La Mamounia

Since its founding in the eleventh century, Marrakech has known an exceptional fate, as well as beauty. In this city, intricate design and craftsmanship can be found everywhere, in mosques, palaces, and schools, and even throughout ponds and gardens. Marrakech's famed hotel La Mamounia is intimately linked to this flourishing of Moroccan artisanship, which has contributed to making its status as a world-class venue. In 2009, La Mamounia finished a complete revival?thanks to three years of renovations organized by the French decorator Jacques Garcia, in close collaboration with many Moroccan craftsmen. Among its walls, floors, and tapestries, run your fingers over arabesques and fine calligraphy. The decorative repertoire here is of great wealth, an inheritance of both a Hispano-Moorish past and of the present local cultures, incorporated by Garcia. From the fineness of an embroidered silk to the splendor of carved marble, La Mamounia pays them all tribute, celebrating these materials integrated among the comfort and luxurious hospitality here. To turn the pages of this stunning book is to embark on a sensorial journey, one that celebrates the refined Moroccan lifestyle. Be a virtual guest at La Mamounia?where visitors enter and ascend a gorgeous staircase, inhaling the sweet fragrance of candied dates, to discover the hotel. Then, relax with a cool glass of almond-scented milk and platters of succulent dates, a way to welcome you in the traditional manner. In 130 illustrations, take a tour of La Mamounia, which holds an elegant balance between tradition and modernity. A visit to this oasis is to live in a contemporary tale of the Arabian Nights. ILLUSTRATIONS: 130 photographs