Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Morocco / Marrakech / AnaYela
AnaYela
Marrakech, Morocco · Independent · Core Luxury
German telecom executive Bernd Kolb quit his Chief Innovation role at Deutsche Telekom in 2007 to restore a three-hundred-year-old Marrakech palace where he discovered a girl's hidden diary, then had Moroccan artisans rebuild every room by hand without electric tools. Calligrapher Mohammed Taha hammered that love story in silver across ten-foot doors, and AnaYela won the World Hotel Award Soul Experience category months after opening.
- Opened 2008
- Neighborhood: Sidi Youb
About AnaYela
- More than one hundred Moroccan artisans rebuilt the riad entirely by hand, deliberately working without electric tools to preserve traditional craftsmanship.
- The hotel's name means I am Yela, inspired by a girl's diary Kolb found hidden in the palace walls during renovation, telling a first-love story.
- Koranic calligrapher Mohammed Taha hammered Yela's story in silver across ten-foot doors, turning the house itself into an illuminated book.
- AnaYela won the World Hotel Award's Soul Experience category in 2008, months after opening, and became profitable from its first year.
History
Riad AnaYela is a roughly 300-year-old city palace hidden in the medina of Marrakech. It was restored around 2007 by German entrepreneur Andrea Bury, who employed more than a hundred Moroccan artisans working by hand in traditional techniques such as tadelakt.
During the restoration a manuscript was discovered in a hidden room, written by a sixteen-year-old girl named Yela – beginning 'I am Yela' – recounting a secret love story; a renowned calligrapher hammered the tale in silver onto the riad's doors, giving the house its name. Marketed as a 'place of inspiration,' it centres on a courtyard pool and a rooftop 'Flying Carpet' terrace.
Amenities
- Pool
Open AnaYela in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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