Features

Marrakech: Red city retreat

30 Oct 2014 by Jenny Southan
Jenny Southan finds a luxury cultural hideaway in the Moroccan desert, complete with micro farm, artists in residence and championship boxer I’ve always wanted to stay in a treehouse,” I say as we stop to admire the bleached wooden structure suspended in the branches. “You can if you prefer,” laughs my host, Julien Amicel, “but it tends to be for the children who stay with us.” I decide that the creaky steps don’t look very strong and think better of it, before strolling over to say hello to the donkeys poking their heads through a fence. We’re exploring the Fellah, a desert retreat located 15km south of Marrakech. Continuing along the sun-drenched paths, which are lined with cacti bursting with prickly pears, I wave to the porter. Sporting red trousers, a double-breasted, gold-buttoned navy jacket and a battered cowboy hat, he is pulling my luggage along in an old cart (not because there’s so much of it – that’s just the way they do things here). There’s a definite rustic charm to the place, but it’s not all vegetable gardens and chicken coops – set among ten earth-coloured villas, which house 69 bedrooms, is a restaurant and an expansive, dark-blue swimming pool flanked with loungers, swaying grasses and giant spiky succulents. Beyond are driftwood cabanas, a ping-pong table, a boutique, an old-fashioned barber shop and, on the other side of the resort, the Wat Po spa, where you can have a treatment from a therapist trained at Bangkok’s Wat Pho temple, the birthplace of Thai massage. The story of Fellah begins in 2010, when Parisian stockbroker Redha Moali and his actress wife Houria Afoufou opened the Dar al-Ma’Mun cultural centre here to promote Moroccan art and education for local people. It has since become part of the UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries for Artists Programme, which helps students to complete their training overseas. Amicel is co-director of the artist-in-residence scheme, which every year accepts applicants from around the world for three to five months, providing them with flights, accommodation, meals, a grant and access to a workshop within the estate’s grounds. Even creatives who are not part of the programme are flocking to the Fellah – Amicel tells me Egyptian writer/director Safaa Fathy is here to work on her new book, and on my return to the UK, I hear my friends Ben (a playwright) and Jemima (an actress) have just booked a stay for when their London stage production ends. As a way of engaging with local people, there are free community lectures and a library, which houses more than 11,000 books in Arabic, French and English. “We have an emerging translation programme and teach literacy to locals of all ages,” Amicel explains. Later, we put our heads into the Fellah’s school, where children are taught weaving and painting, and the conference centre for outside companies to hold meetings and events. Amicel says: “The artists are under no obligation to give us any work – it’s non-profit. But every client that stays here is a patron of our activities.” The hotel aspect of the 11-hectare project launched in September last year, and Afoufou designed the understated, contemporary rooms herself – mine has a step-out terrace where, at night, sweet-smelling smoke wafts up from the olive-wood torches illuminating the otherwise pitch-black pathways. Floors and walls are cool concrete painted slate grey, and the bathroom has a huge walk-in rainshower, bowls of traditional Moroccan scrubs and sticky resin shampoo, and an egg-shaped free-standing tub. There are rugs made by indigenous Berbers, glazed Zellige tiles and filigree lamps, along with amenities including free wifi and minibars. Marrakech has always had a strong artistic heritage and, if you don’t mind braving the hassle of the medina, you can discover a wealth of authentic craftsmanship, at very low prices if you’re prepared to haggle. One afternoon, I am encouraged to follow unofficial tour guide Azdine to “the last day of the Festival of Colour – come, come, no money!” Resisting my mistrust, I follow him down narrow alleys behind the souk, where shoemakers, carpet weavers and blacksmiths are hard at work. We finally come to “his uncle’s shop”, where the supposed festival is taking place – in reality, it’s a courtyard strung with skeins of freshly dyed wool in black, orange, ultramarine and gold. While certainly beautiful, I know his real motive is to sell me a pashmina. In just a few hours I have bought two bags of dried mint tea and 12 hand-painted skewers, smelt jars of eucalyptus crystals and crushed Nigella seeds, and held not one but three chameleons (none of which changed colour, despite assurances that they would). I take a break on the rooftop terrace of Café des Epices, and look down on the stalls of knitted hats, terracotta tagines and woven bags below. Outside the ancient city walls, beyond the square with the horse and carts and men with snakes, is a far more modern world – one of sparkly designer stores, glitzy nightclubs, opulent hotels and sumptuous restaurants (Arancino at the Four Seasons serves classy Italian fare among olive trees and trickling fountains). One of the most iconic hotels is La Mamounia, which had a multimillion-dollar revamp a few years ago. Set in lush gardens, the palatial Arab-Moorish property dates back to 1923 and has welcomed countless politicians and celebrities. It also organises an annual literary prize. The city itself has hosted an international film festival since 2001 (this year it will take place on December 5-13), and in February held the fifth Marrakech Biennale art fair (marrakechbiennale.org), founded in 2004 by Vanessa Branson, Sir Richard’s sister. In 2016, the David Chipperfield-designed Marrakech Museum for Photography and Visual Arts will be unveiled in the west of the city. One evening, I go for a traditional Moroccan banquet at Dar Essalam (daressalam.com), tucking into lavish mezze while Berber musicians leap and twirl. The next, I find myself at Palais Jad Mahal (jad-mahal.com) with some new-found friends – it’s packed with cigar smokers and belly dancers, and bottles of vodka are brought to our table with blazing ice-candle fireworks while a covers band blasts out eighties rock anthems. Back at the Fellah, I find the best way to clear my head in the morning is to take a private class with championship boxer Fred in the gym. After learning “how to dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee”, I have a swim and sit down to breakfast with one of the resident tortoiseshell cats. In the afternoon, I head for the Jardin Majorelle (jardinmajorelle.com). Planted over several decades in the mid-1900s by French artist Jacques Majorelle, the garden and villa were bought by Yves Saint Laurent in 1980. Painted cobalt blue with splashes of lemon yellow, the house sits among giant cacti, ponds, palms and colourful pots overflowing with flowers. If this doesn’t inspire the artist within, nothing will. fellah-hotel.com, fourseasons.com New and upcoming hotels
  • Beachcomber Royal Palm Opened last December with 134 suites and villas and an 18-hole golf course. beachcomber-hotels.com
  • Baglioni A five-star, 80-room property with Six Senses spa, opening next year. baglionihotels.com
  • Mandarin Oriental 54 villas with private pools and hot tubs, opening next year. mandarinoriental.com
  • Park Hyatt 131 rooms and 44 villas, opening 2015. park.hyatt.com
  • Grace Hotels Boutique hotel with 18 suites and lofts at the foot of the Atlas mountains, opening next year. gracehotels.com
  • W 148 rooms and Wet pool deck, due in 2017. starwoodhotels.com
Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls