El Fenn, MarrakechPaint the pictureStep through the door of El Fenn and you’ll understand why couturier Yves St Laurent declared, ‘Morocco gave me colours’. It’s this bold character that Vanessa Branson and her business partner, Howell James, leaned into when they launched El Fenn, embracing Marrakech’s artisans, championing its artists and taming the medina’s madcap magic within the hotel’s walls. The result was Instagram gold that shot El Fenn to fame – and even saw Madonna checking into the plush pink suite for a month to celebrate her birthday. As interior designer and host of El Fenn’s first retreat Sophie Robinson told me, El Fenn and Marrakech are ‘like the full sweet shop’ for creatives. El Fenn, Marrakech IGOR DEMBA PHOTOGRAPHY El Fenn, Marrakech Treal Cecile / Ruiz Jean-MichelDesign notesEl Fenn means ‘House of Art’ and since its inception the riad has acted as a dramatic gallery for cutting-edge Moroccan crafts and pieces from Branson’s impressive collection including works by William Kentridge, Bridget Riley, Hassan Hajjaj and Yto Barrada.