Once upon a time, a young King of Morocco, who was said to be
the seventh richest monarch in the world, decided to build a hotel.
But this hotel was different because there was no budget and no cap
on expenses. Only a royal edict to make it the most beautiful of
Moroccan architecture in the world.
"It was handmade by 1,200 artisans using the best stones,
marbles, tiles, silks, satins, beads, feathers and cedar. No one,
to this day, knows how much it cost," said a Dow Jones
reporter.
The Royal Mansour is now open. And Scheherazade would have found
enough cozy corners in which to tell a different tale on a
different divan every night.
It doesn't advertise and it's a word-of-mouth hotel. And it is
not cheap: Prices run from US$1,928 a night for a one-bedroom riad
(a traditional, three-story, Moroccan-style house), to $5,397 for a
two-bedroom, or $38,552 for the almost 20,000-square-foot Riad
d'Honneur.
"The experience begins on the tarmac at the Marrakech airport when
an arriving guest is whisked out of the line of weary travelers,
led to a quiet room and offered sustenance while passports and
baggage tags are collected. Within minutes one is escorted out of
the airport into a discreet shiny black Mercedes. Well, fairly
discreet. The bags are in the trunk and passports are returned
inside the car. All this is done in reverse upon departure,
bringing home the notion of what it really means to be staying, as
it were, with a king. "
Arriving at the airport, visitors find a massive entry gate -- a
four-ton marvel of wood sculpted and covered in bronze.
During construction the king showed up one day at this gate,
said "It's not big enough," and departed without entering. The gate
is now about one-third bigger, and the hotel staff are still
awaiting a first visit from the king. His extended family, however,
have been frequent guests and are said to report to him daily by
phone.
"The hotel is designed like an old Moroccan city with winding
paths lined with lily ponds and fountains that open suddenly into
sunny squares of palm trees, brilliant bougainvillea and aromatic
olive and lemon trees. The public spaces-lounges, bars, library,
and restaurants-are built, as are the 53 accommodations, as riads
with all rooms on all levels opening inwardly onto a courtyard and
upwardly to an array of carved arches," the reporter found.
The rugs are woven suede and leather, the couches and chairs
silk and velvet brocades, the crystal Lalique, Baccarat and
Venetian, the swathed silk curtains harnessed by mother-of-pearl
inlaid tiebacks.
And yes, there is a spa, a 27,000-square-foot airy white
lacework frame that is a kind of pale marble temple to the human
body. "Don't, under any circumstances, leave Marrakech without
having a hamam-a classic Turkish bath-here with Abdelkader al
Ibtikar," says the author.
Scheherazade? It's here.
