As you watch the red city rises up slowly out of the desert on the road from Casablanca, the bright sun blurs the line between sand and structure. It surrounds you quietly, welcoming you into the embrace of the Medina, the walled old city that stands for the cultural heart of Marrakech, and just steps inside, prepared to welcome her guests, stands La Mamounia, behind a wrought-iron gate, wrapped with a cobblestone drive…
The spirit of La Mamounia is evident from the moment you step over the threshold. Coming out of the bright Moroccan sun, the lobby wraps you in velvety darkness; the air is filled with the scent of dates and cedar. Bright silks and crystal chandeliers shimmer in the darkness, beckoning visitors and light alike onto the cool marble. In the center of it all, there she sits, ghostly and hooded, the Spirit of La Mamounia frozen into a statue, looming large in front of the stained glass panels, revealing glimpses of the gardens beyond.
Built in 1922,the hotel opened to the public the following year, but it was hardly populist—taking its name from Prince Moulay Mamoun, who received the land from his father in the 18th century as a wedding gift, it remained a place for princes, and other kinds of modern royalty. Winston Churchill, who wrote to his wife, “This is a wonderful place, and the hotel one of the best I have ever used,” still has his winter quarters as a suite of rooms named for him, and the hotel management once built a special extra-long bed for Charles de Gaulle; no such concessions were necessary for the Reagans or Nelson Mandela.
The entertainment world has rested here as well, from Alfred Hitchcock, who was so startled by a flock of pigeons on his balcony while filming “The Man Who Knew Too Much” that the experience inspired “The Birds,” to Charlie Chaplin, to music royalty like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the ‘60s scenesters who followed the Rolling Stones and Talitha Getty here, to latter-day legends like Charlton Heston, Tom Cruise, Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman, and many more. At the time, the state-owned hotel was the only property of its kind in town, but decades later, as other luxury hotels and private riads have opened, it retains the aura of glamour developed over so many years. Modern day La Mamounia is still a celebrity haven, and a European playground. After a lavish re-opening party in 2009, they are marking the end of a successful first year by bringing their guests into the lap of luxury from the moment they touch down in Marrakech.
La Mamounia
by Kate Winick
As you watch the red city rises up slowly out of the desert on the road from Casablanca, the bright sun blurs the line between sand and structure. It surrounds you quietly, welcoming you into the embrace of the Medina, the walled old city that stands for the cultural heart of Marrakech, and just steps inside, prepared to welcome her guests, stands La Mamounia, behind a wrought-iron gate, wrapped with a cobblestone drive…
The spirit of La Mamounia is evident from the moment you step over the threshold. Coming out of the bright Moroccan sun, the lobby wraps you in velvety darkness; the air is filled with the scent of dates and cedar. Bright silks and crystal chandeliers shimmer in the darkness, beckoning visitors and light alike onto the cool marble. In the center of it all, there she sits, ghostly and hooded, the Spirit of La Mamounia frozen into a statue, looming large in front of the stained glass panels, revealing glimpses of the gardens beyond.
Built in 1922,the hotel opened to the public the following year, but it was hardly populist—taking its name from Prince Moulay Mamoun, who received the land from his father in the 18th century as a wedding gift, it remained a place for princes, and other kinds of modern royalty. Winston Churchill, who wrote to his wife, “This is a wonderful place, and the hotel one of the best I have ever used,” still has his winter quarters as a suite of rooms named for him, and the hotel management once built a special extra-long bed for Charles de Gaulle; no such concessions were necessary for the Reagans or Nelson Mandela.
The entertainment world has rested here as well, from Alfred Hitchcock, who was so startled by a flock of pigeons on his balcony while filming “The Man Who Knew Too Much” that the experience inspired “The Birds,” to Charlie Chaplin, to music royalty like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the ‘60s scenesters who followed the Rolling Stones and Talitha Getty here, to latter-day legends like Charlton Heston, Tom Cruise, Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman, and many more. At the time, the state-owned hotel was the only property of its kind in town, but decades later, as other luxury hotels and private riads have opened, it retains the aura of glamour developed over so many years. Modern day La Mamounia is still a celebrity haven, and a European playground. After a lavish re-opening party in 2009, they are marking the end of a successful first year by bringing their guests into the lap of luxury from the moment they touch down in Marrakech.