La Mamounia, Royal Mansour or a Private Villa?
For a couple who want to walk out of the door into the medina, La Mamounia or the Royal Mansour is hard to beat. For a family or a group of eight or more, a fully staffed private villa usually gives you more space, more privacy and a lower cost per person, at the price of a drive into town and fewer restaurants on the doorstep. Below is the honest comparison we give our own clients: what each option is, what it costs per head, and what you give up.
In short
- La Mamounia (opened 1923) is the grand hotel inside the medina walls: a little over 200 rooms and suites, three private riads, four restaurants and around 800 staff.
- The Royal Mansour (opened 2010) is a hotel made of 53 private riads, each with one to four bedrooms over three floors and a roof terrace.
- A private villa is rented whole, with its own staff and pool: our 39 villas in Marrakech and Oualidia have 3 to 22 bedrooms, from €360 to €6,250 a night.
- For 8 to 12 guests, the villas compared below work out at roughly €100 to €290 per person per night at their published starting rates.
- The trade-off: hotels win on location and choice of restaurants; villas win on privacy, space and keeping a group together.
Who each option really suits
These are three different ways of staying in Marrakech, not three levels of the same thing. The two palace hotels sell an experience of service and place: you are inside the old city, with restaurants, bars, a spa and a concierge a few steps away, and a staff that runs to hundreds. A private villa sells exclusivity: a house, a garden and a pool that belong to your party alone for the length of the stay, with a household team that works only for you.
| You are | Usually the best fit |
|---|---|
| A couple, 2 to 4 nights, first visit | La Mamounia or the Royal Mansour, for the location and the restaurants |
| A couple who want total privacy | A Royal Mansour riad, or a small villa such as a 3 or 4-bedroom house |
| A family with children | A villa with a garden, or one of La Mamounia’s three riads for up to six |
| A group of 8 to 12 friends | A villa with 5 to 8 bedrooms |
| A celebration for 15 to 40 | A large villa or estate with 10 to 22 bedrooms |
La Mamounia: the grand hotel inside the walls
La Mamounia opened in 1923 on Avenue Bab Jdid, inside the ramparts and a few minutes’ walk from the Koutoubia. Its gardens, with olive and orange trees, roses and palms, go back to an 18th-century royal estate given to Prince Moulay Mamoun, who gave the hotel its name. The interiors were reworked by the designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku in 2020 and 2023, and the hotel counts around 800 employees according to La Mamounia’s own website.
What you get is choice: four restaurants (Moroccan, Italian by Simone Zanoni, Asian by Jean-Georges, and the pool pavilion), four bars including Le Churchill, a Pierre Hermé tea room, a spa with hammams and an indoor pool, tennis, a cinema. The hotel is also home to the Marrakech edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, usually held in February; the 2027 edition runs from 18 to 21 March.
For privacy within the hotel, La Mamounia has three riads in the gardens. Each is described by the hotel as around 700 m², with its own heated pool, a roof terrace, a kitchen, indoor and outdoor dining rooms, a 24-hour butler and space for up to six guests.
La Mamounia’s restaurants and bars generally take reservations from non-residents, so you can have dinner or a drink there while staying elsewhere. It is an easy way to combine a villa with an evening at the hotel; ask us if you would like help with the booking.
The Royal Mansour: a private medina of riads
The Royal Mansour opened in 2010, commissioned by King Mohammed VI, close to the ramparts of the medina. It has no conventional rooms: guests stay in 53 riads, each spread over three floors with a courtyard and a roof terrace looking to the Atlas, with one to four bedrooms. Staff move between them through underground service passages, which is why the alleys feel so quiet.
The Royal Mansour lists four signature restaurants (Moroccan, Italian, French and Asian), a spa of around 2,500 m² over three levels with a heated pool, and a garden with a pool designed by the landscape architect Luis Vallejo. It was ranked 26th in The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2026 and named best hotel in Africa.
The riad format gives the Royal Mansour the privacy most hotels cannot offer. A group can take neighbouring riads, but each riad is its own house: there is no single living room or table where twelve people gather by default, other than the restaurants.
A palace hotel gives you a city of service around you. A villa gives you a house, a garden and a team that is yours alone.
A fully staffed private villa: what you actually get
A villa is rented in its entirety. Nobody else uses the pool, the garden or the dining room for the length of your stay. In our catalogue the staffing varies by house, and each villa page says what is included. Some examples taken from the villa descriptions:
- Villa Marhaba, in the Palmeraie: 5 en-suite bedrooms for up to 10, staff available 24 hours a day and a butler
- Villa Jannah, on a private estate about 10 km from the centre: 6 double suites, rented in full exclusivity with a “5-star” hotel-style service
- Villa Hazel, in the Palmeraie: 6 suites for 12, a dining room for 12, a hammam for two, a massage room and a 15-metre pool, heated on request
- Villa Idir, on the Amelkis golf course: staff from 8:00 to 23:00, including a cook who prepares breakfasts and meals
The usual model is a house team (a cook, housekeeping, a caretaker or gardener, sometimes a butler or house manager) with meals cooked at the villa. How food is charged differs by villa: at Villa Noor, for example, the staff do the shopping and you pay for the groceries at cost price plus delivery. We explain the details for each house in what a fully staffed villa includes and why book a villa with a private chef.
