Travel Talk with Jeremy Wayne — The Oberoi Marrakech, Morocco
United Airlines’ new nonstop service between Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, and Marrakech, Morocco, brings one of Africa’s most fascinating cities within seven and a half short hours of the Big Apple.
So get packing. Because Marrakech, which has grown tenfold in the last 30 years, is a marvel, a swarming metropolis of Arabs, Berbers and Sub-Saharan migrants, a city whose sights, smells and sounds will leave you wide-eyed in wonder. Djemma el Fna Square, with its snake charmers, whirling dervishes, musicians (and pickpockets); the Koutoubia Mosque; the Menara and Majorelle Gardens and the El Badi and Bahia royal palaces are just a few of the sights and experiences you will not want to miss.
But “the city which taught me color,” to borrow from fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, a devotee, can also drive you insane if you spend too long sauntering along its sunbaked avenues or haggling in its teeming souks.
The good news is that to experience Marrakech, you don’t need to stay in the heart of it. Indeed, I’d argue, you shouldn’t. Brave the souks and the madness of the medina (old city) during the day, but I suggest you rest, repose and generally “chill” well beyond the city limits.
The place to do that is at my new find, The Oberoi Marrakech, which although not entirely ”new” – the property opened its remarkable handcrafted, fortified doors in 2020 – is an easy 25-minute ride from both the airport and the heart of town.
As you arrive, you enter a different world. The hotel lobby, with its profligate use of marble, 120-foot ceilings and traditional Moroccan wood and plaster decoration, which took 200 artisans two years to carve, gives you an early taste of the architectural splendor to come. The centerpiece of the main building is a sunlit courtyard, which incorporates the design of the Medersa Ben Youssef – a 14th-century Islamic school and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – adding a spectacular black basin that gives the illusion of infinite depth. A large central flame rises, as if from nowhere, on the water.
Accommodations – in the suites or private villas that line the paths off the Grand Canal, a central waterway inspired by the Alhambra in Spain – are no less palatial. Some 3,000 olive trees dot the property’s 28 acres, while flower beds are arranged in thematic clusters, filled with rosebushes, aromatic plants and succulents. And yes, those are the Atlas Mountains in the background, already snow-capped at this time of year, ravishingly lovely to behold.
Food, as you have every right to expect, is fresh and abundant at The Oberoi – Mediterranean, Moroccan and international cuisine at the central Tamimt restaurant, which spills out onto the terraces of the hotel’s main building and is open all day; or rich Indian cooking at Rivayat, which blends Indian and Moroccan traditions in a nod to the Oberoi group’s Indian ownership and heritage.
Saint-Laurent would have loved The Oberoi, from its cinnabar-red tasseled sunbrellas around the cerulean main swimming pool to its glorious yellow, saffron-infused Tom Collins cocktails, colors always leaping out at you.
The spa, an oasis within an oasis built around a maze garden on a private island in a small body of water, is a place of exceptional calm, its two traditional Moroccan hammams and all of its five treatment rooms boasting natural light. Again, the signature treatments here reflect Oberoi’s Indian core, with kasa bowls and dhara chakra therapies to combat insomnia, relieve stress and improve circulation. The Oberoi spa also offers treatments with Alqvimia products – one such, the Alchemical Moxa, said to stimulate the second or sacral chakra, boosting energy flow to the creative center. It was hard to quantify just how much more creative I felt after this particular treatment, but in layman’s terms suffice it to say I felt bloody marvelous.
There are other in-house “experiences,” too. You can cross-train, circuit-train and cardio-box; you can enjoy sunrise yoga and early morning runs. There are natural trails to explore, falconry to master and tennis and pétanque courts to thwack or roll a ball on. You can take lessons in horse management from a horse whisperer. Goodness gracious, you can even hop a private jet for a sweep over the Sahara, before landing in the desert and being led, by camel, naturally, to a traditional nomad’s lunch in the dunes. Whatever will they think of next?
My preferred activity, over my three days’ stay, though, was none of the above. What suited me most was a late start. Breakfast on my terrace around my own plunge pool, lunch by the stunning hotel pool and an afternoon stroll along one of The Oberoi’s myriad walkways to say hello to Sugar and Almond. These two are donkeys, rescued by the lovely Oberoi people from drudgery, now living the good life in an orchard on the hotel estate. Funny how quickly the cocktail hour rolls around, even – perhaps especially – when you do absolutely nothing.
In my book of indolence, retail therapy is most definitely allowed, and if you’re not already sated from the souks, at Tijori, the hotel store, you’ll find the most eclectic treasures. Hats and bags, sequined gowns, artwork, jewelry and china are among the most original that Marrakech has to offer, albeit at hotel store prices. And should you feel compelled to rush back into town for yet another ceramic bowl or bronze hand of Fatima, the hotel shuttle will whisk you there in style, every hour on the hour.
Of one thing I assure you, though: However thrilling it feels to be dropped in the heart of Marrakech, there is no feeling quite as exquisite as returning to The Oberoi to be watered, fed and generally spoiled, once the sightseeing and shopping are done.
Ready to go? The annual Marrakech International Film Festival runs through Dec. 7 and the city’s prestigious I-54 African Art Fair opens Jan. 30.
Jeremy Wayne is a travel adviser with Superior Travel of New York. Contact him directly with your travel questions and needs at jeremy@superiortravel.com