It’s a Moroccan fantasy, the most seductive and luscious and exciting hotel in the world. Come with me for a visit and learn some secrets. We’ll also take a private tour of the mystical Jardin Majorelle and be invited for a privileged insider visit to Villa Oasis, the romantic private residence of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge’. You know I love Morocco. I especially adore Marrakech, the legendary city. I was incredibly fortunate recently to spend a week there, researching the historic architecture, rare craftsmanship, and gardens. It was my great pleasure to return to the legendary La Mamounia hotel, the favorite winter digs of Winston Churchill. La Mamounia is a kind of paradise, ultra-private, with walls of filigreed stucco, colors Matisse loved, hand-carved and gilded cedar doors and ceilings, and slightly decadent silken aromas that waft through the air. From each terrace and doorway are sun-struck visions of orange blossom and flickering palm trees. Is this a dream, a mirage? The hotel has certain perfection—every moment is bliss—and one has to thank genial Didier Picquot, who has been General Manager of La Mamounia since 2008 when he arrived to overse the extensive restoration of the hotel planned by the great Jacques Garcia. M. Picquot (he counts The Ritz and The Lyford Cay Members’ Club in The Bahamas among his previous trophy properties) and his staff have everything under so control that guests enjoy calm, unruffled moments. Classic hotel service is anticipatory. A pair of La Mamounia Havaianas sandals, a perfect fit, appears seconds after the intention of spending time at the pool is voiced. Dusty medina-meandering shoes are cleaned overnight. Baggage comes and goes invisibly. Reservations are made. Cars, drivers and expert guides are at hand. Imagine a hotel suite designed by the great French decorator Jacques Garcia. It’s in legendary Marrakech, with rich centuries of history, French associations, migratory cultures, virtuoso craftsmanship, and intensely authentic life. Garcia, his dreams at their most voluptuous, looked to Orientalist paintings to find red silk velvet Empire-style chairs and odalisque-ready sofas. He layered walls with wainscots of incantatory tiles, and then turned up the volume with carved plaster so intricate and endlessly serpentine that the effect is sheer magic, a solid material turned into light and vapor. Arches frame the bed, honed white/pale grey marble is lavished on bathroom walls and floors, the shower is a luxe temple with domed ceiling and tiny pearlescent tiles. A clawfoot tub balances an array of loofahs and toiletries, from fragrant soaps to gels and potions and creams. Why ever leave? “Marrakech stands on the great fertile plain of Haouz, seventeen hundred feet above sea level. Some eight miles of timeworn ramparts enclose the thronging hive of people. Dynasty after dynasty of Sultans enriched Marrakech with the finest architecture of their epoch; it became a royal city, the capital of the South. And it became the market for camel caravans from all the remote oases of North Africa, with their walnuts and oranges, gold and silk and hides, spices, dates, and precious metals. And so it has been for centuries.”—Gavin Maxwell, Lords of the Atlas Green tiles glimmer as a border for a hand-woven wool carpet. Ceilings of carved and gilded cedar, utterly traditional, gleam and shimmer in the soft light of evening. I am entranced. I never want to leave. And then there is a knock on the door—and a handsome waiter arrives with mint tea and silver trays of macaroons of infinitely lovely floral flavors. Swoon. Swoon. And swoon. “Morocco appears to exist in its very own light, a light of preternatural purity which gives a foretaste of mirage. It’s the light in which magic becomes real, and which helps to understand how, to people living in such an atmosphere, the boundary between fact and dream perpetually fluctuates.” — Edith Wharton, ‘In Morocco’ (1920) La Mamounia: A Design Dream Fulfilled There is always a moment when I’ve been out all day traversing the souks (turquoise suede slippers, a great find, an antique trade bead necklace, another) and silently walking through the Saadian tombs (breath-taking), and palaces –and I return to La Mamounia. After refreshing and dressing for evening, I wander down to the Majorelle bar to people watch, make notes, read reference books, meet a friend, observe, send over requests to the musical trio (Vernon Duke, Harold Arlen, George Gershwin) and then perhaps wander out into the candlelit garden. Away in the distance, there’s a dusting of snow on the Atlas Mountains. At Le Marocain restaurant, situated in a riad in the garden, guests dine on a sheltered terrace surrounding a lily pond. I requested a vegetable tagine, and nibbled on savory pastries and little spicy salads—but it was the hauntingly beautiful Andalusian/Moroccan music by a costumed quartet that was most enthralling. Lutes! Drums thrumming! Songs in intricate patterns and harmonies and sprung rhythms captured the beauty of the beloved. The effect was so lovely, so unique to Morocco. In the aura of penumbral light, the music seemed to float to the heavens. “In Marrakech the sky is a Wagnerian celebration: indigo with pinpricks of starlight, deep sapphire, cerulean, its colors are funneling down through the horizon in the wake of the setting sun. The vivid sounds of the medina are borne towards me, dramatic cried, metallic clashes. The fairy-tale buildings seem to float above the feathery tops of the palm trees in stark but serene radiance.” — Anthony Gladstone-Thompson, ‘Morocco in the 1960s”. Dining at La Mamounia: Flavor and Seduction Menu Traditionnel Harira Marrakchia aux Dattes Traditional Moroccan Harira soup with dates *** Petite dégustation de notre sélection de fines salades marocaines Assortment of fine Moroccan salads *** Dorade à la méthode de Fès Fes style baked sea bream *** Tagine d’agneau aux petits pois et fonds d’artichauts Lamb tagine with green peas and artichoke Couscous aux sept légumes Couscous with seven vegetables *** Salade d’orange à la cannelle, fleur d’oranger et son granité Cinnamon scented orange salad with orange blossom water and orange sherbet Menu Contemporain Soupe de langoustine au céleri comme une harira Harira style langoustine soup with celery *** Tride au foie gras de canard concassé de dattes et coing Duck “foie gras” tride with dates and quince *** Tagine de lotte au safran et palourdes d’Agadir fondue de fenouil, pommes grenaille et olives rouges Saffron scented monkfish and clams tagine, fennel fondue, potato and red olives *** Mignon de bœuf en tagine, concassé de blé et jus de pied de veau au pois chiches Beef loin tagine with wheat and veal jus with chickpeas *** Tarte sablée à l’orange, coulis d’oranges confites, chantilly à la fleur d’oranger Orange tart, candied orange marmalade, orange blossom whipped cream AND FOR SPECIAL ORDER: Pastilla Wazzania au miel “Wazzania” pastilla with chicken, almond and honey Epaule d’agneau à la vapeur, accompagnée de petits légumes Steamed lamb shoulder with baby vegetables Méchoui d’agneau Oven baked lamb Jarret de bœuf entier à la terfesse et celeri vert Whole braised veal shank with Moroccan truffle and celery Daurade royale au four Oven roasted sea bream In Praise of Enchantment: Jardin Majorelle and the Legacy of Yves Saint Laurent Just a few minutes drive from La Mamounia, the Jardin Majorelle is one of my favorite gardens in the world, and when I’m in Marrakech a visit is first on my agenda. It’s an eccentric and highly focused garden. Rare specimens of cactuses, handsome bamboo varieties, cycads, palm trees, and Moroccan native trees flourish here. For those whose idea of a ‘garden’ is a riot of color and flowers, this is not the place. Tones of green—from celadon to emerald and back—force the eye to see shadows, shapes, textures and patterns. Fluttering palm fronds, twisting pathways, and shimmering bamboo leaves create a hyper-hallucinogenic atmosphere, especially on a hot summer afternoon. The original private garden was founded in 1924 by the French artist/designer Jacques Majorelle, and in 1947 it opened to the public. Over the years until 1962 Majorelle created a rare and magical landscape of mysterious force and power. Later, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge saved the garden from destruction. Twelve years ago they handed