Everyone has that successful mate who’s good at anything they do. Never done a marathon? They run their first in under three hours. Can’t play chess? After a month’s practice, their rating is 1800.
Opening a hotel with minimal hospitality experience? Let’s pick one of the world’s most beautiful cities and win a Michelin Key within a year. Welcome to IZZA in Marrakech.
For the initiated: a Michelin Key is the hotel equivalent of a Michelin star. It’s the most coveted award in hospitality. Fine, worthy hotels will be sure to labour for years without achieving one. IZZA has sauntered onto the scene and pocketed a Key like it owns the place.
What’s the secret? Being really, really good.
Wish you were here?
The aesthetic is unapologetically bohemian, inspired by the legendary interior designer Bill Willis and the spirit of Marrakech.
There are few more cinematic cities in the world. It’s a place of rooftop bars and crowded souks, where a menagerie of animals roam the streets and the minarets reach up to the sky. In IZZA, the city has unearthed another star.
Behind the discreet doorway, the noise of the Medina fades to birdsong and filtered light. The property unfolds gently: 14 individually designed rooms arranged around three shaded courtyards.
There are two pools, a spa, gym, tea salon, library and a rooftop terrace that stretches towards the Atlas Mountains.
The interiors channel a relaxed elegance with a little touch of hedonism. Each room is named after a countercultural figure.
They are layered with hand-cut zellige (tiles), polished tadelakt (plaster) and intricate arabesque detailing, all crafted by local artisans. No two rooms are the same, however, so you may need a few return trips.
Art is where IZZA truly distinguishes itself. The hotel houses a £5m collection of more than 300 contemporary and digital works, including what is believed to be one of the world’s most significant physical NFT exhibitions.
Some of the copious artwork
Take care you don’t overdo it on the Mahia at dinner, else you might find yourself the proud owner of a monkey smoking a cigar. (I’m not referring to the NFTs here – the souks will sell you the real thing. The cigar will cost extra. )
IZZA supports the internationally renowned 1-54 Art Fair and nurtures emerging Moroccan voices through its Associate Artist Programme. Exhibitions, talks and workshops are woven into the experience, with an in-house gallery set to open in 2026. Art is taken seriously here. This is not decoration but identity.
Food at Noujoum
Up top, Noujoum – the rooftop bar and restaurant, already named among Condé Nast’s best – crowns the experience.
Moroccan flavours are reworked using locally sourced ingredients, best enjoyed at sunset as music drifts across the rooftops and the city exhales below.
In Arabic, 'Izza' translates to 'dignity, honour, power and respect' depending on the context. Here, we can take it to mean a truly exceptional hotel.
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Dar IZZA, 46 Driba Laarida, 46 Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Marrakesh 40000, Morocco; IZZA
