant place to be. Marrakesh has a bewildering
array of hotel choices - historic riad or modern hotel? Contemporary or
traditional? In the noisy, magical souk or the tranquil palm grove?
The Murano Oriental aims to be the hip new face of contemporary Marrakesh, and
in many respects, it is. In the Palmeraie district, a 15-minute drive from
the souk, it was a great place to relax in between ticking off the sights.
The rooms, scattered around the grounds, are spacious and stylish, with
exquisite details: mine, on the ground floor, had terracotta floors and
carved wooden ceilings, with walls buffed to a sheen using a traditional
Arabic technique.
There was a huge private terrace with steps to the garden, and a cavernous
bathroom with great-smelling products, joss sticks next to the bath and
covetable bathrobes with tasselled hoods, based on the local jilbabs. The
bed was big enough for a party, but I was on my own so I just jumped up and
down on it like a child.
Perhaps if the mysterious, anonymous French owner had given it a whirl, he
might have noticed that the lighting is set unalterably to very dim, even in
the bathroom - too dark for a man to shave and impossible to read by; that
the flashy coffee machine broke after one use; that they forgot to restock
the minibar with water and that there is no stereo or iPod dock. All
irritating, but easily solved.
On the plus side, as well as the main hotel pool - with its statement red
tiles - each cluster of rooms has its own pool, so there's never an unseemly
scrum. With luxury like this, you can understand why many guests at the
Murano Oriental don't bother leaving the grounds, even with the lure of
camel riding, quad-biking, or a drive into the Atlas Mountains.
If only they would turn off that damn music....
Need to know
Murano Oriental Resort (00 212 24 32 70 00, www.muranoresort.com)
has room-only doubles from £266.
Getting there Easyjet.com (www.easyjet.com)
flies from Gatwick from £89 return.
Reading Marrakesh (Eyewitness Top Ten Travel Guides, £6.99); Rough Guide to
Morocco (Rough Guides, £15.99)
