El Fenn Marrakech | Medina Rooftop Bar & Restaurant

El Fenn is the rooftop of a chic riad-hotel in the medina, behind Bab El Ksour on Derb Moulay Abdullah Ben Hezzian. Non-residents do not wander in off the lane. You enter through the El Fenn Boutique on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra, next to Bab Laksour, and make your way up to the terrace from there. The hotel is co-owned by Vanessa Branson, Richard Branson's sister, and it has spent years as one of the names people reach for when they talk about Marrakech rooftops.

The terrace is the draw, and it is a big one: 1,300 square metres, with two cocktail bars, two restaurants and a clear line of sight to the Koutoubia minaret and the medina roofs around it. The bar is the hotel's most popular spot, and the ritual is the sunset cocktail. Come for that, and stay for the candlelight after.

The Vibe

The mood is chic but unpretentious, which is the line El Fenn walks well. By day the terrace runs on day beds and slow afternoons, the medina spread out below and the Koutoubia close enough to anchor every photo. The crowd is a mix of hotel guests and visitors who have been tipped off. It tends to draw people who came for the terrace itself, not for a name on the door.

By night it softens. Candles come out, the light drops, and the air carries jasmine in summer and woodsmoke in winter, which tells you most of what you need to know about the register here. This is a terrace for a long drink and a low conversation. The 30-foot marble bar with its resident mixologists is the centre of gravity, and the whole place is built around the view.

The Menu

Two things share the roof: the food and the bar. The kitchen runs an all-day menu of small and big bites, Moroccan and international, with tapas, fresh juices and lighter meals across the two restaurants. It is built for grazing through an afternoon or settling into a proper dinner, in the same easy, unfussy tone as the rest of the place.

The bar is the headline, though, and the one most people come up for. The house signature is the El Fenn Margarita, tequila with hibiscus syrup, lime and ginger, and it is the crowd-favourite for a reason: the hibiscus gives it a colour and a tartness that earns its reputation. Beyond that, the El Ksour Gin is the ambitious one, gin with triple sec, passion fruit, basil, pineapple, cucumber and egg white, with a Clementine Martini, a Date Martini and a Spring Basil on the list too. The resident mixologists at the marble bar are the people to ask if you want something off-piste.

One honest caveat. The named cocktails above come straight from El Fenn's own site, but the full bottle, wine and spirits list is not published online, so we will not put labels or numbers on it. Ask at the bar for the current card, and if you order one thing, make it the El Fenn Margarita.

The Music

Music here is more about mood than any set programme. By day the terrace is relaxed, and by night it turns candlelit and mellow, with a jazzy edge to the ambiance. There might be a DJ on a given evening, but that is occasional and it is not the point. The sound sits under the conversation. It does not pull the room onto its feet.

A note on confidence. The "there might be a DJ" line and the mellow, jazzy read come from a handful of sources, not a published schedule, so take the specifics as indicative. The shape is reliable. El Fenn is a sunset-and-candlelight rooftop and the soundtrack is there to frame the evening, with none of the volume or programming you would get at a club.

Prices & Entry

A straight answer on entry first. There is no cover and no droit d'entree for the rooftop bar. Entry is free, you pay for what you eat and drink, and there are no advertised bottle-service minimums. The one exception is groups: parties of ten or more are asked for a minimum spend plus a deposit, and that is worth flagging before you arrive with a crowd.

On spend, treat the figures below as estimates. El Fenn does not publish drink prices, and the group minimum amount is not stated.

• Entry / cover: none. Free entry to the rooftop bar, with no door charge.
• Cocktails: no published price. Expect upscale-hotel pricing, roughly 120 to 200 MAD or more per cocktail, as an estimate rather than a quote.
• Groups of ten or more: a minimum spend plus a deposit applies, amount unpublished, so confirm when you book.
• Bottle service: no advertised minimums.

The shape of it is upscale, which fits a riad-hotel rooftop with a marble bar and resident mixologists. There is no cost to walk up and sit down, but the drinks carry hotel pricing. The missing drink prices and the unstated group minimum are the honest gaps here, so take any number as a guide and confirm at the bar or when you book.

When to Go

Hours run daily, 12:30 to 23:00, by the hotel's own listing. The bar's last admittance and last orders are 22:00, brought forward to 20:00 for groups of ten or more, so plan your arrival around that rather than turning up late. No closed day is listed, though that absence of closure is unverified as of mid-2026, so confirm on the day if your plan depends on it.

The slot that earns the reputation is sunset. The terrace fills as the light goes and the Koutoubia catches the last of it, and a walk-up after that is far less of a sure thing. Capacity is limited and there is no booking for rooftop drinks, so arrive early and claim a spot, then let the afternoon roll into the candlelit evening.

How to Book

Here is the key thing: you do not book for rooftop drinks. The bar is walk-in only, capacity is limited, and the honest advice is to arrive early, particularly for the sunset window. For dining, tables are bookable online at el-fenn.com/book-a-table, by phone on +212 524 44 12 20, or by email at bar@el-fenn.com, and there is a multilingual concierge working in English, French and Arabic. Instagram, at @ElFennMarrakech, is the easy route for a quick question.

If you want a table held for dinner on a busy night, or you would rather not gamble on a walk-up for a sunset drink, that is the kind of evening The Marrakech Society arranges for members. Apply to join and the concierge can line up the timing and the table, then carry the night on across the rest of the medina.

What to Know

The dress code is relaxed and the hotel says so plainly: "high heels or trainers, whatever works for you." There is nothing strict to clear. Smart-casual reads right for a sunset on the terrace, but you will not be out of place keeping it simple, and that flexibility is part of the appeal.

Getting there is the one wrinkle. The riad sits behind Bab El Ksour deep in the medina, and non-residents do not use the hotel's own lane. You go in through the El Fenn Boutique on Rue Lalla Fatima Zahra, next to Bab Laksour, so pin that entrance and not the riad address. A taxi stops short of the lanes and you walk the last stretch in. Two honest notes to close on. The cocktail prices here are our estimate, since El Fenn does not publish a card, and while the rooftop is open daily by the hotel's listing, the no-closure point is unverified. Confirm both if either shapes your evening.

Compare more terraces in our guide to the Best Rooftop Bars Marrakech →