Mr & Mrs Smith

La Mamounia

Marrakech, Morocco

Ravishing and regal, La Mamounia hotel is set in royal gardens, styled with Moorish opulence, and as sensuous as a seraglio. Aware that its guests (Winston Churchill was a fan) expect the best, the legendary den of decadence recruited luxury-lifestyle luminaries including Jacques Garcia and Olivia Giacobetti for its recent refurbishment, and world-class chefs to captain its restaurants.

Need to know

• Rooms 209, including 71 suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $529.16 (MAD4,545), excluding tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of MAD49.50 per person per night on check-out.
  The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (MAD4,545) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
• More details Rates exclude Continental breakfast at Dh350–Dh650.
• Facilities Gardens, spa with hammam and beauty salon, gym, tennis courts, ping pong table, library (including CDs and DVDs) and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, iPod dock, minibar, free bottled water and bespoke bath products by Olivia Giacobetti.
• Poolside Set amid the gardens and flanked by palm trees, the vast and glittering pool is decorated with fish-scale tiles.
• Check-out 12 noon (flexible subject to availability and possibly a charge). Earliest check-in, 3pm.
• Children Smith Junior is welcome. Extra beds (Dh800 a night for children under the age of 12) and free cots are available. Babysitting with a local nanny can be arranged for Dh100 an hour (request upon booking). Under-16s cannot use the hotel's spa. More...
• Also All rooms come with a private terrace, meaning smokers can light up outside. Book a Suite or the Riad and enjoy additional in-room treats: fresh flowers, fruit, pastries, Moroccan wine and champagne.

Food and drink at La Mamounia

• Hotel restaurant La Mamounia has four, two of them (Le Français and L’Italien) boasting Michelin stars. Le Français is slightly more formal: marble columns, oversized lampshades and swathes of heavy fabric. L’Italien is moodier, with low lighting and rich ruby, claret and aubergine hues. Alternatively, crunch along the soft gravel path that leads to Le Marocain, where local cuisine is served to the tune of live Moroccan music, or feast on shared platters poolside at the laid-back Le Pavillon de la Piscine. Sweet-tooths will love Le Menzeh, a little hut in the gardens that serves up sugary delicacies such as macaroons and homemade ice-cream cornets.
• Dress code Beach glam (denim and silks will do) for Le Pavillon de la Piscine – of course, if you’d rather don something fabulous, you’ll be in good company. When it comes to the remaining restaurants, ‘glamour, glamour, glamour’ is the mantra.
• Top table Eat out on L’Italien’s terrace by candlelight. On chiller nights at Le Français, tables close to the window are ideal. Grab a table with a full Atlas Mountain vista at Le Marocain; as close to the pool as possible at Le Pav
• Last orders Dinner is dished up between 7pm and 11pm; drinks are served at the bar from 11am–1am.
• Room service The 24-hour room service includes options from the restaurant menus.
• Hotel bar Each restaurant has a bar area to match: Le Bar Italien is a stylish setting for martinis, Le Bar Pavillon de la Piscine is a shaded spot with the pool in reach and Le Bar Marocain comes into its own at night – sit on the rooftop with a pre-dinner cocktail and admire the Atlas Mountains. Then there’s the tiled courtyard, where mint tea and cognac can be enjoyed with the sound of the water fountains trickling in the background (and, if you’re lucky, the thrum of the Moroccan guitar).

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

La Mamounia Hôtel La Mamounia, Avenue Bab J'did, Marrakech, Morocco, 40 040