"The Royal Mansour is not so much a hotel as an imperial palace. Owned by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI—which may explain why such a vast and elaborate masterpiece took just three years to build, albeit with a team of 1,200 artisans on the job—it is set within five pink-walled hectares beside the Red City. It's made up of 53 guest riads, each three stories high, with up to four bedrooms, indoor-outdoor living spaces, and private rooftops with plunge pools and views of the Atlas Mountains. Courtyards are spectacular: richly detailed and Zellig-tiled, with colossal scalloped archways and intricately carved doors, decorated with fountains and cane furniture, with traditional lights strung overhead. Elsewhere, the classic Moorish architecture has been updated: in the serene and stylish pool with its contemporary pavilions; in the spa, surely the prettiest on the planet, enclosed in a filigreed metal structure as ethereal as lace; in the food, in three restaurants headed up by French Chef Yannick Alléno. Two-and-a-half hectare gardens lush with palms, olive, and orange trees, and fragrant with the scent of jasmine, rosemary, and mint, harbor more delights beyond the horticultural: an artist’s studio in a greenhouse where guests paint, pot, and draw; and Le Jardin, the most delightful al fresco restaurant amid the greenery. —Laura Fowler"
