Four Seasons Casablanca
The Royal Suite dining room. Left: Loungers in the hotel’s hanging garden
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CNT EXCLUSIVE
Four Seasons Casablanca This new beachside urban hideaway is another compelling reason to explore Morocco’s unsung city, finds IAIN BALL 54 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER FEBRUARY 2016
t’s been years since I thought about that movie. But of all the hotels in all the towns in all the world – well, you know what I mean. The flashback happens as soon as I pass the antique brass doors of the Four Seasons Casablanca. I find myself in a lobby styled after a Moroccan riad courtyard, sunshine filtered through intricate white stucco skylights on to a black marble floor. And then it hits. “What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?” I hear Captain Renault ask. “I came to Casablanca for the waters,” Humphrey Bogart drawls. “The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.” “I was misinformed.” But Bogie wasn’t misinformed; his scriptwriters were. Because there, whispering behind a wall of glass and the crystal tones of a grand piano, is the Atlantic Ocean, whitecrested waves tumbling joyously, endlessly. It’s a magical view, pulling me from street level to the hotel’s top floor like a rabbit out of a hat, and it takes a moment to work out the trick: The Four Seasons is built into the side of a cliff; the ground floor has shifted five storeys down. Through the glass doors on the terrace there’s a fresh ocean breeze and the landmark El Hank lighthouse just up the coast. Below, a palm-fringed garden walks you to a poolside restaurant and bar a short stroll from a beach popular with surfers. At night,
CNT EXCLUSIVE
The Royal Suite bedroom has ocean views. Left: The reception area of Mint lounge
The beautiful Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
Whispering behind a wall of glass and the crystal tones of a grand piano is the Atlantic Ocean, white-crested waves tumbling joyously, endlessly Moroccan lanterns cast tiny galaxies of light along the promenade. Designed by award-winning British architects Foster + Partners, Four Seasons Casablanca is Morocco’s first “urban resort”. Here, despite being off a main road 10 minutes from downtown, the city’s pulse quickly drops to the beat of the waves. “When you’re in Four Seasons Casablanca, you’re not in Casablanca,” smiles Olivier Thomas, the hotel’s general manager and an eight-year veteran of the brand. “But we insist on giving a sense of place.” This comes in its blend of traditional Moroccan and contemporary European design elements. The courtyard-style reception has an intricately hand-carved white stucco wall and a sunlit central fountain strewn with rose petals. Carpets mimicking overlapping rugs conjure up a walk through a souk. The central lounge, Mint, is an intimate, medina-like maze of wooden screens, Bedouin-style banquettes, bright embroidered cushions from Fez and spectacular brass lanterns hung on chains. In a tranquil corner of the balcony terrace, a broad wood fire flickers beneath a vast chimney breast of tiny Zellij tiles, a perfect spot for watching the sunset’s embers burn out above the ocean. After a welcome of Moroccan tea in a gilded glass and dates with walnuts, I’m shown to my room, one of four signature suites – a sprawling apartment of brown and white
Moroccan marble, with a private terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean. The El Hank lighthouse is white in the day, but in the early morning it has a tangerine glow, particularly enjoyable while you’re still in bed. Soft-launched at the end of last year in Anfa, a district of boulevards, palm trees and villas, nicknamed the “Beverly Hills of Casablanca”, the hotel has charmed wellheeled locals, inspiring the kind of passion that makes a lady haul her wedding date to February so she can take the Atlantic Ballroom before anyone else. At Bleu, the hotel’s signature restaurant, each lunch serving is a packed event, with fresh ocean breezes and a French brasserie menu heavy on the fish, picked out by the chef at Casa’s portside market every midnight. At the Mint lounge, more local dishes are on offer – tangy salads, couscous and tagines, and a crisp, delicious pigeon pastilla dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Popular as it is with locals, Thomas knows that most of his staying guests will be foreign visitors. So the question remains: What in heaven’s name would bring you to Casablanca? A postcolonial city with a strong French accent, Casa is Morocco’s business capital, not as popular as Marrakech or Fez. But the lack of tourists has undeniable charm: there’s a gentle elegance to Casa’s faded Art Deco districts, the Parisian-style street cafés and the
