Marrakech intoxicates—this madly eclectic bustling city bombards your senses, slapping you in the face with complete sensory overload in a potent mix of colour, caterwauling, aromas, and the general daily hustle, and bustle.
The city is an architectural wonderland of mosques, palaces, gardens, and the densely packed Médina [old walled city] hidden behind the ramparts, with its maze-like alleyways and thriving souks [markets] selling traditional Berber rugs, textiles, pottery, jewellery, spices, handicrafts, traditional babouche slippers, and so much more, is mind boggling, and utterly fascinating.
Understated luxury at Mandarin Oriental Marrakech
It’s also why you need a calming space to escape. The Mandarin Oriental Marrakech is the ultimate Moroccan getaway. An oasis of luxury embedded within 50 acres of cooling pools and verdant, fragrant gardens. Centuries-old olive trees, cactus, prickly pear blossoms, orange and almond trees and 100,000 scented roses are all backdropped by the magnificent snow-capped High Atlas Mountains. Fragrant jasmine, rose geranium, and night-blooming jasmine [Cestrum nocturnum] assail you with their sweet scents.
Scattered among the palm trees, pink bougainvillaea cut into Japanese shapes nod to the group’s Asian origins. The gardens are even more magical at nightfall when the lanterns glow and the flowers and plants release their more of their intoxicating essence. The Mandarin Oriental is a cocooning antidote to the madness of the city, from which you can dip in and out when the heat and the noise.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A discreet gateway leads to a palm tree-lined avenue, referencing the traditional Moroccan palm groves, and small round green hillocks recall the dunes of the South Moroccan desert. The hotel is set within a collonaded quadrant lined with el hindia [prickly pear], in a nod to Moroccan rural living where it is used as a hedge as protection for houses and rural villages, and field crops
The project’s architect is Pascal Desprez, with interiors by French duo Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier. The hotel is sophisticated, luxurious yet relaxed, stylish, and unostentatious. The glamorous interior is a mix of clean lines, symmetrical forms, and subtle Arabic, Berber and Andalusian styles with bold contrasts of black and white and patterns mixed with contemporary furnishings resulting in a refined sense of place.
Rooms & Villas
Gilles and Boissier reference Moroccan crafts, white and black mosaic floors, and the walls adorned with typical warm H’ssira star mats incorporating subtle Berber motifs. The walled villas nestle amid the beautiful Moorish gardens. Each villa has an individual rose colour. Huge wooden doors open onto a fabulously spacious courtyard wrapped around a swimming pool, with a sprawling sun bed and a large shaded day bed nook.
There is an alfresco kitchen where staff can prepare the ultimate room service menus. A dining area and contemporary clean-lined white sofas sitting around an open fire. Inside, the villas are chic and modern with a local flavour and an Asian aesthetic for which the Mandarin Oriental is known.
The villas have an intimate and contemplative spirit with a calm and serene ambience, relaxed luxury with Berber and Arab-Andalusian touches, and a desert-inspired palette throughout the light, airy spaces, incorporating Moroccan elements, locally made Berber rugs, zellige tiles, and stone floors.
A king-size bed with a swirling hot tub at its foot and sumptuous bathrooms have acres of space, a round soaking tub and a hammam built into the shower, an outdoor shower and a walk-in dressing room. The result is a cool, calm, contemporary oasis.
Four luxury suites have plunge pools and balconies with views of the Atlas Mountains. Two Infinity Pool Suites have a garden, a hammam, a private spa and a private infinity pool.
KITCHEN GARDEN
Lovingly and rigorously maintained, the organic vegetable garden supplies the hotel’s kitchens. What isn’t grown here is purchased from nearby farmers or vendors. They grow an incredible 90 varieties of tomato (black, red, green, yellow, blue and even bi- and tri-coloured varieties.
Original and rare varieties include chaillotte (like a flat pear that tastes like cucumber), cardoons, purslane and Armenian and Lebanese cucumbers. Plus aubergines, courgettes, beans, pumpkins, the traditional base ingredient of couscous, beets (white, red, yellow and striped), Swiss chard, carrots and artichokes.
The herbs include absinthe, sage, rosemary, verbena, mint and lemon grass. Take a walk around the vegetable garden, or better still, enjoy a cookery class with the Chef Archaf, picking vegetables and learning how to cook them—enjoying the seasonal dishes under a shaded table in the
The fruit of the gardens cactus and prickly pear go to the kitchens to make ice cream,
and the olive trees supply the hotel’s olive oil. The main hub of the hotel with its restaurants and terraces curve around vast reflecting pools set with weeping willows.
RESTAURANTS AND BARS
Chef Achraf is the Chef de cuisine responsible for Shirvan Restaurant and supporting the culinary team. Executive Chef Mohamed El Marsi, the Head Chef for the resort.
The poolside restaurant, The Pool Garden, serves light Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Overlooking the reflective pools.
