Marrakech in Summer: Choosing a Villa for July and August

Marrakech in summer is hot and dry: July averages 37.7 °C by day and 20.6 °C at night, with about nine days a month above 40 °C. A private villa makes that heat manageable, as long as you choose it for summer: air conditioning confirmed in writing, a large pool, real shade and someone to cook.

Most of what is written about Marrakech in summer is about surviving the medina at midday. This guide looks at the other half of the trip: the house you come back to. It uses the WMO climate normals 1991-2020 for Marrakech-Menara for the weather, and the listing text of the villas on this site for everything about the houses. Prices are starting prices per night from our catalogue of 38 Marrakech villas, plus one on the Atlantic coast, and are not quotes for specific summer dates.

• Only four of our 39 listings describe air conditioning in their text, so for July and August we ask you to get the details confirmed in writing, room by room.
• Pool sizes vary by a factor of more than ten, from an 8 by 3 metre pool in the city to an 18 by 18 metre heated stone pool in the countryside.
• The Atlantic coast is far cooler by day: July averages 29.1 °C at Safi and 21.9 °C at Essaouira, against 37.7 °C in Marrakech.

How hot is Marrakech in summer?

The 30-year normals for Marrakech-Menara airport show a long, hot and almost rainless summer. June warms up, July and August are the peak, and September is still hot by day.

Source: WMO climate normals 1991-2020, Marrakech-Menara (station 60230), mean daily maximum and minimum and number of days with a maximum of at least 35 °C and 40 °C.

Three things stand out. First, nights cool down: even in August the average low is about 21 °C, so early mornings and late evenings are the best hours of the day. Second, rain is close to zero, with 0.3 days of rain in an average July. Third, averages hide the worst summers: in the 1991-2020 series, the hottest July averaged 41.6 °C by day (2020) and the hottest August 42.5 °C (2012). Our month guides for June, July and August cover sightseeing and health in the heat.

Is Marrakech too hot in July?

For many people it is not, provided the trip is planned around the heat rather than against it. On an average July day the thermometer passes 35 °C, and on about one day in four it reaches 40 °C. Walking the souks at 2 p.m. on such a day is unpleasant for adults and hard on small children. Spending the middle of the day in the shade by a private pool, and going out after about 5 p.m., is a very different experience.

Whether it is too hot for your group depends on who is in it. If someone copes badly with heat, or if the main purpose of the trip is sightseeing, June and September are easier choices: September still averages 32.5 °C but has only about one day above 40 °C. If the purpose is a family holiday centred on a pool, with one or two outings early or late in the day, July and August work, and they coincide with the English school holidays: in 2027 most councils we checked end the summer term between Wednesday 21 July (Herefordshire) and Friday 23 July (Bolton).

A hotel guest has a room and a shared pool. A villa guest has the whole house, so the hottest hours can be spent indoors in your own living room, in the pool, or in the shade of the garden, without anyone else around. That is the real argument for a villa in summer, and it only holds if the villa is chosen with the heat in mind.

Air conditioning: what our listings actually say

Ask anyone planning Marrakech in July what they need, and air conditioning comes first. Many villa pages show it in their list of features, but that list is a summary. The description is more precise, and in our catalogue only four listings describe air conditioning in their own words:

• Villa Harmony (Amelkis golf estate, five bedrooms, from €650 a night): “reversible air conditioning and natural ventilation”.
• Villa Noor (Palmeraie, five suites, from €660): each suite has “air conditioning, fireplace and direct access to the garden”.
• Dar Louisa (Route de l’Ourika, five suites and two rooms, from €1,812): all rooms equipped with “reversible air conditioning”.
• Villa Nolan (Palmeraie, ten bedrooms in two houses, from €2,000): “reversible air-conditioning in all the rooms”.

This does not mean that the other villas have none. It means the listing does not say so in detail, and in July that is a detail worth having in writing. When you ask us about a villa for summer, ask which bedrooms and which living rooms are air-conditioned, and whether the system is reversible (heating and cooling) or cooling only. We confirm it with the owner before you book, not after you arrive.

Why pool size matters more in summer

In winter, the question is whether the pool is heated. In summer, it is whether the pool is big enough for everyone to spend the afternoon in it. Most listings do not give dimensions, but eleven describe their pool’s size or type in some way:

Source: listing text of each villa; areas calculated from the dimensions given.

Two of these stand out for families. Villa Asana’s pool runs from 20 cm to 1.80 m deep, so small children can stand at one end. Villa Zagora, with four bedrooms and a 25-metre pool, has room for lengths in a house sized for eight people. In the city, Villa Arwa trades pool size for location: it is five minutes from the centre according to its listing. Our page of villas near the centre shows the other central options.

Shade, gardens and outdoor living

A sunbed in full sun at 3 p.m. in July is not a place anyone stays long. Some listings describe their shade in detail, and those are the ones we would look at first for a summer stay:

• Villa Lyla (Route de l’Ourika, four bedrooms, from €712): “small covered pavilions” on each side of the pool, “comfortably laid out to rest in the shade”.
• Villa Hazel (Palmeraie, six suites, from €1,200): a pool “set around an islet shaded by orange trees and palm trees”, with a bar for cocktails and fresh smoothies.
• Villa Zagora (Palmeraie, from €1,450): “palm-thatched parasols” by the pool.
• Villa Jannah (Palmeraie, six suites, from €2,300): a covered outdoor living room, a summer dining room and a pergola.
• Villa Eva (Samanah golf estate, five suites, from €995): a large shaded terrace with a table for ten.
• Villa Deluxe Almaaden (Al Maaden golf estate, three bedrooms, from €450): a patio with a retractable roof.

