USP A verdant 5-star retreat from the hustle and bustle of the medina offering affordable treatments. Es Saadi means “the happy one”

AMBIENCE The Es Saadi hotel has been run by three generations of the Bauchet-Bouhlal family since the 1950s and became the hotel of choice for swinging ‘60s rock stars such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

In 2000 a 90-suite palace was added adjacent to the hotel along with ten secluded villas dotted around the exquisite grounds maintaining the Es Saadi’s status as a favourite celebrity stopover. Guests have included Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio who stayed there during the 2007 Marrakech International Film Festival.

The Bauchet-Bouhlal family pride themselves on innovation. Jean Bauchet was instrumental in organising the ‘dinner show’ at the Moulin Rouge helping it to become one of Paris’ most popular attractions. He then opened Marrakech’s first casino in the same Es Saadi’s grounds before building the hotel next door.

So it’s no surprise their spa menu offers treatments with an Oriental flavour such as Qi Gong and stress relief using musical vibration alongside the traditional Moroccan hammam.

EXPERIENCE Vibratory Massage: My therapist Nathalie took me to a large marquee prettily decorated with coloured drapes and spotlights, chimes and rare wooden instruments. Next to the bed were a dozen or so tuning forks all slightly varying in size. Each fork is used to evaluate the ‘vitality’ of my different body areas. The largest, for instance, tests and regulates the stomach.

Nathalie tapped a fork against a small block of wood covered in suede material, which made it vibrate and emit a musical sound. She then used it to trace the length of my spinal column and how much the fork continued to vibrate would determine how ‘harmonised’ my body was. My stomach was completely out of sync with the rest of me, apparently, which made my ears prick up as I have suffered from digestion problems for a number of years now.

Vibratory massage takes its influences from Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines and once the diagnosis has been ascertained the therapist then turns you over and uses the forks to rebalance your organs.

Hammam: I laid down on marble slabs in a small, breathtakingly hot room where my therapist doused me in warm water and then washed me with black soap and left me to sweat it out for 15 minutes. I lasted five because I found it difficult to breathe.

I escaped through a high arched doorway leading into an adjacent room covered in rustic tiles and adorned with beautiful ornate bottles full of oils and creams and lay down on one of the two large marble “beds” to recover. When my therapist returned she didn’t seem surprised I’d wimped out of the roasting segment of my treatment.

She hosed me down and then vigorously scrubbed the length of my body with a textured mitten. For someone of such small stature she was incredibly strong.

Afterwards she massaged my skin with Morocco’s locally grown elixir – argan oil, which is said to have age-defying properties because of its high vitamin E and essential fatty acid content.

It’s rather odd having someone exfoliate your buttocks, but shyness is immaterial during a hammam. The therapist is unfazed by your lumps and bumps and although language was a barrier between us we still managed to laugh about the intimate experience we were sharing. I was taken into a small relaxation room where I was offered a cup of traditional mint tea and examined my skin, which felt gloriously smooth.

FOOD There is no separate spa food but healthy lunches can be taken at the poolside restaurant. The Es Saadi also adopts environmentally conscious initiatives and has a 20-acre sustainable organic farm servicing the Lagon and Jardin Brasserie.

IN-CROWD Es Saadi’s family-run business prides itself on return custom of a core clientele, typically aged between 30-50. The spa is child friendly.

WALLET WATCH Hammam and body scrub with black soap – 45-minute session 290 Dh (£24); vibratory massage – 50-minute session 350 Dh (£28) ; suites start from 3,700 Dh (£304). See the website for reductions of up to 50 per cent for reservations made 30 days before date of arrival.

NEED TO KNOW Es Saadi Palace & Villas, Rue Ibrahim El Mazini, Hivernage, Marrakech 40000, Morocco (212 5 24 44 88 11 ; www.essaadi.com)

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