Marrakesh by James Henderson

There seems to be almost no accounting for the far-flung countries and curious towns that creep onto the list of places to visit - the most unlikely places appear attractive, on the advice of a friend, or something you read, or from a hankering that's been with you since childhood. It can become a quest, and whether or not your expectations are fulfilled, the travel is part of the fun. But what makes a place suitable to live in, to return to again and again? On a visit to Marrakesh I found myself wondering why so many people are attracted to the city.

Of course Marrakesh is exotic and easy to get to. After just a couple of hours on a plane you are suddenly immersed into the mystery of the Arab world. Marrakesh 'the Red' has the colours and shapes of the Moroccan South; the dusty rose of the desert; and the stout, square walls, their regular lines broken occasionally by a minaret or the scratchy brush of a date palm.

The climate is all light and warmth, and you are surrounded by exotic plants and fruit trees. A French colonial influence resonates in the town - cafes and brasseries line the boulevards, and the Marrakeshis switch in and out of Arabic and French, their language seeded with luxurious aspirated and liquid sounds. For the Arab world, Marrakesh is quite easy-going.

And what more exotic than the medina, where the market and the tiny alleys radiate from the Djema el Fna in an almost mystical network. Typically of the Arab world, magnificence is couched secretively within unrevealing exteriors. Certainly you have to scratch at Marrakesh to get the best of it.

But it is a good city for living in and it has become the favoured retreat of a number of expatriates - Paul Getty Jr, the Rothschilds and Jean-Paul Belmondo have all lived here. And Marrakesh is particularly popular with designers - Yves Saint Laurent has had a house here for many years, and Hermes and Armani come. The light, the colours and the styles are refreshing and inspiring by all accounts.

A designer and long-time resident who has left his mark all over the city is Bill Willis. He lives in the Medina, his house tucked away in the warren of narrow alleys within the old city walls. It was a satisfying surprise, to leave the muddy streets and suddenly to emerge into a setting of unfailing Moroccan-inspired elegance - Moorish arches and carved cedar ceilings, fretwork screens and mosaics, all dressed in luxurious colours. Surrounded by black standard poodles, Bill Willis holds court, talking freely of himself in a southern States accent.

'Why Marrakesh? Oh, Ah've lived in Paris, Rome, London and New York, but I just came here an' I stayed. During the Gulf War, they told me it was time to leave, but I said, no, this is my home. I've bin here for 28 years an' I still wonder why sometimes...' He has friends in Marrakesh and the work has been good. Over the years his style has simplified, he says, boiling down to an essence of Moroccan style and design, which he then makes liveable and comfortable. Willis has designed two houses for Yves Saint Laurent and he talked of the designer:

'Yves has an uncanny sense of colour and he has been inspired by Morocco. We went to the south and he noticed the Berber women wearing insane combinations of colours: he's definitely incorporated them into his design. When we were working on his first house he showed me a picture in Vogue and said: "I want it to be the colour of this woman's skin".’

We left chuckling to a light quip about a Versace shirt - 'clashes with the decor, of course, but we let him wear it because he likes it', and made our way back out into the muddy streets.

Bill Willis's work can be seen at Dar El Yacout, another private house hidden in the medina, which since 1987 has become of Morocco's best known restaurants. To find it you follow a thin alley and stoop through an ancient wooden door, stepping into a dingy vestibule. Dissimulating again, because moments later you are in a sumptuous palace, where the walls are striped with faded turquoise and tangerine, or yellow off-set with Marrakesh red, and topped with unfeasibly elaborate stucco and carved wood ceilings.

After a cocktail on the candle-lit roof-terrace, with a view of the night skyline and the Koutoubia mosque, you descend to the courtyard around the pool or to the inner dining rooms where the tables are strewn with rose petals. Sitting on low divans you are served starters in a volley of ten small dishes, followed by a sequence of main courses on huge enamelled plates - chicken in lemon and olive and then lamb buried under a mound of cous-cous. The luxurious air of the seraglio is made complete by a sensuous zither-like 'santir' and gentle drumming in the background.

The owner of Dar el Yacout is Mohammad Zkhiri, an urbane Moroccan who has lived all over the world. He has returned to Marrakesh and was recently made the British Consul in the city. He was about to depart to a conference about Mediterranean cuisine, but he explained that at Yacout itself they offered dishes from all over Morocco, particularly those from Marrakesh and Fes - 'the two imperial cities, where there was a stronger tradition of cuisine'. Certainly there was a royal quality to the servings - I struggled to finish them. Faced with multiple sweets and puddings, I simply reclined and used the best of the divan.

'Everyone used to go to Tangier', said Mr Zkhiri 'but the weather is better in Marrakesh - it is the capital of the Berber South and the music and the architecture here are influenced by the South.'

An modern interpretation of a Moorish palace can be seen in the Tichka Hotel, also designed by Bill Willis. Glazed Moroccan tiles and mosaics embellish the rooms and pointed arches run throughout, in the doorways, chair-backs and bedheads. Columns become modernist palm trees and the walls are finished in boldly coloured tadelakht (highly polished and painted limestone).

The architect who collaborated with Willis on the hotel was Charles Boccara, who equally has left his print on the city - presently he is working on the new Opera House. Charles Boccara is a great friendly bear of a man, who was originally from Tunisia, but lived for many years in France. He scatters his French with convenient English words and expressions and has an infectious humour translates well.

He talked of the architecture, of the Arab houses and of the problems of dealing with the sun and the heat; and how the problems had been solved long ago by traditional design. Now he incorporates these techinques - interior courtyards and closed gardens - into modern buildings. It is possible to stay in villas built by him in the Palmeraie, a prosperous district lost in the palm-trees just outside the city. He talked of Marrakesh.

'Marrakesh has le temps - zere is ze climate and zere is time for yourself.' He paused to execute a traffic manoeuvre only a Frenchman could conceive. 'Of course, Marrakesh is marginal. People come to get away from convention. Zere is luxe, and luxure: of course sex - soit hetero, soit homosexuel - it is easy in Marrakesh.' There has been a big gay community in Marrakesh of course for a long while.

'Marrkash, she is une ville sensible. She is not far, but she is very different.' Reason enough to visit, according to some again and again and again.