RAINE MAGAZINE Volume 16 | Innovate

The name of La Mamounia can be traced back to
the eighteenth century. Its story starts with the King Sidi
Mohammed Ben Abdellah who was customary to offer
his sons, as a wedding gift, a house and a garden located
outside the Kasbah. This is how Abdessalam, Mamoun,
Moussa, and Hassan were to become the place names of
the gardens that the king would offer them. These gardens
“Arsats” are still known today, but only the arsat al-Mamoun
was destined to become famous and inspire the name of La
Mamounia.
It is said that the prince used to hold extraordinary
garden parties (named “nzaha” in Arabic) in the park for
entertainment, which is now a popular amusement in
many Moroccan cities. The magnificent remaining garden
of such royal registrar combined with its 8 acres of ground
and marvellous flora has the effect of leaving guests utterly
delighted with all that they see. From the beginning, La
Mamounia proved itself to be a true monument combining
the traditional Moroccan architecture with the Art Deco style.
From the beginning of its story, La Mamounia
has never been large enough to satisfy all the guests who
wanted to be accommodated. Until the end of thirties, the
hotel had only fifty rooms. But it was expanded in 1946 to
include 100 rooms, then refurbished successively in 1950,
1953, 1986 and finally in 2006 for a reopening with 210 keys
on September 29th 2009.
Throughout the years, visitors from the four corners
of the globe come to La Mamounia.