Palace hotel or private villa: side by side
| What matters | La Mamounia | Royal Mansour | Private villa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy | Shared pool, gardens and restaurants; private only in the three riads | High: your own riad and roof terrace; pool, spa and restaurants shared | Total: the whole property is yours |
| Space | A room or suite; riads up to about 700 m² | A riad of one to four bedrooms | A house and garden, often on 1 to 2 hectares or more |
| Staff | Hundreds, shared by all guests | Large team, with butler service | A dedicated team for your party alone |
| Groups and families | Spread across rooms and floors | Separate riads, no shared living room | Everyone under one roof, one table |
| Dining | Four restaurants, bars, tea room | Four signature restaurants | Cooked at home to your taste, any time you choose |
| Location | Inside the medina walls | Inside the medina walls | Mostly 10 to 35 min by car from the centre |
| Cost logic | Per room, per night | Per riad, per night | One price for the whole house |
The cost per person for groups of 8 to 12
This is where the arithmetic changes. A hotel prices each room; a villa prices the whole house, so the more of you there are, the less each person pays. We do not quote palace-hotel rates here, as they change by date and category: ask each hotel for the four to six rooms, or the riads, you would need, then compare with the figures below.
Starting rates published on our site, divided by the number of guests. Real quotes vary with season and length of stay.
| Villa | Bedrooms | From, per night | Per person, 8 guests | Per person, full house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Hazel | 6 (sleeps 12) | €1,200 | €150 | €100 (12 guests) |
| Villa Ellie | 8 (sleeps 16) | €1,680 | €210 | €105 (16 guests) |
| Villa Marhaba | 5 (sleeps 10) | €1,450 | €181 | €145 (10 guests) |
| Villa Four Seasons | 5 | €2,000 | €250 | €200 (10 guests, 2 per room) |
| Villa Jannah | 6 double suites | €2,300 | €288 | €192 (12 guests, 2 per suite) |
When you compare, check what each price includes: breakfast, meals and drinks, staff, airport transfers, taxes and tips. Our villa rental costs guide lists the usual extras, and tipping in Morocco covers what is customary for villa staff.
What you give up with each
With La Mamounia or the Royal Mansour
You share the pool, the spa and the restaurants with other guests, and a group is split across rooms or riads. Children’s noise and late nights are everybody’s business. And the bill grows with each room you add.
With a private villa
Most of our villas are outside the medina: according to our villa pages, the Palmeraie is 10 to 24 minutes from the centre, Amelkis 15 to 20, the Route de l’Ourika 25 to 48 and Ouled Hassoune 30 to 35; Villa Arwa, by the Jardin Majorelle, and our villa inside the Four Seasons are 5 minutes away. You eat what the cook prepares or go out, rather than choosing between four restaurants downstairs. Spa facilities depend on the house: many have a hammam and a massage room, few have a full spa. And staff hours vary, from round-the-clock at Villa Marhaba to 8:00 to 23:00 at Villa Idir, so ask before you book if late service matters.
A middle way: the villa with hotel services
If you cannot choose, there are two compromises. The first is a villa inside a hotel estate: Villa Four Seasons is a 5-bedroom house with its own garden and pool within the Four Seasons Marrakech, with dedicated staff, a concierge and access to the hotel’s services. The second is to split the stay: two nights in the medina at a palace hotel, then the rest of the week in a villa with the whole party.
More on the general question in villa or hotel for groups and families and luxury riad or private villa.
Villa Four SeasonsFrom €2,000 a night
Villa MarhabaFrom €1,450 a night
Villa JannahFrom €2,300 a night
Villa HazelFrom €1,200 a night
Unlimited MarrakechA palace of your own, for the whole party
Tell us how many you are, your dates and the level of service you expect. We reply with the villas that are free, what their staff do and a clear price for the whole house.
Frequently asked questions
Is a private villa cheaper than La Mamounia or the Royal Mansour?
For groups, usually yes. A villa is priced for the whole house, so the cost per person falls as the party grows: the villas compared above work out at roughly €100 to €290 per person per night for 8 to 12 guests, at published starting rates. Hotels price each room or riad separately. For a couple, a hotel room can work out cheaper than a whole villa.
How many riads does the Royal Mansour have?
The Royal Mansour, opened in 2010, has 53 private riads instead of rooms. Each is spread over three floors, with a courtyard and a roof terrace, and has one to four bedrooms. The hotel also has four signature restaurants, a spa of about 2,500 m² and a landscaped garden with a pool.
Does La Mamounia have private villas or riads?
Yes, three riads set in the hotel’s gardens. The hotel describes each as about 700 m², with its own heated pool, a roof terrace, a kitchen, dining rooms, a 24-hour butler and room for up to six guests. The rest of the hotel is a little over 200 rooms and suites.
Can a large group stay together at a Marrakech palace hotel?
Only in separate rooms or riads. At La Mamounia a group is spread across rooms and floors; at the Royal Mansour each riad is a self-contained house. A private villa with 6 to 22 bedrooms keeps everyone on one property, with a shared living room, one dining table and a pool used only by your party.
Can I eat at La Mamounia if I stay in a villa?
Yes. La Mamounia’s restaurants, bars and tea room welcome outside guests, subject to availability and the hotel’s dress code, and the same goes for the Royal Mansour’s restaurants. A dinner at one of the palaces is an easy way to combine the two; ask us if you would like help with the reservation.
If privacy, space and keeping everyone together matter more than having restaurants downstairs, a staffed villa is the stronger choice, and you can still book dinner at the palaces. Tell us how many you are and when, and we will suggest the two or three houses that fit best.