Garden size helps too, because trees make shade. The largest grounds among our Marrakech listings are at Olive Palace (a 15-hectare olive grove), Villa Tamar and Palais Mauresque (two hectares each) and Villa Nolan (a fenced garden of 12,000 m²). Our page of villas in the Palmeraie groups several of the houses above.

What to do in the hottest hours without leaving the villa

Between roughly noon and 5 p.m. in July, the best plan is often to stay put. Some villas are better equipped for that than others, according to their listings:

• A cinema or projector: Villa Andalucía has a private cinema room, Villa Arwa a home cinema lounge, and Villa Lucia a video projector for film nights.
• Games: billiards at Domaine Beldi, Villa Azarenka and Villa Andalucía; board games and comics in the TV lounge of Palais Mauresque.
• For children: Villa Nolan lists a children’s area, a large trampoline, a slide and swings, with reversible air-conditioning in every room.
• Exercise indoors: Villa Azarenka has a 200 m² fitness centre, and Villa Perla, Villa Lucia and Villa Andalucía list a gym or fitness room.

Why a cook matters more in July than in April

In spring, going out for lunch is part of the fun. In July, a midday drive into town and back is the least pleasant part of the day. A villa where someone cooks removes it. Several listings under €1,000 a night include kitchen staff: Villa Noor (a cook, a housekeeper and a caretaker, with meals charged at the cost of the groceries plus delivery), Villa Lyla (a cook, a maid and a caretaker, who shop after offering you a choice of dishes), Villa Idir (a cook among staff present from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and Villa Lucia (the villa’s chef). Our page of villas with a chef and staff lists the others, and our guide to grocery delivery in Marrakech helps if you prefer to cook yourself.

Summer outings from a Marrakech villa

Most summer outings work best early in the morning. The listings of villas on the Route de l’Ourika and towards the Atlas give the drive times to the centre in their “Proximities” section, between 25 and 48 minutes. We have no official weather station data for the foothills, so we do not claim they are cooler; what they offer is space, gardens and views. Our article on villas in the Atlas foothills compares them, and our guides to Lalla Takerkoust lake, Setti Fatma and the Ourika waterfalls and the Atlas Mountains suggest where to go.

Is the coast cooler than Marrakech in summer?

Yes, markedly. The same WMO normals give a July average high of 29.1 °C at Safi and 21.9 °C at Essaouira, against 37.7 °C in Marrakech. Safi averages about 10 days at 30 °C or more in July; Essaouira, almost none.

Our one coastal house is Villa Laguna in Oualidia, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast: six double bedrooms, panoramic sea views over a tidal estuary, 2.5 hectares of gardens and olive groves, “gentle sea breezes”, friendly staff, and what the listing describes as the first natural swimming pool in Morocco. It starts at €785 a night, so seven nights cost from €5,495. Some families split a summer trip: a few nights in Marrakech for the city, then the rest of the week on the coast. Our page on villas in Oualidia and our guide to choosing between Marrakech, the coast and the Atlas explain the options, and the Essaouira day trip guide covers a cooler day out from Marrakech.

What a summer week in a villa costs

At starting prices, a week in one of the two villas under €1,000 whose listings describe air conditioning costs from €4,550 (Villa Harmony, five bedrooms) or €4,620 (Villa Noor, five suites with a cook). For a family of ten sharing Villa Noor, which the listing gives a sleeping capacity of ten, that is from about €460 per person for the week before extras. Starting prices are a floor: summer weeks are priced by date, and we quote the exact amount for your nights. Our villas under €1,000 a night page shows the rest of that price range.

How to ask for a summer villa

1. Give your exact nights and the number of adults and children, with ages.
2. List what is essential for summer: air conditioning in bedrooms, air conditioning in living rooms, shade by the pool, a shallow end, a cook.
3. Ask for those points in writing before paying, together with the deposit and cancellation terms. Our article on deposits, contracts and cancellation lists what to check.

Send your request through our contact page, or browse all our villas first.

Frequently asked questions

Is Marrakech too hot in July?

It is very hot but manageable with the right villa. July averages 37.7 °C by day and 20.6 °C at night, with about nine days above 40 °C; plan outings early or late and spend the afternoon by the pool.

How hot is Marrakech in August?

August is as hot as July: an average high of 37.4 °C, an average low of 21.1 °C and about eight days above 40 °C, according to the 1991-2020 normals for Marrakech-Menara.

Do villas in Marrakech have air conditioning?

Some do, but check each one. In our catalogue, four listings describe air conditioning in their text (Harmony, Noor, Dar Louisa and Nolan); for any other villa, we confirm in writing which rooms are air-conditioned before you book.

What is the best summer month for Marrakech?

June and September are the easiest. June averages 33.6 °C and September 32.5 °C by day, with about three days and one day above 40 °C respectively, against eight or nine in July and August.

Is Oualidia cooler than Marrakech in summer?

Yes. The Atlantic coast is much cooler: the WMO normals give 29.1 °C in July at Safi, further south on the same coast, against 37.7 °C in Marrakech. Villa Laguna in Oualidia starts at €785 a night.