Review

Not content with stepping up the riad game in Marrakech with Perle and Ambre (see hotel listings), the Riad Lotus chain now present the even more extravagant Privilege.

Architect/designer Antoine Von Doorne has come up trumps again with a coolly contemporary wonderland of shapes, curves and mod cons. Despite the sizeable dimensions of the place – it’s made up of three interconnecting riads – there are just five suites.

But what suites they are. Much larger than the rooms at the other Lotus places, they offer a similar one-off retro aesthetic and host of technological trimmings (the state of the art Bang & Olfusen multisystem in each room for example). The main suites (downstairs) have ceilings that stretch up seven metres and hide cinema screens that slide down to eye level at the press of a button.

The courtyard is wonderfully frondescent and boasts a heated swimming pool as well as a large restaurant that caters for all Lotus guests at lunchtimes and – more controversially - the general public in the evening. There’s also a hammam and spa on site.