Best Affordable Romantic Hotels

Riad Hayati
Marrakesh, Morocco

The Location: Set inside Marrakesh’s ancient medina (walled city center), this refurbished 18th-century courtyard home is just beyond the north wall of the Bahia Palace compound—whose gorgeous, dramatically tiled buildings and blossoming gardens are among the city’s must-sees.

The Romance: Riads, Arabic for “garden houses,” are unique to Marrakesh; hidden behind high walls, they have doors that open onto serene, plant-filled courtyard terraces. Riad Hayati’s is centered on a trickling stone fountain strewn with rose petals and surrounded by tall coco palms, a banana tree, climbing bougainvillea, and jasmine. The four guest rooms, decorated with Ottoman, Turkish, and Persian kilims and tapestries, are softly lit, with plush beds framed by translucent drapery, and start at about $230 per night.

Don’t Miss: Although the riad is just minutes from Bahia Palace, the Dar Si Said museum, and the Mellah—an old Jewish quarter—it’s worth seeking out a lesser-known find: the Bert Flint Textile Museum (or Maison Tiskiwin), founded by a pioneering expat art historian who collected the fabrics, costumes, and artifacts native to the Souss Valley and the Sahara.