marrakech

Four Seasons Marrakech Set to Open This Summer

Four Seasons Marrakech Set to Open This Summer
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is set to open its newest property this summer, the Four Seasons Hotel Marrakech. The luxe hotel situated in a 40-acre walled oasis will feature 140 rooms and suites, five restaurants, two pools, an extensive spa, and acres of sunlit gardens. Offering a modern take on traditional Moorish architecture, rose-hued pavilions with hand-carved details are surrounded by a lush landscape of swimming and reflecting pools, gardens, pathways and fountains. Buildings are low-rise so as not to obstruct stunning views of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and Menara Gardens beyond the Hotel's towering palms.

Two Spa pavilions sit among gardens filled with birds and exotic flora. The main pavilion offers 15 treatment rooms for massages, facials and body treatments, plus a salon and whirlpool. Surrounding the Hotel's posh public spaces, pavilions of guest rooms and suites form a village connected by arcades, walkways and courtyards evoking a contemporary medina filled with riads. Each of the 140 guest rooms and suites, which are among the largest in the city, has its own spacious balcony or terrace with mountain and garden views.

Gallery: Four Seasons Hotel Marrakech

Tags: architecture, Four Seasons, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, hotels, luxury hotels, Marrakech, marrakesh, Morocco, resorts, spa

Gael Garcia Bernal on the Past, Present and Future of Cinema

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

Actor, Producer, and Director Gael Garcia Bernal came to Marrakech to serve on the jury of the 10th annual festival, which brought together cinema from Morocco to Mexico. "It's incredible to be here, isn't it?" he announced, greatly enjoying the relaxed vibe of the festival. Bernal, who recently served on juries in Berlin and Cannes, seemed right at home in Marrakech, enjoying the city amidst his festival duties. "I had some time off and I was very happy to come and play around."

Among his many duties, besides critically viewing 14 films in competition, was to entertain the questions of the international press gathered. After Eva Mendes, a special guest of the festival spoke to journalists on how Latinos and other ethnic roles are very underrepresented in the film industry, Bernal replied, "Well maybe she should work in Latin America."

"I wold never play a Finnish guy, even though I look like one," he jested. "They would never call me because of my accent." To play devil's advocate on the topic, Bernal asked, "Do we expect films to be democratic? In a way, that gives a moral stature to films that they shouldn't have. Films should be completely free. If you finance a film in Mexico, no one's going to tell you 'we're not going ethnic.'"

I sat down with Bernal at the famous La Mamounia hotel to discuss just why Mexican cinema is at the forefront of international film, beyond the sheer talent of its actors and directors. When Amores Perros converged onto the international scene in 2000, "it was a very interesting moment in cinema in the world, because there weren't so many surprises," he said.

Tags: gael garcia bernal, marrakech, marrakech film festival

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RSVIP: Anjelica Huston Hosts "Red Night by Marrakech" in New York

by Jeffrey Slonim (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events

Many tourism dinners backfire. Long, less than exuberant speeches can drain the life from even the most exotic destination. But with the trademarked "Red Night by Marrakech" campaign, with its key hole-shaped gates set up about Manhattan, Morocco has touted itself elegantly . . . leaving their worldly hostess, Anjelica Huston, to impart the glamour of her favored travel destination.

With the help of PR guru Vanessa von Bismark, on Tuesday, September 28, Mr. Hamid Addou, CEO of the Moroccan National Tourist Office, transformed Skylight Studios in New York, a behemoth, blank white space into a red-lit Moroccan kasbah. An acre of red plush carpet, striped couches, ornate lanterns, and shiny silver coffee services decorating star-shaped metal tables, added a touch of Marrakech souq or marketplace to the cocktail hour.

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps mentioned having traveled to Marrakech and Casablanca often. "My ex-husband was always entering his Aston Martin in the rally of Morocco," the Countess told Luxist. "I remember driving across the Atlas Mountains, getting sideswiped by a van, and losing a door."

Nearby, our stately hostess, Anjelica Huston, wore a shimmering red dress by Pamela Barish. "I love Morocco," she said. "Gateway to the East . . . beautiful, mysterious, romantic . . . great shopping."

