Riad M'Barka

Built around a tiled central courtyard in Tangier's old medina, Riad M'Barka keeps its cedar-beamed ceilings and hand-cut zellige intact behind an unmarked door on Rue Ibn Abbou. Rooms open onto the courtyard rather than a corridor, so mornings arrive with light rather than hallway noise — a fit for travellers wanting a quiet base inside the walls rather than a modern hotel outside them.

A rooftop terrace clears the medina rooftops toward the Strait of Gibraltar, close enough on clear days to make out the Spanish coast. The Petit Socco square and its cafés sit a five-minute walk downhill, though the medina's narrow lanes mean staff generally walk guests out on arrival.