Inside the walls: riads in the medina
A riad is the reason many people come to Marrakech in the first place: a courtyard house turned inward, cool in summer, silent at night, and unlike anything available elsewhere. Restoring one is a small industry, and living in one is genuinely lovely.
It is also a practical commitment. No vehicle reaches your door. Shopping, deliveries and repairs all arrive on foot or by handcart through derbs that can be several hundred metres of narrow, turning, sometimes stepped alley. Traditional doorways are low and staircases turn tightly around the courtyard, which is why furniture routinely has to be dismantled to get into a riad at all — and dismantled again to get out.
Gueliz: the modern city
Gueliz is the practical counterweight. Apartment buildings with usable lifts, supermarkets, restaurants, banks and offices, laid out on streets a car can actually use.
It suits people who want Marrakech without a daily logistics puzzle, and it is where most working expatriates end up. The compromise is atmosphere: Gueliz is pleasant and ordinary in a way the medina never is.
Hivernage: hotels, calm and proximity
Between Gueliz and the medina, Hivernage is greener, quieter and more expensive. Serviced residences, hotels, wide avenues and mature trees.
It appeals to people who want to be minutes from the medina without living in it. Buildings here often run to service entrances and set moving hours, which are easy to work with when arranged in advance and irritating when discovered on the day.
The Palmeraie: villas and privacy
North of the city, the Palmeraie offers villas, pools, palm groves and real privacy. For people who want space and are content to drive everywhere, it is the obvious choice.
The approaches are the thing to check. Many properties sit at the end of long private driveways, some unpaved, with gates that a full-size truck cannot pass. Anyone delivering anything substantial — furniture included — needs to know that before setting off, not on arrival.
Targa, Semlalia and the Ourika road
The newer residential belt spreads west and south. Targa and Semlalia mix villas with low-rise blocks and offer more room for the money than Gueliz. Along the Ourika road, developments continue further out, with the Atlas in view.
The further you go, the more the drive shapes your day. It is worth measuring that honestly against the space you gain, especially with a school run in the equation.
The season decides more than you would think
Marrakech summers are severe. Between June and September, physical work is done early or not at all, and this is not merely a comfort question — it changes when deliveries, works and moves can realistically happen.
Anyone arranging a move in those months should expect an early start and plan the day around finishing the heavy work before midday. It is better for the crew and better for anything that would otherwise sit in a hot vehicle.