Hivernage is Marrakesh's upscale resort district — a compact neighbourhood of palm-lined avenues, grand hotels, and private villas directly southwest of the Medina walls. The French laid it out during the Protectorate era as a winter resort for European visitors, and the name (French for "wintering") reflects its original purpose: a comfortable, quiet quarter insulated from the intense life of the old city.
Today Hivernage houses many of Marrakesh's most expensive hotels and several of its nightclubs. The Carre Eden shopping mall and a cluster of international restaurants give the neighbourhood a modern veneer, but the underlying structure — wide planted avenues, walled gardens, an unhurried pace — remains. It is a place to recover from the sensory intensity of the Medina rather than a destination in its own right, though the Theatre Royal and the Palais des Congrès bring occasional performances and events to the area.