it over to the privately funded Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent, to ensure its careful management and continued beauty. International visitors come to the garden to pay homage to Yves Saint Laurent who is commemorated by a broken column that stands discreetly in a peaceful bamboo grove. I was very fortunate to spend time at Jardin Majorelle with Madison Cox, one of the world’s most influential landscape designers. Originally from California, he is now the Garden Director. Madison recently opened the Berber Museum in the grounds of the garden to showcase the arts and culture and costumes of Berber tribes. Cox’s plan is to maintain the gardens to the highest quality, and especially to honor the genius and personal vision of Jacques Majorelle in perpetuity. With Madison at the helm, the garden will continue to thrill. Villa Oasis Madison invited me to visit the Villa Oasis, adjacent to the Jardin Majorelle. It’s the legendary residence where Yves Saint Laurent worked on his collections, and where he and Pierre Berge hosted the likes of Loulou de la Falaise, Betty Cautroux, members of the Hermes family, and French artists and writers and bright young things too fabulous even to imagine. Interiors were designed in homage to Moroccan style by Bill Willis and Jacques Grange. Photographs here by Oberto Gili capture the complexity of every surface, captivating color harmonies, and the mysterious and magical Moroccan traditional crafts, arts, materials and cultural agglomeration. I walked silently through the house with one of the sweet family dogs, with just the sound of palm trees clicking in the wind high above. There are the sofas where Saint Laurent reclined, and here are the gold-framed Orientalist paintings Berge, with his attuned and expert eye, has collected over the decades. The bustle and jangle of Marrakech is far distant as I wander from room to room, mesmerized by the hand-smoothed green plaster walls, and kaleidoscopes of tile patterns on walls, floors, columns, and tables. Though the locked gate once more, I circled slowly through the Jardin Majorelle. In the pond beside the museum, two turtles carrying their carapaces aloft, paddle among the magenta and shocking pink lilies. In the gift shop vibrant necklaces of silk cord and jade by Loulou de la Falaise are displayed in vitrines. I lurk in the bookshop, adding to my collection of Yves Saint Laurent books (already almost a bookcase full), and poking through a selection of post cards of vintage Moroccan portraits. Villa Oasis gardens Villa Oasis gardens Villa Oasis gardens Villa Oasis gardens Eventually I found my driver, and we headed back to La Mamounia in the late afternoon's golden haze. We swept through the gates, very low-key, to be greeted by the retinue of doormen and staff in handsome traditional uniforms. Riad living room Riad bedroom Riad bedroom La Mamounia: I adore the hotel and everything in it. The air is a mysterious fragrance of roses and cedar and palm leaves. Soaps and toiletries, lavish, offer scents of mint and palm and dry desert air, designed by Olivia Giacobetti, Parisian perfumeur. Elevators, with their low light, hand-tooled leather, and prismatic mirrored walls, offer a whiff of tobacco and a tantalizing hint of Scheherazade. Closets in suites overlooking the palms and the Koutoubia mosque are furnished with Hermes orange leather boxes and cabinets. Twenty-four acres of historic gardens allow guests to wander in perfect peace. Nothing interrupts the reverie. Staff are chic and charming, worldly and witty. Here all is luxe, calme et volupte. I can’t wait to return. Riad pool Hotel La Mamounia: www.mamounia.com Avenue Bab Jdid Marrakech Design of La Mamounia: Décoration Jacques Garcia 212, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris – France Tel. 33-(0)1 42 97 48 70 Fax 33-(0)1 42 97 48 10 www.decorationjacquesgarcia.com Jardin Majorelle Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Avenue Yacoub El Mansour. www.jardinmajorelle.com Credits: Interiors of Villa Oasis by Oberto Gili. Photography of Jardin Majorelle and Villa Oasis gardens by Diane Dorrans Saeks. Photography of La Mamounia by Anson Smart, used with express permission.