While most people will extol the merits — and there are many — of booking an intimate riad in the medina, there is one big disadvantage: space is at a premium in the old city. That’s hardly the case at a spread like Kenzi Menara Palace in the Agdal neighborhood. The sprawling rose-colored resort rises in your periphery from a distance, much like a mirage on the desert horizon. A long, circular driveway leads to the entrance, beyond which you’ll find 231 spacious guestrooms with private patios or balconies overlooking acres of manicured gardens — albeit a bit short on some basics, like tissue boxes and well-placed towel hooks.

Perhaps aiming to appease those who don’t want to miss out on the medina experience, the property is a supersized complex of interconnecting riads, with rooms opening out onto courtyard gardens. The interiors are somewhat tired and in need of a refresh, but the décor strives to re-create an authentic ambience, and walls throughout the public spaces and rooms are adorned with massive canvases featuring vignettes of everyday Moroccan life from centuries past: princes, nobles, warriors, carpet merchants, concubines, blacksmiths. A long, cobbled pathway leads to the Spa by Terraké wing, where you can pamper yourself with an Oriental massage or a Desert Rain ritual. There’s plenty to do here, as there ought to be: it’s a bit of a hike to the medina and to much of the Ville Nouvelle, so if you want to avoid shelling out for taxis, you can still keep yourself occupied.

The crowd at Kenzi Menara Palace is a mix of all-inclusive-package families and young Europeans looking to let loose, all of whom are likely to be found at the hotel’s pièce de résistance: the pool deck. Surrounded by airy cabanas and chaise longues and shaded by soaring palms, the massive swimming pool hosts one of the most bumping daytime scenes in Marrakech, blaring techno notwithstanding (“This is not Ibiza… This is not Paris… This is not Detroit… This is Marrakech” one track kept reminding revelers, lest the sweltering heat have rendered them unsure). The employees could do well to take a page out of bellman Abdallah’s book: if only everyone there was as cheery — and helpful — as him. But alas, the general attitude among the staff borders on placid indifference. But if you’re looking to work on your tan while sipping on a mojito, a languid concierge is not likely to sway your mood. Good luck finding a daytime party like this in the medina.