Es Saadi Palace

Es Saadi Marrakech Resort - Palace is the Hivernage option for suites and space: 84 suites, all with panoramic terraces, in an 8-hectare private park with a 3,000 sqm spa built around a centuries-old eucalyptus, a lagoon-style pool among the largest in Marrakech, and a casino and nightclub on the estate.

"An all suite palace with a vast spa, a Dior Institut, a casino and a nightclub on site, though the guest experience is notably inconsistent."

Aggregate 8.8/10 on our editorial scale (Room & Design, Service, Location). Independently scored; see our methodology. This is our opinion, not an aggregate of user reviews.

Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission from bookings at no cost to you. We never accept payment for placement. Hotel status, room counts and awards were verified against official sources in July 2026. Michelin does not operate a restaurant guide in Morocco, so no restaurant listed here is starred; Michelin Keys are a separate award for hotels.

What makes Es Saadi Palace special?

The Palace is the exclusive wing of a family-owned resort that has been running since the 1950s, and it is the only address on this list with a casino and a nightclub inside the same estate. Start with what it is not: Es Saadi Marrakech Resort - Palace is a separate building from Es Saadi Marrakech Resort - Hotel, the older and cheaper property in the same 8-hectare park, and guests and review sites confuse the two constantly. The Palace holds 84 suites, every one with a panoramic terrace, so the entry level here is a suite rather than a room. The wellness offer is the strongest single argument: a 3,000 sqm spa built around a centuries-old eucalyptus tree, housing the Oriental Thermae hydrotherapy circuit and a Dior Institut. The lagoon-style outdoor pool is described by the hotel as one of the largest in Marrakech, and pools are heated in winter. Then there is the atmosphere. With the Casino de Marrakech and the Theatro nightclub on the same family-owned estate, plus L'Epicurien and its nightly live band in the wider resort, this is a later, livelier address than its Hivernage neighbours, which is either the reason to book or the reason not to.

Which room should you book?

Every Palace accommodation is a suite with a panoramic terrace, which is the clearest structural difference from its neighbours. There are 84 suites in the Palace, per the hotel's own FAQ, and the published ladder starts at the 70 sqm Junior Suite, then the 80 sqm Executive Suite, the 100 sqm Superior Corner Suite and the 130 sqm Deluxe Suite. Those are large footprints by Marrakech standards, and the terraces are the point: they face the 8-hectare park rather than a street. The wider Es Saadi Marrakech Resort also contains villas and Ksars duplexes, but those are part of the resort, not the Palace, and third-party listings that fold them together produce inflated counts. Book the Palace explicitly by name if that is what you want, because the older Es Saadi Hotel building in the same park is a different product. One honest caveat: guest reports on room condition vary, with tired or corroded fittings noted in some suites and bathrooms alongside praise for others, so it is worth raising condition at booking.

Where should you eat and drink?

The Palace has three restaurants of its own and access to a resort that keeps going long after they close. La Cour des Lions serves Moroccan gastronomy with a panoramic view. Othello is Italian with Venetian influences and a seafood focus. Lagon & Jardin is the poolside kitchen, cooking lighter dishes with produce from the family's own organic garden, the Potager du Bled, in the Ourika Valley, which is a genuine farm-to-table link rather than a menu slogan. Two bars serve the Palace. Beyond it, the wider Es Saadi Marrakech Resort adds L'Epicurien, a late-night restaurant with a live band every night, alongside the Casino de Marrakech and the Theatro nightclub. That combination gives you more evening variety on site than almost any Marrakech hotel offers, and it is also why this is not the quiet choice. On Michelin: no restaurant in Morocco holds a star, because Michelin publishes no restaurant selection for the country.

What is the spa and pool like?

The 3,000 sqm Palace Spa is the reason many guests choose this hotel over its Hivernage neighbours. It is built around a centuries-old eucalyptus tree and houses the Oriental Thermae hydrotherapy circuit and a Dior Institut, which is an unusual pairing of a serious water circuit with a branded beauty offer. There is an indoor pool in the spa, plus a large gym with dedicated yoga and Pilates spaces and tennis courts in the park. Outside, the headline is the lagoon-style pool, which the hotel calls one of the largest in Marrakech; its own published measurements differ between pages, so treat the exact square metres with caution. Pools are heated in winter, per the hotel's FAQ, which matters between December and February when Marrakech mornings are genuinely cold.

Where is Es Saadi Palace, and how do you get there?

Hivernage is the compromise district, and Es Saadi sits in the middle of it. The Palace occupies an 8-hectare private park in the modern, low-rise, tree-lined luxury quarter immediately outside the medina walls, next to the Menara gardens and near Avenue Mohammed VI. That gives you space, greenery and quiet streets, which the medina cannot, while keeping you far closer to the old city than the estates out on the Ouarzazate and Amizmiz roads. Marrakech Menara Airport is a 10-minute drive, one of the shortest transfers of any hotel in the city. On walking distances, be realistic. The resort's own copy puts the edge of the old city five minutes away on foot, and the ramparts and Menara gardens genuinely are close, but reaching Jemaa el-Fna itself on foot is closer to 20 minutes. Most guests take a taxi for the square and the souks in the evening, which is easy from Hivernage in a way it is not from a country estate.

What do guests consistently say?

Guest opinion here is more polarised than at any other hotel on this list. The Palace draws both five-star raves and one-star reviews, often for the same departments, which is unusual at this level and worth understanding before booking. Positive reviews centre on the spa, the size of the pool and the park, the suite terraces and the sheer amount to do on the estate at night. Negative reviews are specific: tired or corroded fittings in some rooms and bathrooms, service consistency, and reported staff attitude at the pool, which management has publicly acknowledged rather than denied. Breakfast is a recurring theme too, with complaints about a dim breakfast room and limited choice. Part of the noise in the reviews comes from confusion between the Palace and the older, cheaper Es Saadi Hotel building in the same park, so check which building a review is describing before you weigh it.

Honest cons: who should skip it?

Consistency is the real risk here. The Palace attracts both five-star raves and one-star reviews, with tired or corroded fittings reported in some rooms and bathrooms while other guests praise the room they were given, so the stay you get depends more on which suite you are given than it should. Service consistency is the second recurring theme, including reported staff attitude at the pool, which management has publicly acknowledged. Breakfast draws its own complaints, about a dim room and limited choice. Then there is the character of the estate: the Casino de Marrakech and the Theatro nightclub sit within the same family-owned resort, and L'Epicurien runs a live band nightly, so this is a later and livelier address than a medina riad or a country estate. Finally, Hivernage is not the medina; the ramparts are close, but Jemaa el-Fna on foot is closer to 20 minutes, so plan on a taxi for evenings in the old city.