Riad Kniza

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A narrow  lane in the Medina, lined with stalls. Matting overhead blocks out the worst of the heat, but intensifies the clamour and the charming chaos that is Marrakech. Around the corner lies a quieter lane. It curves into a space just empty enough to play football in, and some children are laughing as the ball comes off the high walls seemingly leading up to the sky. Marrakech has many walls like this, stretching long and high and sheltering secrets. This one frames a massive cedar door, which swings open into a sanctuary, and shuts behind me to seal the separation from street life and private life. For Riad Kniza feels like a private house, sumptuously appointed and set around a sun-filled courtyard, complete with a fountain where rose petals float. The salons that surround the courtyard are filled with curiosities and collectables – a traditional wedding belt from Fez; an ink well and pens used to sign wedding contracts, pottery from the eighteenth century, rare Bedouin jewellery.

The rooms and suites are also adorned with antiques, unsurprisingly perhaps, as the owner, Mr Bouskri, is one of the most renowned antique dealers in Marrakech. Even the outside spaces are lined with art, in the form of intricately carved doors and fabulous mosaic tiled work. I have breakfast, a simple but delicious affair of warm bread and crepes and honey, in a small secret space off the main courtyard, all sunlight and song from a brighteyed little bird perched on a door carved into geometry. Fretwork lanterns hanging on a wall cast patterned shadows. On another wall, another fountain, tiled in red and blue and yellow and white into a pattern of flowers and stars. A small sculpture of a gazelle’s head set into the mosaic glints in the light. It’s such a small space and yet so rich, every detail is full of design, and every design is full of detail. “When I look at that fountain,” says Kamal, the manager and the owner’s son, “it’s not just the beauty I enjoy. It’s the patience and craft that went into the making of it. Every tile was cut by hand, over and over, to get the perfect fit.” We’re talking about the work that’s currently

underway, to add a swimming pool and a traditional hammam to the riad, and about all the work it took to restore Kniza to its former glory. The building has been in his mother’s family for two centuries, but had been empty for two decades when the family decided to restore it. “At that point,” he says, “whenever they touched anything, it fell apart, just crumbled away, so everything had to be recreated, everything.” They started from scratch, using traditional craftsmen. Their care shows, in the painted ceilings, the embroidered curtains, the tiled fireplaces in the rooms… all have the fine finish that comes from pride in a craft. It’s not all artisan work and antiques, although these do transform each room and suite into something special. An Italian chandelier graces one, a Syrian mirror, irridiscent with silver work and mother of pearl another, a painted chest and a tiled fireplace are highlights in my suite. But while art makes each room highly individual, technology is a common factor – efficient air-conditioning, wi-fi connectivity, televisions if one must. But who could watch television with Marrakech to explore?

A particularly pleasing aspect of Riad Kniza is that it is one of the only upmarket riads that is Moroccan owned, and the owners really open up the city for visitors. Mr Bouskri, as well as running a successful antiques business, is a professional guide who for decades has shown visitors including presidents and movie stars the best of Marrakech – and he takes guests at the Riad on tour too, as does his son Kamal, who spent an entire afternoon showing me his city, dropping me off as evening began at the famous Jemâa el Fna square. Music – the beat of drums and the slightly spooky whine of snake-charmers’ pipes – and the smoke and smells from food stalls floated around the crowds and the drama, the hustle and the hustlers. Later that night, the square and souks – although just minutes away – felt incredibly distant as I relaxed on the roof terrace of Riad Kniza, replete after an excellent lamb, fig and walnut tagine. There’s no menu here, the meals are what you want, served where you want. The sky took on the faded red hues of the city walls as the sun set on the medina, a cat sat on a mat by my feet,luxuriating in its luck at escaping the relentless pace outside. So was I, as the stars came out over Marrakech.