Tags: countess luann de lesseps, marrakech, morocco, morrocan tourism, rsvip

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Richard Branson's Kasbah Tamadot: Tacky or Fabulous?

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

There is such a fine line between tacky and spectacular -- sometimes over-designed is over-the-top and sometimes it just makes you feel, well, over it.

I was musing on this distinction as I toured Kasbah Tamadot, Sir Richard Branson's Moroccan hotel, a few weeks ago.

The setting, it has to be said, is uncontroversially spectacular. It's about an hour from Marrakech in a town called Asni. This is in the Atlas Mountains, and it's not a well-developed area for luxury travelers. (Most of whom stay in plush accommodations in the city and make Atlas Mountain forays -- which in fact is what I was doing, at the decidedly fabulous La Mamounia.) If you want to stay in style in the Atlas Mountains, this is your hotel. But you've really got to like it, because once you're there, you're really there. If you want other high-end dining, spa or shopping options, you're driving the winding road to Marrakech.

Kasbah Tamadot offers suites of the traditional variety, and then there are the Berber Tent suites, which have their own private decks and plunge pools. "Restrained" would still not be the word I'd use for the décor, but the color palette is more towards the khaki and cream, and the tents skip some of the touches in the other rooms that set my tacky-o-meter aquiver -- like pillows upholstered in pinkish-purplish feathers. Yes, a tent's what I'd book if I were to stay here. But do check out the gallery and see what you think.

Gallery: Kasbah Tamadot: Tacky or Fabulous?

But It's Hard to Argue With This View...

Tags: la mamounia, marrakech, MarrakechHotel, Morocco, Richard Branson

Visit the Yves Saint Laurent Memorial in Marrakech

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Charity

Marrakech has long been the playground for Europe's jet set, and Paris-based Yves Saint Laurent had a second home there that he frequented. So, around 1980, when he learned that one of the city's most stunning gardens, Jardin Majorelle, had fallen into disrepair, he and his partner Pierre Berge bought it. They opened it to the public, and did the public ever come. It's now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Red City.

When Saint Laurent died in 2008, his ashes were scattered at Jardin Majorelle. And so, for 25 dirham, you can tour the garden and pay your respects. His official memorial is tucked away in the back of the garden. The simple concrete pillar is a bit bland, in comparison to the lush tropical and desert plants, fountains, and piercing cobalt blue buildings and accents.

But then again, fashion designers don't tend to have over-the-top monument-style memorials. Their funerals or memorial services are their glitzy last act -- think Gianni Versace, Alexander McQueen. Some leave part of their fortunes to worthy causes -- Geoffrey Beene, for instance, endowed a cancer research center at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital. And of course all of them leave their legacies hanging in the many closets of the fashionable.

Gallery: Tour Jardin Majorelle, Yves Saint Laurent Garden in Marrakech

Tags: marrakech, yves saint laurent

Escape and Immerse in Marrakech at La Mamounia

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Writing about Marrakech, the celebrated writer Elias Canetti said this: "in order to feel at home in a strange city, you need to have a secluded room, to which you have a certain title, and in which you can be alone when the tumult of new and incomprehensible voices becomes too great."

La Mamounia, the recently renovated historic luxury hotel of the Red City, makes for an excellent refuge. It achieves sanctuary, from sights and smells and other sensory assaults in a city where everything seems heightened.

But while some hotels in overwhelming destinations achieve this effect by essentially encasing guests in a blank box of international luxury blandness, the redesigned La Mamounia remains firmly planted in its location: you never forget you're in Morocco. You're inside the city walls and quite near to the Koutoubia mosque. You hear the muezzin issuing the call-to-prayer, but the rooms are equipped with sound canceling blinds allow you to more or less skip the 5 a.m. edition.
During the extensive three-year renovation which updated the hotel from what I heard described as "eighties-tastic", as many as 1,500 craftsman labored in a single day to create the intricate plasterwork, hand-tiling, painted ceilings and leather-tooling that tastefully embellish the property. It looks as if the Moorish details had always been there, but that's just a trick of the eye -- it's all brand new. The rather boxy shape of the hotel's exterior is a good reminder of this.

