Royal Mansour vs Amanjena

Our editorial take

Two ideas of Moroccan luxury that barely overlap. Royal Mansour is urban and maximal, every surface carved, painted or tiled by hand, and the craftsmanship tips into obsessive. Amanjena is rural and stripped back in the Aman manner, with the landscape doing most of the work. Royal Mansour handles a black-tie evening with Michelin-starred food and tightly choreographed service. Amanjena handles a three-day celebration where guests drift between the bassin and the olive groves and nobody checks a watch. Royal Mansour is five minutes on foot from the medina, Amanjena a fifteen-minute drive, and on price there is very little in it. If you are stuck, ask whether you want your guests dressed up or unwound. That question separates these two faster than any spreadsheet.