Lonely Planet Review
The Sultana still looks like the palace it once was, and unlike other riads (town houses) it hasn't forsaken the razzle-dazzle of its Moroccan roots in favour of restrained glamour. No, here you get the whole nine yards: excessive decoration, animal-themed rooms and all the modern and traditional extras you could ever dream up.
With five tons of marble, the 12,000 sq m of carved cedarwood, the hanging gardens and the 18 (!) full-grown palms, this is Moroccan drama at its boldest and best. Each of the four patios has its own theme: Moroccan Art Deco in one, cedarwood and tadelakt (plaster) in another. However, the most stunning patio is 'piscine', the colonnaded pool patio almost exclusively given over to the warm, stripy brickwork of a traditional hammam (bathhouse). The rooms are exuberant (think red walls and painted ceilings, bronze doors and marbled bathrooms) - all you need now is a set of silk robes to swan around in. It's a lot of fun and the service is smooth and courteous, without that Mamounia hauteur. Dinner on the rooftop terraces with their frontline view of the Koutoubia, the green-tiled roofs of the Saadian tombs in the foreground, is a fairy-tale experience.
Review by author
Paula Hardy