There's terrific people watching here-- the hotel has been and remains celeb magnet, hosting Winston Churchill in the way back when, and Sarah Jessica Parker more recently. (And that is perhaps the only reason those two will ever appear together in a sentence.) Its mostly European guests do tend to be those who think of themselves as celebrities, for instance, one gentleman who looked just a great deal like the guy from the Old Spice commercials, but wasn't, repeatedly doused himself with baby oil and induced the pool staff to take his photo, while a bikini'd woman did push-ups in the shallow end of the pool.

Presumably the real celebrities decamp to the hotels newly opened and totally private three bedroom riads, which have their own private pools.

Gallery: La Mamounia, Marrakech

Tags: la mamounia, marrakech, morocco, mosque, sarah jessica parker, Winston Churchill

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Le Royal Mansour Marrakech

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The King of Morocco plans to open a new ultra-luxurious hotel, Le Royal Mansour Marrakech, in November. HM King Mohammed VI has spared no expense to create a new icon of Moroccan elegance and establish the locale as one if the world's premier luxury travel destinations. The hotel consists of 53 riads, Moroccan-style dwellings lavishly furnished with silks and brocades, ornate tiles, handcrafted wood and antique furniture and interior gardens, ranging in size from 1,400-sq.-ft. to a palatial 21,520-sq.-ft.

They feature roof terraces (above) with sun beds and private pools provide stunning views of Marrakech or the Atlas mountains. Built into the ancient wall of Marrakech, the resort recreates an historical medina and is punctuated with Andalusian courtyards, winding alleyways, and spectacular water displays and fountains. In addition to the riads, the eight-acre property will feature three restaurants and a 26,900 sq.-ft. spa located in its own glazed pavilion surrounded by a moat with a fitness center, treatment rooms, and an indoor pool.

Tags: Marrakech, Morocco, pool, Royal Mansour, Royal Mansour Marrakech, RoyalMansour, RoyalMansourMarrakech, royalty

Churchill Painting To Be Auctioned Off

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Winston Churchill was a man of many talents - the master statesman was a Nobel Prize winning author as well as well-respected amateur artist. He painted Marrakech around 1948 and gifted the work to President Truman. In a note accompanying the painting, Churchill described his work as as "about as presentable as anything I can produce." The painting, which depicts one of the city's gates against the backdrop of the Atlas mountains, became one of the American president's most prized possessions, leading him declare, "I shall treasure the picture as long as I live and it will be one of the most valued possessions I will be able to leave to (daughter) Margaret when I pass on." Truman did leave the painting to his daughter upon his death in 1972 and now she is putting it up for auction. Now valued at $1.03, it hits the auction block at Sotheby's in London on December 13. The previous record for a work by Churchill was set in July, when his Chartwell Landscape with Sheep sold for $2.06 million.

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Tags: art, art auction, ArtAuction, chartwell landscape with sheep, ChartwellLandscapeWithSheep, churchill painting, ChurchillPainting, marrakech, painting, president truman, PresidentTruman, sothebys, winston churchill, WinstonChurchill

Octogone To Open First Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Octogone Hotels is opening their new luxury resort, Terre in Marrakech this month. The sumptuous Moroccan hotel spreads out over 12 acres and has 52 suites, which are all octagonal. Terre is the first of eight resorts planned across Morocco each with a one word named that embraces the basic concept of the resort. Terre includes a spa with treatments such as a four-handed hot oil massage by two therapists. Terre has three restaurants include Milagros which serves Cuban Moorish fusion food and the Royal Suites have the option of private chefs to cater to your every whim.

The octagonal concept comes from U.S. entrepreneur Christian Rivadalla. Rivadalla, who doesn't speak any French or Arabic but fell in love with Morocco, sees the octagon as the perfect dream. According to a recent profile, he envisions his new hotels as filling a valuable niche, introducing luxury travelers to this beautiful region.

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Tags: fusion food, marrakech, morocco, terre, travel