Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (TV Series) Royal Mansour, Morocco (2017) User Reviews

Poignant...it ain't Ishtar...ranked #40

[safenoe · 10/10 · 26 August 2017]

This is a fascinating look at the Royal Mansour in Marrakesh (or Marrakech if you're French according to Google). Anyway, what interested me was despite the grandeur and professionalism and dedication of the staff, it ranks only #40 on TripAdvisor for all hotels in Marrakesh. Wow, 40??!!!

I guess management were aware of this as they sought to make the hotel more personal and have intermingling of guests by having a pool and so on.

Giles has a heart-to-heart with Mohammad, one of the loyal employees, by having a meal at his parents' place. Giles wonders aloud how he can treat Mohammad like a servant, but Mohammad said that servants are masters, and he takes pride in his work.

There are around 500 staff at the Royal Mansour, so quite impressive.

Royal Mansour, Morocco

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 19 May 2017]

Owned by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, this hotel is regal in every way and yet just a few minutes drive away from the famous Square in Marrakech.

The Royal Mansour in Marrakech is a plush hotel which attracts VIP guests and world leaders almost every day. The French hotel manager seems to hot foot it at every turn to welcome them as soon as they drive up at the hotel's luxury fleet of Bentley's.

Giles Coren and Monica Galetti just do not experience the plush rooms of the hotel but spend some time working. Monica works with the executive housekeeper, does some cooking and also goes out to the field to handpick saffron with some local women.

Giles meanwhile drives one of the Bentley's and spends time as a Butler who are always on call and travel through a network of underground tunnels and lifts to ensure the discretion of the guests. I noticed both Monica and Giles speak fluent French which makes it handy, as it is the second language in Morocco outside of Arabic.

However despite the opulence, the hotel's management realises that the hotel is rather impersonal and maybe too discrete which is why they were adding a bar area within the pool so guests can mingle with each other more.

Giles befriends one of the butler's who hails from the Berber villages of Morocco. Employment with the hotel ensures he can financially maintain his family back in the village that Giles goes to visit.

However I could not help but notice that in a hotel where the cheapest rooms are over £1000 per night, some members of the staff seem to have gone several days without a proper's night sleep, always on the beck and call of the guests.