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Founded in 1070 by the Almoravid dynasty, the city served as Morocco's capital for centuries. Morocco's most famous tourist destination and home to the vibrant Jemaa el-Fna square,
The most fun option at your disposal in the country. Try it on holiday first, and head back for a longer stay if it suits your needs, as it's not a guaranteed home run.
I was in no rush to revisit Marrakesh. On a visit ten years ago, my experience was confined almost entirely to the medina. It ticked all the boxes for a memorable holiday but not as somewhere I'd want to conduct serious work from.
I felt it was worth one more attempt, however, as a potential base for work, opting this time to settle away from the historic centre in the more contemporary Gueliz district.
Considering its reputation as a global tourist destination, Airbnb in Marrakesh is still reasonable value.
If you are looking for a one-bed apartment, you should be able to find somewhere for around £850 a month in the more modern area of Gueliz, with the medina more suitable for homestays and hotels than contemporary apartments.
Considering the seasonal demand for properties, book as far in advance as possible if planning a prolonged stay to get the best availability.
The city can be loud, so take seriously any comments on noise pollution which may accompany a listing. Moroccan drivers like to make liberal use of their car horns and if you are in close proximity to a main road, they may become an unwanted feature of your nightly sleep.
You've got a number of choices for coworking within Marrakesh, but not as many great quality options as you may be hoping for, reflective of its status as more of a leisure destination than a commercial hub.
Assuming you are staying in Gueliz, you are not spoilt for choice. There is no branch of the Commons chain, which is a strong asset in both Rabat and Casablanca, with several other independent operators on offer. I opted for CWC, which I've written about in greater depth below.
I spent one afternoon working from the Thirty5ive coffee shop, which with some dedicated desks upstairs, quality coffee and internet speeds of over 400Mbps (!) makes for a perfect stop-gap solution if you need somewhere to get work done for a couple of hours.
Like most places throughout the country, day-to-day living costs are unparalleled across Europe. Expect to pick up a hearty local meal like a tagine for well under £5, always served with plentiful bread as an accompaniment.
An espresso from a traditional café costs around £1, whilst a simple breakfast with eggs, bread, olives and an orange juice can be found in most places for around £3. Prices for more international items can begin to creep up, but if you are interested in primarily exploring traditional Moroccan cuisine, you can live very well on a modest budget.
Taxi rides via InDrive are inexpensive, with most journeys within the city costing no more than a couple of pounds at a time.
Local beers from bars start at around £1.70 for a small bottle, with prices scaling up considerably when looking for imported items from more sophisticated outlets.
With good availability of affordable apartments and low day-to-day costs, if you are looking to operate within European working hours and remain within an hour's flight of the continent, there are few better options for those seeking to minimise their monthly expenditure as dramatically as possible.
Prices did feel noticeably higher in Marrakesh when compared to the rest of the country, which is unsurprising given the high tourist footfall through the city. But these fluctuations are negligible in the grand scheme of things and are unlikely to cause you to adjust your plans or budget in any capacity.
Marrakesh is comfortably the most exciting place I've visited in the country. As somewhere to live, Gueliz has a good energy throughout the day, busy from sunrise late into the evening. The medina itself is a bustling hive of activity, one you are best dipping in and out of. It's certainly more exciting and concentrated than Casablanca.
But it's an unconventional city. It doesn't really have any direct comparison within Europe, it's not a contemporary hub of commerce, and the overwhelming majority of the foreign population there are on holiday.
Morocco is ultimately not a good country for city lovers. Marrakesh would end up topping that list by virtue of being the best of a bad bunch. And it's worth noting that it does this because it is pandering to tourists' desires rather than being somewhere which inherently holds these values.
Morocco operates on GMT+1 throughout most of the year, making it one hour ahead of the UK during winter months when the UK is on GMT, and perfectly aligned with UK working hours during summer when the UK observes daylight saving time (BST).
The exception is during Ramadan, when Morocco temporarily switches to GMT for approximately six weeks, though the dates vary each year as Ramadan follows the lunar calendar.
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Whilst the medina may top the list for those looking for a memorable holiday experience, that wisdom should be questioned for anyone planning a prolonged remote-work stint in the city.
Being within a ten-minute walk of my Airbnb, CWC looked the best of the options on hand within Morocco to spend a few days working from.
The office is on the fourth floor of a commercial building in the heart of Gueliz, and features a large open-plan coworking space with around 15 desk spaces with large, professional chairs. There's a small outdoor terrace overlooking the street below and a couple of private offices and a meeting room coming off from the main area.
If you need somewhere to solely focus on getting work done, it's ideal. However, if you need to be jumping on calls frequently throughout the day, it is problematic. You can use the meeting room if it's not occupied, but there isn't anywhere with soft furnishings you can comfortably sit in, like you may get in a WeWork or similar.
You can sit on the terrace outdoors, but there is no guarantee that it will be empty as it was often occupied by local men chain-smoking cigarettes over a sustained two-hour period.
A day pass costs around £12, which doesn't include any coffee or drinking water, so at least by national standards makes it slightly dearer than other options you may find.
The surrounding area was the best I found during my time in Morocco. Gueliz has a great array of local and international options for lunch and dinner, and the Thirty3ive speciality coffee shop is just within walking distance.
If you need a reliable, calm environment for a few days, I'd look no further, but it's not somewhere I would base an extended trip around.
The weather was close to ideal during October and notably warmer than the coastal cities. The peak seasons for the country tend to be during spring, with autumn slightly quieter, both periods avoiding the intensity of midsummer heat. There wasn't a cloud in the sky during the week I was there, with temperatures climbing to the early 30s even going into late October.
How long do you need in Marrakesh? It will be a city that has a Marmite reaction for a lot of people. Some will love it, some will hate it, but either way I would assume most people would be somewhat happy to leave after 72 hours for somewhere maybe a little calmer, especially if you are staying in the medina.
For a month-long remote work stay, it likely represents the best option in the country. It has the most activity, pulses with energy and you're likely to get better weather deeper into winter than in the north.
But I would still be hesitant to recommend a month to anyone without them having any prior knowledge of what Morocco is like. A week's stay as part of a month-long trip of the country would be ideal to gauge whether you want to return for a longer stint.
Attracting over 4.5 million people a year, Marrakesh is comfortably the country’s most popular tourist destination, and you’ll inevitably overhear accents from all around the world while circling the medina and walking through the centre of Gueliz.
On the day I visited the CWC Coworking space, I was the sole non-Moroccan in there. There is something of a nascent remote work community in the city, but do not expect anything resembling Bali or other established remote work hubs.
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