Winston's wonder
The hotel world has its fair share of names that conjure up mystique, history and intrigue. In an occasional new series, we take a closer look at some of those legends. To kick off, Jenny Webster visits La Mamounia, in the North African city of Marrakech.
One of the best known visitors to La Mamounia in Marrakech, Morocco, was British statesman Winston Churchill. He first visited the hotel in 1935, and wrote to his wife, Clementine: "I have found the most idyllic place on earth and I hope that you will be with me the next time I come."
Churchill was to frequent the hotel many more times until his death in 1965. Today, guests can still stay in the rooms he took, now collectively known as the Winston Churchill suite. In the middle of the living room stands his easel, where he painted views of the Atlas Mountains, which can be seen from Marrakech on a clear day. Replicas of his hat and stick hang on a hat stand. The rooms are comfortable but not luxurious - the bathroom, for example, is surprisingly small. But the cachet that pervades these rooms gives them a price tag of a cool US$1,400 (£1,000) per night - high for North Africa, where rates are traditionally lower than in Europe.
The Winston Churchill suite may command one of the higher prices at La Mamounia, but it is by no means atypical. The average achieved room rate at the 231-bedroom hotel is $350 (£250) per night, not far short of the $400 (£286) monthly wage earned by the average member of staff. Overall turnover is more than $25m (£17.88m).
"To command such rates in North Africa is almost unheard-of," says managing director Robert Bergé, a French national whose career path has taken him to Hilton, Le Méridien worldwide, the Peninsula in New York and the Royal Monceau in Paris. "But," he adds, "the name and reputation of La Mamounia give us a head start."
It also helps that flights into Morocco, usually via nearby Casablanca, have increased in frequency. From the UK, which provides 15% of La Mamounia's business, a long weekend is now viable: by November, GB Airways will operate eight flights a week from London to Marrakech (see below). Even from the USA, four flights a week from the eastern seaboard make Morocco an interesting proposition. It's not surprising that US guests provide 21% of La Mamounia's business.
It helps also that during each era of La Mamounia's history the guest list has included heavyweights from all walks of public life. The guest book includes names such as Franklin D Roosevelt, the Aga Khan, Prince Charles, Hillary Clinton, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and, more recently, Kate Winslet, during the filming of Hideous Kinky.
La Mamounia was built in 1922 by the Moroccan National Railroad Company, which was extending the railway deeper into Morocco and needed a hotel to accommodate those who were en route to other parts of Africa. It was built in Art Deco style, with 100 rooms originally, but was expanded in 1946, '50 and '53 to almost 200 rooms.
In 1986, a vast renovation programme created the look of today's La Mamounia. A larger and wider main entrance was constructed, incorporating the traditional elements of Moroccan architecture - columns, arches and painted wooden doors. Before the Second World War, guests from Europe and the USA even brought their own furniture so that they could feel at home. Long-time employees tell stories about the stately dinners for which the men dressed in top hats and tails, and women, bedecked with precious jewels, wore long evening gowns.
Today, the hotel is still owned by the Moroccan National Railroad Company, along with a number of banks. It is managed by its own management company, La Sociét‚ Mamounia. As might be expected, there are staff in abundance - 600-plus at the height of the season for the 231 rooms. A career in a hotel is a well-respected choice in Morocco - all the major cities have hotel schools and the school in Marrakech has a particularly good reputation. All staff at La Mamounia, even chambermaids, have had a minimum of two years' education at hotel school.
Landing a job in La Mamounia tops the aspirational ladder, so employees stay a long time - 30 or even 40 years of service is not uncommon. But one result is that the average age of employees is 40-plus, a factor that can lead to problems. "They are good workers but often averse to change," says Bergé. "We have to fight against routine and continually set ourselves out to be different."
There is no formal training system within La Mamounia. Instead, knowledge is handed down to new recruits by those who have been there a long time. Berg‚ believes that the longevity of his staff speaks for itself and that they are cared for very well. After two or three years, staff have permanent status, making them eligible for further benefits such as extended sick pay. Every year, one or two are selected to go for further development, such as a term at Cornell University in the USA. "We are the window to the hotel world in Morocco," claims Berg‚, "and our employees are the best treated of the industry here."
