Les Deux Tours, Marrakech, Morocco

Marrakech’s Palmeraie is a strange place – vast sandy tracts of land crisscrossed by dirt tracks and the occasional tarmac road, populated by palm trees in varying degrees of sparsity and, every now and then, huge houses behind high walls.

Down one of these tracks, 15 minutes from the medina, the entrance to Les Deux Tours is identified by the two round gate towers that inspired the hotel’s name. The collection of villas was originally designed as private houses by Charles Boccara, a Frenchman who has probably been the most influential architect in the modern Moroccan trend.

Each of the six villas has a mix of four superior and deluxe rooms (one has five) decorated using traditional techniques (zellige, tadelakt, carved plasterwork) with hamman-style ensuite bathrooms (domed brickwork walls and ceilings and piles of fluffy white towels). Though showing signs of age, the rooms still have charm. All the upstairs rooms have private terraces and ground floor rooms have direct access to patios and the gardens. Book a Deluxe room if you can and take an entire villa if you're travelling in a group. Les Deux Tours has pools galore that are heated in the winter months - there's one main pool, three shared by the six villas, and the five suites have their own private pools. The Honeymoon Suite upstairs is the most spectacular.

Gardens surround the buildings, with orange trees, palms, bougainvillea and scented flowers at every turn. Water flows around the grounds along small canals. There is a hamman (traditional steam bath) with massage rooms. The large swimming pool is next to a Berber tent where a lunch is served in peak season (breakfast is served in the restaurant and on its terrace). The cathedral of a dining room is another new development and in warm weather the tables spill out onto the terrace. A stylish bar has also been added. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be served on request in the gardens, on a private terrace or by the fireplace in your room. Service can be on the slow side and the hotel lacks the intimacy of some of Marrakech's more recent openings yet Les Deux Tours suits those who value the charm of a boutique hotel with the anonymity of a large one.