La Mamounia
Every hotel that undergoes a substantial remodeling or restoration has a vision of the end result and when it will reopen for business. But let’s just get one thing straight right here – how many of them take three years to complete and are worth the wait? La Mamounia is one of those.
La Mamounia, in the exotic city of Marrakech, set preeminently like a huge pink gem at the corner of the world-famous D’Jema el Fna Square edging the ancient medina, is steeped in history, grandeur and fame. When Winston Churchill remarked that it was “the loveliest spot in the whole world,” thousands of world travelers nodded in agreement. So when the iconic hotel and gardens finally re-opened its doors in late September, 2009, thousands took notice.
The restored La Mamounia, opened in 1923, is every bit the grand Moorish architectural masterpiece the original was but with the addition of modern luxuries. You could call it historic hedonism. It now totals 136 rooms, 71 suites, and three riads (a traditional Moroccan house with a shaded inner courtyard, each with pool, three bedrooms, butler service, and private roof terraces). Each guest room comes dressed with traditional Zellige mosaic tiles, arabesque plaster work, hand-painted wooden ceilings and doors, and embroidered leather headboards. Guests can surf the Internet from the calm of starched white Porthault bed linens or listen to their iPod from an in-room docking station while enjoying a rain shower or bath in a freestanding, marble, soaking tub. The designer to thank for mixing old and new so elegantly? France’s Jacques Garcia, whose projects include Paris’s Hôtel Costes, Monte Carlo’s Hôtel Métropole, Miami Beach’s Hotel Victor and New York City’s Spice Market restaurant.
Guests at the hotel are encouraged to take advantage of the upgraded amenities, particularly the six restaurants and five bars. La Mamounia’s restaurants feature two very different Michelin-starred chefs, Alfonso Iaccarino and Jean-Pierre Vigato. Iaccarino helms L’Italien, serving dishes such as lobster fritters with crispy Mamounia garden greens and herbs or smoked Scarmorza cheese gnocchetti with cherry tomatoes and basil. The intimate terrace overlooking the famous gardens is hard to resist for alfresco dining. At Le Francais, Vignato’s French contemporary cuisine is the order of the day with steamed sea bass, sole meuniere or filet of John Dory served with tiny shell pasta in anchovy butter. Le Marocain, the hotel’s Moroccan outpost, puts a modern take on traditional dishes like a veal tagine, flavored with saffron and cinnamon or a monkfish tagine in saffron with sweet pepper.
Guests also have access to the 27,000-square foot Mamounia Spa, complete with two hammams (traditional Turkish sauna), nine treatment rooms, and six outdoor massage cabins. Twenty acres of gardens surround the spa, including an herb garden used by the hotel’s restaurants. Tucked inside the garden is a fitness pavilion with yoga and spinning classes, an outdoor ozone-heated pool, and a weight room. Two clay tennis courts occasionally offer Henri Leconte developed clinics. On-property boutiques sell Fendi, Gucci, Dior, Chopard, and other luxury brands. A favorite with both children and adults is the complimentary homemade ice cream served every afternoon in the gardens. A fleet of bespoke garnet-red Jaguar Daimlers and Range Rovers carry guests to day trips in the area or the surrounding countryside. But the wonders of Marrakech itself are all accessible right outside La Mamounia’s massive wooden front doors.
La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco
Tel: 011(212) 524 388 600
Fax: 011 (212) 524 444 660