Textures, tastes and aromas of traditional Moroccan food mix with those of the West and some subtle hints of Asiatic cuisine at Shirvan Cafe Metisse. For example, Oysters Chermoullah Style, flavoured with a mix of world spices: harissa, ras el hanout (a blend of traditional Moroccan spices), zkhoug (a hot sauce from Yemen) and chimichurri (a sauce from South America). There’s also a Pastilla de Homard (Lobster Tart), the result of a love affair between Moroccan and French gastronomy, and a magnificent Shoulder of Suckling Lamb Confit en Croûte.
Ling Ling by Hakkasan is the fun younger sister of the restaurant group Hakkasan. Ling Ling blends traditional Izakaya cuisine with fine Cantonese Cuisine using local, seasonal ingredients. Taste sensations of small sharing dishes are paired with exotic cocktails. Such as the Fleur de Vie cocktail (vodka, lychee, lemon and fennel, while overlooking the candlelit lake and enjoying chilled beats from in-house DJs.
The wraparound terrace at Ling Ling and Shirvan is a must at cocktail hour. Breakfast is served in your courtyard or at the Shirvan terrace accompanied by a Morrocan musician, such a lovely calming way to start the day.
THE SPA
Inspired by Andalusia’s cathedrals and ancient mosques, this temple of well-being is dedicated to health, holistic healing and rejuvenation. The Spa architecture and layout are designed around the five elements and play with the five senses. Relax in indulgent nutritional spa treatments inspired by Berber, Thai, and Chinese Traditional Medicine in six spa suites and alfresco treatment areas.
Enjoy soothing vitality baths, two Moroccan hammams dedicated to the traditional black soap scrub, a hairdresser, a beauty salon, a yoga studio and a fitness centre. But the jewel in the crown is the cathedral-like brickwork, columns, and endless arches leading to a vast jade-hued indoor pool under a white carved stucco ceiling. All nestled within more gorgeous gardens. There is also a yoga studio and fitness centre.
THE AGENDA
Spend your mornings exploring and getting lost in the historic Medina’s snaking alleyways, feasting on tajines and couscous, and shop until you drop! Take a horse and carriage around the ramparts of the walled mediaeval city with stops at palaces and gardens.
And when the day’s heat gets too much, head back to your villa and spend the afternoon lazing on the super-sized daybed by your pool or in the shaded, extra-large cushioned nook. Or a massage, a leisurely stroll through the gardens before cocktails on the hotel’s sweeping verandah, with the cooling breeze from the pool, [or order an in-room supper]. After which, you can sit by your outdoor fire, sipping a post-prandial drink under the stars by the glow of the fire.
WHAT ELSE
You can jog, cycle, walk around the gardens and olive groves, play tennis, go quad biking, ride horse and camel, and play golf. Links lovers will be thrilled to know that the elegant property grants you direct access to two of Marrakech’s top golf clubs, Royal Golf and Golf Al Maaden. Have a driver and guide take you on shopping and cultural trips into the Medina, the Atlas Mountains, or the Agafay desert. Children have the Kasbah Kid’s Club and a small farm complete with donkeys, goats, and chickens near the Chef’s organic garden, where they can pick vegetables and learn to cook.
Marrakech is not only about the past. A new set of creatives, producers, creators, and tastemakers are preserving artisanal traditions and forging a unique Morrocan style, establishing itself internationally as a thriving centre of creativity with a selection of galleries, ateliers, fabulous museums, and gardens. Unarguably the Mandarin Oriental is a sublime base from which to explore the many spoils of this fabulous city.
Magical Marrakech
It takes its name at the Red City from the red earth that make up its impressive pise [rammed earth walls] made with the red soil from the plains surrounding the city. Jemaa el-Fnaa, the sprawling main square and marketplace in Marrakesh’s Medina quarter (old city) is where during the day, henna tattoo artists bombard you with their calls beckoning passers-by to be decorated with ornately intricate curlicues. Water-sellers in fringed hats clang brass cups together, hoping to drive people to drink, alongside orange juice sellers and chained Barbary apes performing their tricks to order.
But the nightly carnival only really starts to kick off around sunset, when the square fills with dozens of food stalls firing up their grills, selling their Moroccan culinary specialities, spicy snail broth, skewered hearts, bubbling tajines, and flash-fried fish. The aroma is heady. The whine of the snake-charmer pungi flutes begin, accompanied by the whispering fortune tellers, magicians, cartwheeling acrobats, and peddlers of traditional medicines all strutting their stuff.
The Amazigh [Berber] musicians strike up their music, and the gnaoua troupes sing and dance to their repetitive lively beats. The famous Chleuh dancing boys gather and start to perform—the dance and accompanying music building to a crescendo many hours later. The square is jam-packed with people, locals and visitors and a cacophony of sounds and an electric energy that makes your head spin, but it’s a show you should not miss.
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An internationally recognised interior architect and landscape designer, she has worked on numerous projects around the world. An eye for detail and love of all things art, architecture, travel and design have led to a nomadic lifestyle resulting in a greater focus on travel and lifestyle feature writing. She is a contributor for a range of international print publications. Living between Hong Kong, Cape Town, and London, traveling anywhere.
