Most tourists in Marrakesh will want to stay in a riad.

Literally, a riad is a patio garden, and by extension a house with a patio garden, but it has come to mean an old house in the Medina that's been done up to accommodate tourists. Many are in fact a combination of two or three old houses joined together. They usually have a rooftop sun terrace, and bathrooms decorated with lashings of tadelakt. Many also have small plunge pools.

Marrakesh has some very fine and stylish riads indeed, and a handful of low-priced riads too (Along Dusty Roads have a list of reasonably low-cost riads on their website here).

In addition, a few Medina hotels near the Jemaa el Fna (such as the Jnane Mogador and the Galia) are much like riads, and there are one or two maisons d'hôte, which are family-run guesthouses, not unlike a Continental pension.