Few stays can match the illustrious history of Morocco’s La Mamounia, which lies tucked within the Red City. Built by the Moroccan Railway Company, it first opened its doors in Marrakech in 1923, combining traditional local architecture with the Art Deco style that swept the era. Since then, the hotel has never struggled to retain its allure, and it has a guestbook filled with distinguished names from the last ten decades to prove it.
Part of La Mamounia’s appeal is its setting. Nestled among eight hectares of landscaped gardens and scattered with hundreds of olive, orange, palm and lemon trees, it feels like an oasis of tranquillity but lies just a few minutes’ walk south-west of the high-spirited Djemaa el Fna square. The building also features many architectural showpieces in its public areas (cue the Instagram crowd), conjuring a Moroccan-palace feel that runs throughout every one of its 200 or so rooms and suites.
The look of the hotel has been carefully preserved. During its renovation in 2009, renowned designer Jacques Garcia paid homage to Moroccan craftsmanship by working with local artisans to produce traditional materials, such as tiles, marble, tadelakt plaster and crafted wood. Our recommendation is to opt for a room with a balcony vista that gazes across to the city’s iconic Koutoubia Mosque, waking up to the muezzin’s call to prayer in the morning.
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A stay at La Mamounia comes with the benefit of access to their all-knowing concierges, who can procure the best local guides for navigating the UNESCO-listed medina, access sites after closing time and arrange immersive experiences, including henna-painting workshops.
When it comes to food, the hotel’s L’Asiatique and L’Italien restaurants have menus curated by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, but the culinary star of the property is Le Marocain. Housed in a riad at the heart of the hotel’s gardens, dining in this quintessentially Moroccan restaurant delivers inventive takes on the country’s mouth-watering classics, such as tagine, couscous and pastilla, with many ingredients sourced from the on-site organic gardens.
In the evening you can lounge at the oak-lined Le Churchill Bar, styled after a vintage Pullman railway carriage, where guests can hear staff tell tales of the hotel’s celebrated guests, ranging from Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt to Charlie Chaplin and the Rolling Stones.
More information: Nightly rates from around £350 per night in low season, £600 per night in high season; mamounia.com
