Lessons From the Robb Report – “Best of the Best”
The famed city walls of Marrakech have some fresh competition from a not-so-humble neighbor: the Royal Mansour Hotel. Included in the 2011 edition of the Best of the Best List compiled by the luxury goods resource the Robb Report, the Royal Mansour more than pays homage to its city’s imperial splendor, it recreates it.
The sheer scale and pedigree of this particular project set expectations high from the first. Developed by King Mohammed VI himself, the massive complex was conceived as an echo of the legendary Medieval city that birthed it. The imposing, red clay walls that blocked its construction from the public eye now enclose a network of lanes and squares that wend their way between riads, the opulent courtyard palaces that were constructed throughout the medieval center during the city’s mercantile heyday. But unlike the bustling souks of the medina, the lanes here skirt serene ponds and fountains, clusters of silvering olive trees, and boughs of bougainvillea.
The riads themselves echo the decorative and architectural flourishes of Marrakesh’s most illustrious buildings. The stark symmetry of the 12th century Koutoubia mosque, the explosions of geometric lattice of the Saadian Tombs, the elaborate woodworking that graces doorways of even the humblest homes throughout the old city – all this is on profuse display within the walls of the Royal Mansour, a testament to the Imperial city’s great artistic heritage, and the continued excellence of the artisans who keep those traditions alive.
A stay at the Royal Mansour, then, is far more than the ultimate in modern-day pampering, though of course it is that. A Mercedes S600 escort from the airport, a staff whose movements through a network of underground passageways are so discreet and expert as to go all but unnoticed, a private palace with an individual courtyard, multiple fireplaces, living rooms, bars, powder rooms, plunge pools, and roof-top tents with city views – all these are the building blocks of pure, unadulterated luxury.
But it is craftsmanship that saves the Royal Mansour from being “over-the-top” by anchoring this extraordinary property to the marvelous cultural traditions that produced it. Marrakech has been beguiling visitors for centuries. The Royal Mansour, in all its opulence, style, and tradition, is a reminder of exactly why.
LOOK NOW: Don’t let the summer heat deter you. After all, won’t you want an excuse to sequester yourself? Contact the hotel’s reservations offices to book your own royal escape now.
