100 Years of Briliance
By: Martin Váša
Photo: La Mamounia / Anselm Rayle
HOW IT STARTED
The home away from home for some of the most influential figures in modern history, it is located within a stone’s throw of the famous Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh. Its story draws you in like a book that immediately makes the reader forget the world outside. The first one was written more than two hundred years before the first guests arrived. That is before the French architects Henri Prost and Antoine Marchisio, captivated by Moroccan architecture and the Art Deco style, brought the hotel into existence exactly a century ago. In the 18th century, an Alawi sultan, Mohammed ben Abdallah, gave the 130,000-square-meter orchard as a wedding present to his son Moulay Mamoun. He turned the orchard into a dreamlike garden where the grandest celebrations took place.
ORNATE GLASS DECORATIONS
As a promise of uniqueness, a majestic, hypnotic chandelier is the most prominent feature of the main hall. It is no coincidence that it evokes two intertwined traditional Berber necklaces. Teaming up with Lasvit for the tenth time in order to create a piece celebrating the centenary of the hotel, designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku produced a work of literally incredible proportions. As a result of previous collaboration between the designers and Lasvit, ornate glass objects decorating the Italian trattoria in Bar Majorelle for the past three years were already created for the hotel, as well as the impressive crystal chandelier in the on-site Tea Room.
REMARKABLE RESIDENTS
It is perhaps rather common trying to imagine the stories the walls of important places would tell if only they could. Resisting such a thought at La Mamounia is utterly impossible. Just look over there, for instance. Yes, there. That was Winston Churchill’s fa¬vourite spot, where he liked to relax during many winters. Even today, it is possible to stay in Churchill’s suite. And he wasn’t the only famous politician who fell in love with the place. Upon his recommendation came Franklin D. Roosevelt. And for his one-night stay, the famously tall Charles de Gaulle even had a custom-made bed ordered by another celebrity guest – Alfred Hitchcock. During the 1960s, Marrakesh was already perceived as another fashion capital by many. The popular destination also became a favorite retreat of Yves Saint Laurent. It was in La Mamounia that the fashion designer and his partner Pierre Bergé first settled, returning here for some much-needed peace of mind. And guess where Paul McCartney composed the song “Mamounia” in 1973! Right here!
While the hotel might be celebrating hundredth birthday this year, it’s the guests who are in for a surprise party of extraordinary experiences wrapped in a design that is both innovative and re¬spectful of local folklore.
