Hot hotels: seven hotels for the ultimate workation
Here at High Life, we’re more than happy to blur the lines between business and leisure, especially if it means getting us – and our rapidly overheating laptops – off the dining room table. Luckily, hotels around the world are transforming empty rooms into wonderful workspaces, so you can set up shop somewhere a whole lot sweeter – even just for a day. Hannah Ralph clocks in…
04/01/2021Fact-checked 22/01/2021
El Fenn, Marrakech
Corporate types be warned: El Fenn’s business proposition isn’t so much ‘long hours talking quarterly targets’ as it is ‘finishing first drafts by lantern light’ – a paradise for creatives that’s Wi-Fi’d up to high heaven and just as divine. Here, fluorescent cubicles are replaced by an interchangeable maze of atmospheric nooks, riad-tastic courtyards, individually styled rooms and one 1,300sqm rooftop terrace – all sensational spots to whack out the laptop. Better yet, the hotel’s digital nomad packages (starting at £1,570 for one week, rising to £4,720 for the month) work out far cheaper per night than El Fenn’s standard rates so, as far as business deals go, it’s a good one. Those taking advantage will get their pick of the boutique’s 31 rooms (four of them new, courtesy of a recent expansion), plus breakfast and either lunch or dinner each day. And there’s a complimentary massage waiting for worker bees in the petal-strewn spa. All in a week’s work…
HIGH LIFE SAYS:
El Fenn’s metre-thick walls block out noise from the bustling souks beyond but, if a burst of action is the energy boost you need, Marrakech’s frenetic main square is but a ten-minute walk away.
THE POST-WORK DIP
It wouldn’t be a riad without a mosaic pool. Luckily, El Fenn has three – the perfect tonic after back-to-back calls. Our favourite is its newest: a (heated) 16m rooftop number with Atlas Mountains views (opening image).
“I WAS ON MUTE!”
Fortunately, El Fenn is all about the visuals – total Instagram gold dust from the minute you walk in. For the ultimate Zoom backdrop, we recommend a table by the main pool, dripping with plant life and atmosphere.