Constant investment is critical. The huge public areas need a lot of upkeep, as do the 13 acres of gardens (see below). This year, some $5m (£3.5m) will be spent on a new Asian restaurant, room refurbishment and a new hamman (Middle Eastern-style spa), with steam rooms and traditional treatments. Last year, a similar amount was spent, largely on room refurbishment.
Most of the work is done in July and August, when temperatures soar and filling rooms becomes difficult. At these times, room rates are cut by 20%, but Berg‚ is reluctant to slash prices further. He says: "When you alter rates, you get a different type of customer, ones who won't necessarily treat the rooms in the way you want."
Gardens and gardeners
La Mamounia takes its name from the surrounding gardens which were once called the Arset al Mamoun. The upkeep of the 13 acres of gardens is the responsibility of 34 full-time gardeners.
Each year, some 140,000 new plants are planted, and daily watering, done mostly by hand, ensures the lushness of the grass year-round. For four months a year, La Mamounia is supplied with oranges from its own trees, and between October and December, olives are harvested from its groves.
The gardens display a wide variety of flowers and trees as well as scents. Orange and lemon trees, jacarandas, palm trees, highly scented rose bushes and bright mimosas are in abundance. Plants such as acanthus, bamboo, guava, yucca and banana trees have adapted well to the Moroccan soil and give an exotic feel to the gardens.
And it's not just flora that visitors to the gardens can enjoy - birdlife is also in abundance. Storks, turtledoves, goldfinch, chaffinch, yellowhammers, warblers, spotted flycatchers, nightingales, wagtails and bulbuls are just some of the inhabitants.
Cooking: a woman's art
Executive chef Boujemâa Mars joined La Mamounia as a commis in 1962 and will retire next year aged 71. He specialises in local cuisine and is in charge of the Moroccan restaurant, banquets and the poolside lunch.
Essential to Moroccan cuisine is the use of many different spices, and mixing them is the art of each Moroccan cook. Traditionally, Moroccan food is a woman's art - secrets are passed from mother to daughter, generation after generation.
The cooking of Moroccan food requires lengthy preparation over a very low fire. Meat stew tagine epitomises Moroccan cooking, with the three main techniques applied - a combination of spices and aromatic herbs, a long cooking time, and no starch or flour in the sauces.
Mars's signature dishes include chaaria madfouna, a Chinese vermicelli cooked with pigeon, topped with sugar and cinnamon, and tanjia marrackchia, a lamb stew cooked for 24 hours in a clay pot on a charcoal fire. Another speciality is pastilla, a pie made of light feuillet‚ filled with pigeon and crushed almonds and topped with cinnamon and sugar.
In the tradition of Moroccan food, Mars's kitchen brigade consists entirely of women - seven in all. Each has her own speciality - one makes the pastilla leaves, another cooks the tagines and a third specialises in couscous. The others work on the pastries and the soups.
La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco
Tel: 00 212 44 38 86 00
Fax: 00 212 44 44 46 60
E-mail: marketing@mamounia.com
Web site: www.mamounia.com
Rooms: 231, including 57 suites and three villas in the grounds, with separate entrance
Restaurants: five, including Moroccan restaurant
Business breakdown: France, 28%; USA, 21%; UK, 15%; Germany, Italy, Spain, 8-10%
Turnover: US$25m-plus (£17.88m-plus)
Occupancy: 71-72% (excluding July/August)
Average achieved room rate: US$350 (£250)
Staff: 350 permanent; 600-plus in height of season
Average age of staff: 40-plus
Consortia memberships: Leading Hotels of the World, Concorde Hotels
Average length of stay: 3.8 days
Repeat business: 20%
Flights: British Airways, from London Heathrow to Marrakech five times a week, operated by GB Airways; from November, a three-times-a-week Gatwick-Marrakech service begins. Fares start at £299 return. Details: 0845 77 333 77 or www.britishairways.com
