La Mamounia Review: Is It Worth It? (Plus the Sahara Trip)

The short version: The reason to stay at La Mamounia is what it can organize for you. The hotel’s Desert Experience, a private loop over the Atlas to a candlelit dinner in the dunes and a night at Dar Ahlam, is one of the best things I’ve done on any trip. The hotel itself is the grand old hotel of Marrakech, a gated, palm-filled oasis in a city that’s otherwise a bit chaotic, with three Michelin Keys, the Guide’s highest. The grounds, the pools, the balcony view of the Atlas and the service are the reasons to come. I stayed in December 2019, before the big renovation, so read the room and restaurant notes as history. About $1,125 a night for a Deluxe Room then; closer to $2,000 now.

I stayed at La Mamounia for four nights in December 2019, December 15 to 18 and again December 21 to 22, with the hotel’s Desert Experience in between. I paid for everything myself, and nothing was comped.

What’s changed since I stayed

This was almost seven years ago, and the hotel has been fully renovated since. So here’s what in this review is history, and what still holds.

Changed: the rooms, which were redone top to bottom, and two of the four restaurants, with Le Français replaced by an Asian restaurant and L’Italien now run by Jean-Georges. And the prices, at least at the top end. The Deluxe Room I paid about $1,125 for now lists at $1,800 to $2,500 in high season, though entry-level rooms can still be found from around $600 in quiet weeks.

Still the same: the gardens, the two pools, the balconies over the courtyard, the location a few minutes’ walk from the Koutoubia, and the Desert Experience.

I’ve kept the scores as I gave them at the time. When I go back, I’ll update this.

Pros

• A gated oasis of palms and gardens in the middle of Marrakech, close to everything, with three Michelin Keys
• The view from the balcony: palm trees, then the Koutoubia, then the snowy Atlas
• Warm, flexible service. The driver on our day trip out of the city is the best example
• Two beautiful pools, one indoor and quiet, one outdoor among the palms
• The Desert Experience: camels, a candlelit dinner in the dunes, the Atlas, Dar Ahlam

Cons

• Pre-renovation, the room was beautiful but not the most modern, with a small TV
• Breakfast was good but ordinary for a hotel this special
• It’s expensive, and the excursions add up fast
• The desert camp tents are cold and basic. Pack for it

Arriving

Marrakech is noise: scooters, horns, the call to prayer, someone trying to sell you something. Then you come through the gate at La Mamounia and it all stops. The first thing you see is calm: palm trees, manicured gardens, and a fleet of maroon Range Rovers and a Porsche Panamera parked out front, waiting to take someone into the desert. Behind them, the building itself, big, grand and historic, more castle than hotel.

In the lobby they hand you the traditional welcome: an almond drink, dates and little almond sweets. Check-in is smooth, and you’re walked through the long hallways to your room.

The room: 8 out of 10

This is the pre-renovation room, so read it as history.

I had a Deluxe Room, and it was beautiful, and very Moroccan: a curved, Middle Eastern shape above the bed frame, arched windows, an arch at the doorway, and intricate black doors into the room. The entrance hallway is a little dim, but once you’re in, the room is bright. The bed was comfortable, two big pillows and two small, with long drapes across the balcony doors. Quiet, and very traditional.

The best part was the balcony. You pull back the drapes in the morning and it’s all there. The gardens and the courtyard below, the Koutoubia minaret on one side, and on the other, past the palms, the Atlas with snow on top. That part hasn’t changed. The renovation redid the rooms, not the gardens or the mountains, so a garden-facing balcony is still the thing to book for. The TV was small back then, which they’ve since fixed, and it wasn’t the most modern room, which is probably why they renovated. Architecturally, though, it was lovely, and that’s the 8.

The setting: 9 out of 10

Almost perfect. The hotel is gated, with an enormous courtyard and gardens, balconies everywhere, and palm trees in every direction. It’s a big hotel, but it never feels too big or overwhelming. Everything is close.

