Review of Riad Zayane, by Ben Cooper

Starting, a little perversely, with something it isn't: Riad Zayane is not a luxury hotel. The entire size of the plot would hardly stretch to one of the tennis courts of the Palmeraie; so there was never likely to be the space for extensive facilities or an army of bowing and scraping staff.

Riad Zayane is a small riad – nothing more, nothing less. Its shortcomings (such as they are) are those of a small riad. But so are its triumphs. And while palatial it certainly ain't, spick, span and extremely comfortable it undoubtedly is. Small and compact, its handful of simple, pleasantly decorated rooms spread out from a spacious, clean-lined patio.

Most of the usual trappings of a Marrakech riad are present. On arrival, for instance, piping hot mint tea and cakes are efficiently rustled up by a smiling staff member. Plants snake their way around the metal railings that line the patio to gorgeous effect; by night, the sparrows who fill the space with the noise of their fluttering and tweeting settle down to roost on the doorframes.

Held in by high walls and wonderfully intimate, the terrace is arguably the star of the show. Olive trees and rosemary and pomegranate bushes give the space character and colour; scattered amongst them are eye-catching pieces of cast iron furniture – tables, sofas (padded with purple and green cushions) and a handful of loungers. In one corner of the terrace, a shower with agreeably crude, traditional tile work dispenses cooling water; down in the shade of the patio there's a tiny dipping pool for when the savagely hot afternoons become just a little too much.

Its size and layout – Riad Zayane is, above all else, a peaceful, intimate space – make it almost unnaturally well suited to couples, who invariably come and go quietly throughout the day, immersed in their own personal Marrakech experience. Across the patio from the sizeable Oasis suite, there's a very inviting little nook where an elegant meal a deux can be taken, should you not fancy venturing out into the melee of the medina.

The guest's intro pack makes for instructive reading. It's comprehensive. Actually comprehensive doesn't quite cut it. It exhaustively runs through everything that's on offer at Riad Zayane – from meals and massages to Cokes and cookery classes. There's even a lengthy section on how to work the air-conditioning (which sounds excessive until you've actually spent a sweaty night somewhere struggling to make it work). What am I driving at? The fact that it so clearly illustrates the exacting standards expected from manager Alexandre of his staff and his hotel.

And 'exacting standards' would probably be the defining tone of the place but for a couple of final points: price – Riad Zayane is one of the best value riads in Marrakech; and location – just around the corner from the main bus station with its melee of Grand Taxis, it's a top spot for moving on to explore the rest of Morocco. And if that seems like a pragmatic, even a little prosaic a note to conclude on, it's such a resolutely unpretentious sort of place that I don't think it would mind for a moment.