“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains”, 1935 oil painting by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill considered La Mamounia and Marrakech the most unforgettable place on earth. The world-famous balcony that bathed his creative sensitivity in glorious light and perfumed gardens, was a temporary home to Churchill five times, including a 1943 visit he made with President Roosevelt after a conference in Casablanca.

Alfred Hitchcock shot scenes from “The Man Who Knew Too Much” in the La Mamounia’s lobby, which had lost some of its grandeur when I spent several nights in the Andalusian style palace a decade ago. I was somewhat underwhelmed with the hotel, after reading about La Mamounia’s glorious reputation and its recommendation by my friend Sabbia Rosa in Paris.

By every measure we loved our time in Marrakech. Our dinner at Le Yacout was one of the most memorable nights of my life, even if I have no recollection of what I ate for dinner.

The sensuality, mystery and intense spirituality of Marrakech took unforgettable possession of me that night, as my partner and I followed our young guide through the shuttered night maze of the Medina.

With no landmarks, street signs or shop windows to anchor my sense of place, I was powerfully aware of the need to trust this stranger to deliver us to Le Yacout as promised. Accustomed to being in charge of my life, I submitted graciously to his lead — but with a moment or two of conscious concern over having no control over the pace or direction of my footsteps.

Returning several hours later — following the same young man out of the Medina after saying goodbye to the magic of lanterns, the dining pool, an Arabic jazz combo, and the breeze I still feel on my face — our driver from La Mamounia was waiting to return us to one of the world’s most iconic hotels.

It seems that I might not recognize the hotel, now that the jet set crowd christened the $176 million restoration of La Mamounia over Thanksgiving. High-end glamour is arriving in Marrakech, with the development of several extravagant properties, associated with global luxury hotels.

La Mamounia stands alone, locally owned and not part of an international chain.

“Even among the most mythical hotels, this one is exceptional,” said Didier Piquot, who in the past oversaw places as illustrious as the Ritz in Paris and the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, my favorite hotel in the world.

Imperially but humbly confident of its regal stature and reputation, La Mamounia hasn’t sought a single star. “In all humility, we’re not in the competition,” says Piquot. His luxury cannot be duplicated.

According to designer Jacques Garcia, whose work includes Paris’s Hôtel Costes and Monaco’s Hôtel Metropole, there here are only three golden rules about a palace of La Mamounia’s standing: “elegance, elegance, elegance.”

“It’s a very rare balance.” Garcia continued in a pre-opening tour of the hotel’s reopening on Sept. 29, 2009. said as he toured the hotel ahead of its reopening to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 29. “Restoring such a place is like touching a myth, he said. “The goal is to come back to the sources of that myth,” he said, “and give the impression that every thing here is a masterpiece.”

Garcia relied heavily on old photography from the original buildings and the skills of local Marrakech craftsmen who were artisans for the restoration. Because human figures couldn’t be depicted under religious restrictions, the craftsmen of Marrakech developed a sophisticated vocabulary of pattern and ornament, especially on tilework.

The fifty-nine year-old Garcia was just the spirit to recapture the nobility and mysterious countenance of La Mamounia. An avid traveler, he doesn’t believe in making reservations. Even though he has worked for the emir of Qatar, Garcia prefers flying coach. Reports are that although he runs a very successful business, he doesn’t personally use a computer or — god forbid — “do e-mail”. via Town and Country Travel

Photos of the renovation confirm that Garcia has succeeded in infusing a sensual, mysterious atmosphere in the public and private rooms at La Mamounia.

The “keys” have been reduced to 136 guest rooms, 71 suites, a new 27,000 sq. ft Mamounia Spa, and three signature restaurants. The magnificent oasis has retained its legendary 200-year-old gardens, originally given as an 18th- century wedding gift to Prince Moulay Mamoun by his father, King Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah.

The hotel’s website tempts our imaginations with bougainvilliers, amaranths, agaves, Madagascar periwinkles, Barbary figs all grown in wild, studied confusion, perfuming the air with fragrant scents in the company of hundred-year-old olive trees.

In every way possible, La Mamounia offers an dazzlingly sensory experience with the ultimate in a couched, subtle modernity.

The London Times shares a lovely vision of La Mamounia’s reopening. “La Mamounia, the finest hotel in the world, a butterfly woken from her cocoon… She is now a fragment of paradise.” Anne

More reading:

Hotel La Mamounia website

La Mamounia - Morocco’s grand dame London Times (includes other new hotel info)

This lady loves her faceliftBrisbane Times

Magical MarrakechWall Street Journal

Marrakech, Past and Present Carnegie Council

My Marrakesh one of our favorite blogs