Amanjena
Marrakech, Morocco · Aman
A secluded Aman resort in Marrakech’s Palmeraie, built around reflecting pools and pisé-walled pavilions outside the medina.
Read the full verdictCompareMarrakech
Side by sideAmanjena vsLa Mamounia
Overall, Amanjena is the stronger stay.
Amanjena leads on service (+4); La Mamounia on dining (+2.5), rooms & design (+1) and location (+0.5). Level on wellness.
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Tell us about the trip and we’ll say which one we’d book, then book it for you at the same rate as booking direct, with our perks on top.
La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco
A 1923-built former railway hotel turned palace in Marrakech, set in walled gardens with views toward the Atlas Mountains.
Read the full verdictHow they score
Out of 20. The bars start at 10, so half a point still shows.
Overall+1
Overall: Amanjena 16.5 out of 20, La Mamounia 15.5 out of 20.Service+4Why
Service: Amanjena 18 out of 20, La Mamounia 14 out of 20.
La Mamounia: Butlers and named staff pull off genuine gestures, but reception, concierge and checkout errors (a double charge, a stranger’s bill) turn up often enough to worry.
Rooms & Design+1Why
Rooms & Design: Amanjena 17.5 out of 20, La Mamounia 18.5 out of 20.
Amanjena: Rose-hued pisé walls, reflecting pools and palm-lined courtyards win people over, though several 2025 stays flagged pavilions as dated despite renovation.
Location+0.5Why
Location: Amanjena 16 out of 20, La Mamounia 16.5 out of 20.
Amanjena: Set apart in the Palmeraie outside Marrakech, prized for total quiet but requiring a driver for the medina and souks.
La Mamounia: A short walk from the Medina but feeling fully secluded, with the Atlas Mountains visible from the grounds.
Dining+2.5Why
Dining: Amanjena 14 out of 20, La Mamounia 16.5 out of 20.
Amanjena: The Italian restaurant Arva gets singled out as the best meal of the trip; the Moroccan restaurant is loved for atmosphere but food is called average.
La Mamounia: The Moroccan restaurant, an Italian spot under a newer chef and Pierre Hermé pastries at breakfast land well, though buffet service and pacing get dinged.
WellnessLevelWhy
Wellness: Amanjena 15 out of 20, La Mamounia 15 out of 20.
Amanjena: The hammam and spa treatments are called relaxing, but multiple 2026 guests found the space outdated with a fungus complaint in one shower.
La Mamounia: The hammam and spa setting impresses most people, but at least one detailed report called it dated next to the rooms, and the hair salon undersells the rest of the property.
Strengths and trade-offs
Amanjena
La Mamounia
Strengths
- Staff learn guest names and preferences within a day and follow through without prompting
- Pool pavilions offer real privacy with private plunge pools and courtyards
- The Italian restaurant Arva is consistently called the best meal on property
- Genuinely quiet, low-density grounds set apart from Marrakech’s chaos
- Excursions like the Atlas Mountains hike and vintage sidecar ride are well organized
Strengths
- Palace-scale gardens with cacti, olive trees and walking paths throughout the grounds
- Antique-filled suites with carved plaster and traditional Moroccan craftsmanship
- Hammam and spa set inside a genuinely palatial space
- Pierre Hermé pastries at breakfast alongside a well-regarded Moroccan restaurant and a newer Italian menu
Trade-offs
- Spa and hammam are dated, with at least one report of a fungus issue in a shower
- Room renovations are inconsistent, so some villas still run wifi and hot water problems
- The property has occasionally closed key facilities (restaurant, spa, main pool) with little advance warning
- Food outside Arva is unremarkable for the price, especially breakfast and the Moroccan restaurant’s kitchen
Trade-offs
- Non-staying visitors flood the grounds during the day, and security checks guests at the gate
- Front desk and reservation errors turn up often enough to be a real risk, from double billing to lost bookings
- Dress-code enforcement at entry has been applied unevenly and left some guests feeling singled out
Where they differ
Only at Amanjena
Only at La Mamounia
The verdicts
Amanjena
Amanjena is the quiet Marrakech Aman, built around reflecting pools, pisé walls and enough distance from the medina that outside of breakfast you might not see another guest. That isolation is the whole pitch, and it delivers: guests describe walking the grounds at dusk with nobody around, staff who learn names within a day, and a level of anticipation that shows up in small things, like a team sourcing superglue at midnight or setting up satellite cable for a tennis final within minutes of being asked. The service is the reason people keep coming back, and it's consistent enough across stays years apart that it reads as house culture rather than luck.
La Mamounia
La Mamounia is the hotel Marrakech is famous for, and staying there still gets you the gardens, the tiled corridors and the palace-scale suites that made it famous in the first place. The rooms are the reason to book: antiques, carved plaster, a terrace over the pool or the cactus garden, and a hammam set inside something closer to a small palace than a spa. Breakfast turns up Pierre Hermé pastries and a lamb tagine spread that people who've stayed at a dozen grand hotels still call out by name, and the Moroccan restaurant's garden dinner is the kind of evening people plan a whole trip around.
Still torn between Amanjena and La Mamounia?
We’re Sofie and Nicolas, and we’ve stayed in hotels like these ourselves. Tell us what the trip is and we’ll tell you which one we’d book, and why. We’re not really a booking service, but a few times a year we plan one properly for someone; if that’s what you’re after, say so.
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What fat travellers ask
Which should I book — Amanjena or La Mamounia?
Amanjena: Rose-hued pisé walls, reflecting pools and palm-lined courtyards win people over. La Mamounia: The Moroccan restaurant, an Italian spot under a newer chef and Pierre Hermé pastries at breakfast land well. Overall, Amanjena is the stronger stay.
What’s the difference between Amanjena and La Mamounia?
Amanjena is ahead on how you’re looked after. La Mamounia is ahead on the food. Amanjena adds Desert and Romantic; La Mamounia adds Urban and Culinary. Both are tagged Wellness, Architecture, Heritage and Moroccan Design.
Which is better for dining, Amanjena or La Mamounia?
La Mamounia leads on this. Amanjena: The Italian restaurant Arva gets singled out as the best meal of the trip; the Moroccan restaurant is loved for atmosphere but food is called average. La Mamounia: The Moroccan restaurant, an Italian spot under a newer chef and Pierre Hermé pastries at breakfast land well, though buffet service and pacing get dinged.
Which is better for location, Amanjena or La Mamounia?
La Mamounia leads on this. Amanjena: Set apart in the Palmeraie outside Marrakech, prized for total quiet but requiring a driver for the medina and souks. La Mamounia: A short walk from the Medina but feeling fully secluded, with the Atlas Mountains visible from the grounds.
Where are Amanjena and La Mamounia?
Both are in Marrakech, about 6.2 km apart — close enough that the choice is the hotel, not the neighbourhood.
How does Fat Voyage compare Amanjena and La Mamounia?
Fat Voyage scores every hotel out of 20 across five dimensions — service, rooms & design, location, dining and wellness — read from the trip reports in the most active luxury travel communities, critics’ reviews and verified guest reviews, with the long, detailed and recent ones counting most. Nothing is paid for, and no hotel can buy a place.