La Mamounia is one of Morocco’s most beloved hotels, and an undeniable beauty. It was built in the 1920s on the site of the sultan’s palace within the ancient walls of the old city. Its style is a mix of Art Deco and traditional Moroccan. Its 16th century gardens include 32 acres of palms, bananas, roses and jasmine, and ancient walls covered with bougainvillea.
I joined my friend, Alecia Cohen, on the open air terrace where we enjoyed a glass of wine and a light lunch, along with the sounds of fountains and birds and the scents of spring flowers. With many years experience in Morocco and frequent travel between her home in Brooklyn and her adopted country, 12 years ago Alecia moved to Marrakech and founded her tour operation, Travel Exploration Morocco. As an American woman with a passion for her adopted country, Alecia’s specialty is tailor-made special interest tours for individuals and small groups. These include luxury private tours, culinary tours, tours focussed on pottery and tile or other arts, cultural tours to Berber villages of Southern Morocco and Sahara Desert expeditions. She also has the experience and resources to offer itineraries focussed on one or more of the various forms of Moroccan music, as well as music festivals such as the Gnaoua Music Festival in Essaoira and the famous Fez World Music Festival.
After our meal we toured the hotel’s salons and public areas, stopping to admire paintings and artwork, unusual lamps, furnishings and interior views. Then we headed to an area of the souk that Alecia was particularly fond of for lamps and other home decorative items. For shopping in Morocco–for my personal desires for discovering the riches of this country–as well as for the benefit of my clients–I feel that Alecia and Travel Explorations Morocco are my trusted partner. The company is based in Marrakech and Ouarzazate. The company’s site and a link to Alecia’s travel blog can be found at www.travel-exploration.com .
