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In Marrakech, La Mamounia is a World Class Address
by Muguette Goufrani
I
look forward to a return visit to La Mamounia this month. It's a
meeting place of the world, where myself, friends and family spent
many happy moments during my career in Morocco's travel industry and
during my years in college. For the many readers of Africa Travel
Magazine and its web site, I am pleased to provide a brief outline of
the hotel. Much more will be added later, including a gallery of
photos we plan to take during our current tour and visit to La
Mamounia.
How did La Mamounia get its name? The hotel's name was derived
from its beautiful, spacious and deliciously perfumed gardens - a
unique wedding gift to the Prince Moulay Mamoun from his father some
200 years ago (more about the gardens later). In 1922, architects
Prost and Marchisio designed the hotel, combining the popular Art
Deco look with traditional Moroccan designs.
George Washington slept here? No but many well known icons of our times, from Ronald and Nancy Reagan, to Nelson Mandela, Charles de Gaule, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill - helped make La Mamounia one of the most famous addresses in North Africa. Churchill referred to it as,"the most lovely spot in the whole world." Today, the suite this famous man stayed in 1943 during the Casablanca Conference was renamed in his honor. One of the world's great hotels, La Mamounia is located on the walls of the ancient city of Marrakech with the snow-capped Atlas mountains as a panoramic backdrop. What a grand movie setting! Speaking of movies, several well known films used La Mamounia as a setting, including "Morocco" with Marlene Dietrich, Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Charlton Heston, Omar Sharif, Nicole Kidman, Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise are a few of the celebrities who've stayed here.
What does La Mamounia offer its guests? Outstanding dining in La Marocain Restaurant, and other fine facilities in the hotel. Spacious guest rooms and suites with high ceilings and balconies that offer views of the historic city and/or the fragrant Mamounia gardens. Modern as today's most elegant, world class hotels in terms of facilities, yet furnished and decorated in the art deco tradition, with an authentic Moorish touch.
If you like to keep active, there's a golf driving range on site, plus a swimming pool, tennis and squash courts, beauty and health spa, fitness center. There are two golf courses nearby, and you're less than an hour's drive from downhill skiing in the Atlas Mountains. How's that for starters.
