Le Deux Tours Hotel in Marrakech

The hotel takes the form of a series of villas set in a lush and fragrant walled garden, with two towers that overlook the original entrance. There are thirty rooms and junior suites, some have fireplaces and several have impressive domed bathrooms; all have bath or shower, air-conditioning and telephone (and, laudably, no TV). There are also five luxurious private suites, each of which has a small heated pool, garden, sitting room, bedroom, fireplace and dressing room. The private suites do have plasma screen televisions as well as CD and DVD players.

No two rooms or suites are the same, although all share the same sublime use of zelige (mosaic) for the floors, tadlakt (a cool, marble-like surface) for the walls, and Tataoui (Oleander wood) for many of the ceilings.

The architect responsible for Les Deux Tours is the renowned Charles Boccara, whose exquisite taste, style and charm flood the place, and his inspiration with its mixture of Moorish, Egyptian and Turkish architecture is quite apparent.

There is a lovely heated swimming pool in a grassy garden setting, and a superb hammam with massage and beauty treatments available. There are several salons and a bar. There is a complimentary shuttle into town, subject to availability; at other times, and for the return journey, take a taxi.