Anantara Resorts, known for its luxury properties in the Asia-Pacific region (including Anantara Phuket Resort and Spa, pictured), is heading to Africa. The company has announced plans to pair with H Partners, a Morocco-based hospitality investment company, and will open two properties in 2011, with many others planned. Anantara Marrakech Resort & Spa and Anantara Mogador Resort & Spa will both begin construction later this year.

Anantara Marrakech will be constructed within the Atlas Golf Resort on a six-hectare plot. As well as guest rooms and suites in the main building, the resort will feature pool villas that will form part of the hotel with a portion being for sale as residences. Hotel guests will be within 10 minutes of the Djemaa El Fna, the centre of the Marrakech medina and the heart of the labyrinth of alleyways and side streets of this vibrant marketplace. Additionally, guests will have access to the 18-hole Atlas Golf course.

Anantara Mogador will be located in the first phase of an upmarket development adjacent to the historic town of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast. The resort will include 40 luxuriously appointed guest rooms along with 60 lavish pool villas, both for sale as residences and for rent by the hotel. Tying in elements of local architecture and lush gardens, the resort and spa will evoke a sense of its surroundings and provide guests with unparalleled cultural experiences.