Mamounia, architectural jewel of Marrakech, is for sale
Mamounia is a little east of the "Arabian Nights" in Marrakech. The mythical ocher palace, which combines Art Deco and Arab-Moorish styles, was built in the early 1920s by French architects Henri Prost and Antoine Marchisio. Surrounded by ramparts, offering beautiful views of the Atlas and having especially a sumptuous luxuriant garden of 8 hectares (which gave its name to the place since it was originally the gardens of Prince Mamoun), the The hotel was quick to attract the big ones of this world, the powerful and the stars. Winston Churchill was a regular, Hitchcock shot while Charlie Chaplin, Mick Jagger, Edith Piaf and Jacques Chirac enjoyed the place.
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This jewel of the Moroccan heritage should nevertheless be called to contribute to the finances of the kingdom, very badly in point. Since last year a privatization project is on track but to stop the fears of the public to see the hotel falling into foreign hands, the Minister of Finance Mohamed Benchaaboun hastened to clarify that "the hotel will remain Moroccan". Moreover, even if the Ministry of Economy and Finance refuses to communicate on the terms of the sale, it is very likely that the Moroccan State will yield only a portion of the capital available to it. The hotel is currently 62% owned by the National Office of Railways (ONCF) which had begun construction, the rest being in the hands of the Caisse des dépôts de gestion and the municipality of Marrakech.
About fifty rooms originally
Originally, in the 1920s, the establishment aimed mainly at a long-stay clientele included only fifty rooms on one floor. The painter Jacques Majorelle (whose villa and garden are one of the major attractions of Marrakech) decorates the lounge of the establishment that bears his name. After the Second World War, the number of rooms rose to 100 before King Hassan II began a series of renovations in the 1980s. The establishment gains a fourth floor, an additional wing, and a casino. and its capacity reaches 200 rooms.
The last major renovation was launched in 2009 by King Mohammed VI. The three years of work and decoration revisited by Jacques Garcia would have cost a whopping $ 120 million. The hotel now exceeds 200 rooms, has revised its rates significantly higher, has expanded its pool and has a large spa. The Mamounia is now a showcase of traditional Moroccan crafts with its zelliges (local mosaics), lanterns, ironwork or tadelakt, this lime wall covering tinged with pigments. Spending was so significant that shareholders would have had to wait until 2017 to receive dividends again, according to local sources. A delicate economic balance that may explain why investors are not yet in a hurry to afford this superb establishment.