La Mamounia

About this place

La Mamounia is more than a hotel — it is a Marrakech institution that has hosted royalty, heads of state, and cultural icons since its opening in 1923. The property takes its name from the 18th-century Alaouite Prince Moulay Mamoun, to whom his father Sultan Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah gifted extensive gardens as a wedding present in the 1780s. These gardens, known as the Arsat Moulay Mamoun, became the setting for the palace hotel that would define Moroccan luxury hospitality. The hotel was designed by renowned French architects Henri Prost and Antoine Marchisio, blending traditional Moroccan architecture — zellige tiles, carved plaster, cedar wood ceilings — with Art Deco elegance. Over the decades, La Mamounia has welcomed an extraordinary roster of guests including Winston Churchill, who called it "the most lovely spot in the whole world," Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Nelson Mandela, and countless fashion designers and Hollywood stars. Churchill painted the Atlas Mountains from his balcony here. The hotel has undergone several renovations, most notably a complete restoration in 2009 under designer Jacques Garcia, yet it remains a symbol of Marrakech's golden-age glamour and its unique position between East and West.