La Maison Arabe has been rated as the best hotel in Africa and one of the top 20 in the world. There are many wonderful hotels in Marrakech and a lot will sound on paper as if they have similar facilities. But, La Maison Arabe is that little bit different. It stands apart. Perhaps it is the location, this intimate 37-room retreat is just metres from the UNESCO heritage site of Jemaa el Fna square. All of Marrakech’s beautiful medina is waiting to be explored. Maybe it is the ambience and history of your setting. The hotel doors were first opened in the 1940s, the desire to create a haven of luxury in the midst of a busy city. Since that day, Ernest Hemingway, Jackie Kennedy, Rita Hayworth, Queen Ingrid of Denmark and Sir Winston Churchill have been among those to stay. It could be the bars and restaurants, or just how having a cocktail du jour at the piano-jazz bar makes you feel. Perhaps it is the weight lifting from your shoulders as you soak in the pools, or the rejuvenation of skilled treatments at the superbly equipped spa. Food could be a big part of the innate charm, at La Maison Arabe such is the level of culinary expertise that there is even an in-house cookery school for guests to enjoy. Alternatively, it may be the secret garden, found at the hotel’s own Country Club Sanctuary -0 and with just 37 guest rooms it will remain secretive. But, more likely, it is simply how all these blend together, a mix as perfect as anything the resident mixologist can serve to you poolside.