And the city is close too: the Koutoubia Mosque a few minutes’ walk, Jemaa el-Fnaa and the souks about 15, the Saadian Tombs about 20. You can spend the morning in the chaos of the medina, walk back through the gate, and be by the pool with nobody around ten minutes later. That’s the trick of the place.

The pools

There are two. The indoor pool is traditional Moroccan, with arched ceilings and lanterns, and for a hotel this size it’s very private; there was nobody there. It’s the relaxing one.

The outdoor pool is where breakfast is, lined with palm trees, with that desert-colored tile and plenty of shade.

The food: 7.5 out of 10

Good, but not especially unique for a hotel this unique. When I stayed there were four restaurants: Le Français, Le Marocain, L’Italien, and Le Pavillon de la Piscine by the outdoor pool, where breakfast was served. Two of those have since been replaced, so these notes are 2019.

The restaurant I kept going back to was Le Français. I got the entrecôte pretty much every day. It’s a huge piece of steak, and by the second or third day the server had the order before I said it.

Breakfast was by the outdoor pool: eggs, beans, bacon, sausage. Good, but ordinary for a hotel like this.

Dinner at Royal Mansour

One night we went over to the Royal Mansour, the other great hotel in Marrakech, for dinner, and I strongly recommend it. It’s open to people who aren’t staying there. It feels like being in an Arabic film: quiet, luxurious, very exclusive, truly Moroccan, almost like an Aman. We started the traditional way, with an assortment of Moroccan salads and appetizers, including zaalouk, the smoky eggplant one, and finished with a chocolate dessert with a scoop of ice cream and chocolate truffles. The food was quite good. It’s not cheap: dinner came to $477 for two, about $239 a person.

Service: 9 out of 10

I really loved the service. At the hotel it’s warm and smooth, from check-in to the server at Le Français who had my order memorized by the second day. But the best example was the excursion. We booked a day out in one of the hotel’s Range Rovers, and the driver, one of the hotel staff, was a wonderful man. He’d worked in Germany, he was a very smooth driver, and he knew the country, telling you about the places you were passing without talking the whole time if you didn’t want him to. At one point I wanted to find some Muscle Milk, and he offered to drive us to a fitness store, helped us look for it, and took us there. That tells you a lot.

The day out itself takes you into the countryside and the small towns, and to a restaurant where you’re basically the only people there, for a Moroccan tagine. If you haven’t been to this part of Africa or the Middle East, it’s a different world: an old country, narrow roads, every building the same sand color, and a desert landscape that’s beautiful. Worth knowing before you go, not a reason not to.

The Desert Experience

This is the big one, and the reason I’d go back. La Mamounia organized a multi-day loop into the desert for us, with a different car and driver from the day trip, and you can stop as much as you want along the way.

First you cross the Atlas, which is incredible, and stay a night at Dar Ahlam, a 200-year-old kasbah with no menus and no other guests, which I’ve reviewed separately. The next day you drive on through Taznakht, past kasbah after kasbah, to the dunes.

The car drops you at the edge of the dunes as the light goes orange. They bring out the camels, you ride up over the ridge, and when you come back down there’s a table set in the sand, candles lit, a fire going, and nothing else for miles. You eat with the camels standing in the dark behind you.

The glamping tents, honestly, aren’t that comfortable: it gets very cold at night, there’s no shower, just a bucket, and I think I got sick from the cold. It’s still one of the most memorable dinners I’ve had.

The next day there’s lunch at Azalai Desert Lodge, where we were the only guests, by a pool with palm trees beyond it, and a last night at a small hotel on the way back. It wasn’t at the same level, but it rounds out a trip to places most tourists never see.

The whole trip, day by day, with the tents, the camels and what it all cost, is in A Week in Morocco.

What it cost

All prices from my folio, December 2019.

• Room: 10,800 MAD a night for a Deluxe Room, about $1,125 at the time, for 4 nights.
• Food and extras at the hotel: about $325.
• The Desert Experience: $2,604, not including Dar Ahlam.
• Dar Ahlam: $1,673 for the one night, booked through the package.

So the four nights at La Mamounia came to about $1,200 a night all in, and the whole week through the hotel, with the desert loop and Dar Ahlam, about $9,100. The Royal Mansour dinner, $477 for two, was separate and paid there.

Today it’s a different hotel at a different price. Apples to apples, booking sites in October 2026 show the Deluxe Rooms, the category I had, at roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a night before tax in high season. The entry-level Hivernage rooms start from around $600 in quieter weeks. Call my $1,125 Deluxe something nearer $2,000 now.

Value: 8 out of 10

Expensive, but good value, at least at what I paid. For about $1,200 a night you got a gated oasis in the middle of Marrakech, close to everything, with great service and good food. And it’s the hotel that can organize the Desert Experience, which is extra but worth every dirham. At today’s Deluxe rates I’d be a little less sure, which is one more reason to go back and check.

What to do nearby

The Koutoubia is a few minutes’ walk, and you can see its minaret from the balcony. Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square, and the souks behind it are about 15 minutes on foot. We walked to the Saadian Tombs, about 20 minutes, which are worth it.

What I’d do differently

• Pack properly for the desert. The tents are freezing at night, and I got sick.
• Book two nights at Dar Ahlam, not one.
• Skip breakfast by the pool one morning and eat in the medina instead.
• Mix the hotel with going out. There’s so much within a 20-minute walk that it would be a waste to spend the whole trip inside the gate, beautiful as it is.

Who it’s for

Anyone who wants a historic, authentic Moroccan stay with a lot to do: couples, families, first-timers in Morocco. It’s a big hotel with real amenities, so it works for a full week, and it’s the right base for the desert.

If you want something small and private, that’s what the Desert Experience and Dar Ahlam are for.

Tips if you go

• Book the Desert Experience. It’s the best thing the hotel offers. Ask the concierge about the multi-day loop over the Atlas; the hotel currently advertises an Agafay day trip, and the longer version may be on request.
• Ask for a room with a balcony facing the gardens; the Atlas and the Koutoubia are the view.
• Have one dinner at the Royal Mansour. Book ahead, and expect to pay for it.
• Book a day out in one of the hotel’s Range Rovers.
• Walk to the Koutoubia and the Saadian Tombs; both are close.
• Use the indoor pool in the afternoon. It’s quiet.
• Pack for cold nights if you’re doing the desert. Really cold.

Verdict: 9/10

An excellent hotel and a very memorable stay. Seven years later, what I remember isn’t the room. It’s the drapes opening onto the Atlas, the indoor pool with nobody in it, the driver who went looking for Muscle Milk, and a table in the sand with camels behind it. The grounds and the pools are beautiful, the service is excellent, and the desert loop they organize is the reason to pick this hotel over any other in Marrakech. The room and the food were good rather than great in 2019, and both have changed since. So has the price.

Would I go back? Definitely, and I’ll update this when I do.

FAQ

Is La Mamounia worth it?

Yes, for the grounds, the service, the location and the Desert Experience. I paid about $1,125 a night for a Deluxe Room in 2019, before the renovation; the same room runs nearer $2,000 now.

Has La Mamounia been renovated?

Yes, after my stay. The rooms and two of the restaurants have changed, so this review describes the hotel as it was in December 2019. The gardens, pools and location haven’t changed.

How far is La Mamounia from the medina?

The Koutoubia is a few minutes’ walk, Jemaa el-Fnaa about 15, the Saadian Tombs about 20.

Does La Mamounia have a Michelin Key?

Yes, three, the Guide’s highest, as of 2026. See my ranking of the Michelin Key hotels I’ve stayed at.

Is the Desert Experience worth it?

Yes. Camels, a candlelit dinner in the dunes, the Atlas, and a night at Dar Ahlam. The tents are cold, and it’s expensive, about $2,600 plus Dar Ahlam in 2019. I’d do it again.

Can non-guests eat at the Royal Mansour?

Yes. We went for dinner, and it was about $239 a person.

Would you go back?

Definitely.