Marrakech: the name is resonant with a grubby, disreputable romance, smacking of goat-killings, carpet markets, cheesecloth and dope. You might well consider a couple of winter weeks there to soak up the sun and souks and generally get bohemian, but you wouldn't seriously entertain the idea of a second home in such a place.

However, Marrakech is not what it used to be. These days, interior designers are thicker on the ground than hippies; palatial international hotels and giant nightclubs are springing up like large ochre-coloured flowers in the suburban sand; and in the swanky-touristy suburbs of La Palmeraie and L'Hivernage, it's as easy to find internet access and a cappuccino as it is to get a mint tea.

Traveling beyond the pool-heavy hotel district and the old walled city is also increasingly appealing. On clear winter days, the High Atlas mountains shimmer enigmatically on the horizon; 45 minutes' drive or so, and you could be picnicking, hiking or skiing up there. The desert is a three-hour drive away; coastal resorts such as Oulidia take about two hours to reach.

It's easy to understand the practical allure of Morocco for northern European tourists — and particularly the French, who also have a long-standing language advantage. For a start, there's the weather: it's hot, dry climate with blissful winters, though August temperatures can reach 50°C or more. In addition, living costs and the cost of domestic labour (if you employ staff) are very low.

Marrakech is also the nearest non-European destination from the continent: less than four hours' flying time from London. Access has been significantly improved with the introduction last autumn of Atlas Blue, the budget operation of Royal Maroc Airlines, with flights from Gatwick starting from £60 each way. Moreover, Marrakech airport is only 10 minutes' drive from the walled city — although at the mercy of a Moroccan taxi driver, it can feel like a lifetime.

The present king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, has a lot to do with the economic and social changes that have taken place over the six years since he came to power. He's young, popular and Europe-facing, and has encouraged much foreign investment; land values in the most targeted parts of Marrakech and its outlying districts have doubled over the last four years, and real estate prices have followed.

So far, European buyers, like tourists, have been predominantly French, with a sprinkling of Italians and British. Many have taken a bohemian tack, buying converted riads (townhouses) built around a central courtyard and tucked away in the narrow maze of of streets that makes up the walled medina (old city). More conventional buyers have opted for villas in La Palmeraie. UK developers have recently jumped on the camel train too. But be warned: this is not bargain basement territory.

The largest project in the Marrakech pipeline is centered around a new upscale hotel from the Canadian-based Four Seasons group, to be built on a 40-acre site just beyond the main hotel district. The plan is for 20 relatively compact two and three-bed riads and 20 substantial villas of three or four bedrooms to be built in the grounds of the hotel. They will feature typical Moorish architecture, with interior courtyards and fountains, private terraces and balconies, screening and ribbed plaster ceilings.

Not everyone would relish the prospect of a private retreat in such close proximity to hordes of foreign tourists; but there are advantages. Not only will owners and their guests have use of all the hotel's facilities, including room service delivered to the houses, but their properties and grounds will be maintained by the hotel team as part of the service charge. Buyers can also ask for a "turnkey" package, complete with furniture and fittings, so the riads can be put into the hotel accommodation pool when owners are absent.

For a more wholehearted retreat from the bustle of the city, interested second-homers can take a 20-minute drive towards the Atlas mountains to the site of Domaine Dar Chmicha. Here, the road becomes quieter, with more old men on donkeys and overladen bikes, fewer mad taxis and a sleepy mudbrick village before the turn-off. It feels like another world from Marrakech, but there are three golf courses within a 20-minute drive and Club Med plans to open up a few kilometres down the road. Even on the next-door plot there's activity, with another small residential development under construction.

The Domaine Dar Chmicha site wraps around the walled gardens of an imposing Moorish mansion called Villa Alexandra, which belongs to developer Michael Dupree's father-in-law. The scheme comprises nine similarly Moorish-styled villas on generous plots with swimming pools, complete with domed master bedrooms, courtyard fountains, roof terraces and balconies.

The smaller properties, with about 300 sq metres of interior space, and the larger ones, which sit on 1.5 acre plots, will be sold off-plan, so that buyers can choose their own interior décor.

Again, there will be a service charge to cover all maintenance of the houses and gardens, repairs and insurance, and Dupree's UK-based team will take care of rental arrangements, if that's required.

Another small UK firm is already at work a little further out towards the mountains, at Bab Adrar D'Atlas, an old farm estate presently full of cypresses, olive, fig and orange trees. It's a lovely spot; the air is full of birdsong and heavy with orange blossom scent, and architect Karim el Achak says his aim for the development is to preserve the area's natural wealth.Indeed, he enthuses, the estate will continue to produce its own olives and virgin olive oil, although buyers may find its planned spa and sports facilities more of a draw.

There will be nine properties in total, with the main garden supplemented by small private gardens for different rooms, including the bathrooms. All are being sold freehold on a rotating quarter-share basis, so owners will have 13 weeks' use each year.

"No, you can't decorate your property — but how important is that when you are only there a few weeks a year?" asks Peter Roberts of developer Amazing Morocco. "Our view is that people will sacrifice a bit of individuality for the advantages of low entry and running costs."

And it's still only half an hour from the grubby, chaotic energy of the Marrakech medina.