quiet, arched labyrinth of the New Medina. It has some smart, buzzing nightspots and worthwhile sights like the beautiful Hassan II mosque – the third largest in the world, towering on the edge of the ocean. And there’s always Rick’s Café, an elegant homage to the movie and a popular expat hangout. It’s a good idea to see it soon, because the city is changing. Downtown, a new opera house is being built, plus a state-ofthe-art tram network. Golf courses are popping up. Empty coastline is being claimed by dramatic new lifestyle developments. Casablanca Finance City, a vast new business district, will be the base for multinationals looking to enter Africa. Some people talk about “a new Dubai”. After years of being overlooked, there’s a sense that lost glory is about to be reclaimed. “Casablanca was well known in the Forties,” says Thomas. “Today this is a city that grows every day.” Doubles from AED 1,180; 00212-529-07 3700, fourseasons.com/casablanca FEBRUARY 2016 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER 55
I
CNT EXCLUSIVE
Four Seasons Casablanca This new beachside urban hideaway is another compelling reason to explore Morocco’s unsung city, finds IAIN BALL 54 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER FEBRUARY 2016
t’s been years since I thought about that movie. But of all the hotels in all the towns in all the world – well, you know what I mean. The flashback happens as soon as I pass the antique brass doors of the Four Seasons Casablanca. I find myself in a lobby styled after a Moroccan riad courtyard, sunshine filtered through intricate white stucco skylights on to a black marble floor. And then it hits. “What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?” I hear Captain Renault ask. “I came to Casablanca for the waters,” Humphrey Bogart drawls. “The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.” “I was misinformed.” But Bogie wasn’t misinformed; his scriptwriters were. Because there, whispering behind a wall of glass and the crystal tones of a grand piano, is the Atlantic Ocean, whitecrested waves tumbling joyously, endlessly. It’s a magical view, pulling me from street level to the hotel’s top floor like a rabbit out of a hat, and it takes a moment to work out the trick: The Four Seasons is built into the side of a cliff; the ground floor has shifted five storeys down. Through the glass doors on the terrace there’s a fresh ocean breeze and the landmark El Hank lighthouse just up the coast. Below, a palm-fringed garden walks you to a poolside restaurant and bar a short stroll from a beach popular with surfers. At night,
CNT EXCLUSIVE
The Royal Suite bedroom has ocean views. Left: The reception area of Mint lounge
The beautiful Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
Whispering behind a wall of glass and the crystal tones of a grand piano is the Atlantic Ocean, white-crested waves tumbling joyously, endlessly Moroccan lanterns cast tiny galaxies of light along the promenade. Designed by award-winning British architects Foster + Partners, Four Seasons Casablanca is Morocco’s first “urban resort”. Here, despite being off a main road 10 minutes from downtown, the city’s pulse quickly drops to the beat of the waves. “When you’re in Four Seasons Casablanca, you’re not in Casablanca,” smiles Olivier Thomas, the hotel’s general manager and an eight-year veteran of the brand. “But we insist on giving a sense of place.” This comes in its blend of traditional Moroccan and contemporary European design elements. The courtyard-style reception has an intricately hand-carved white stucco wall and a sunlit central fountain strewn with rose petals. Carpets mimicking overlapping rugs conjure up a walk through a souk. The central lounge, Mint, is an intimate, medina-like maze of wooden screens, Bedouin-style banquettes, bright embroidered cushions from Fez and spectacular brass lanterns hung on chains. In a tranquil corner of the balcony terrace, a broad wood fire flickers beneath a vast chimney breast of tiny Zellij tiles, a perfect spot for watching the sunset’s embers burn out above the ocean. After a welcome of Moroccan tea in a gilded glass and dates with walnuts, I’m shown to my room, one of four signature suites – a sprawling apartment of brown and white
Moroccan marble, with a private terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean. The El Hank lighthouse is white in the day, but in the early morning it has a tangerine glow, particularly enjoyable while you’re still in bed. Soft-launched at the end of last year in Anfa, a district of boulevards, palm trees and villas, nicknamed the “Beverly Hills of Casablanca”, the hotel has charmed wellheeled locals, inspiring the kind of passion that makes a lady haul her wedding date to February so she can take the Atlantic Ballroom before anyone else. At Bleu, the hotel’s signature restaurant, each lunch serving is a packed event, with fresh ocean breezes and a French brasserie menu heavy on the fish, picked out by the chef at Casa’s portside market every midnight. At the Mint lounge, more local dishes are on offer – tangy salads, couscous and tagines, and a crisp, delicious pigeon pastilla dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Popular as it is with locals, Thomas knows that most of his staying guests will be foreign visitors. So the question remains: What in heaven’s name would bring you to Casablanca? A postcolonial city with a strong French accent, Casa is Morocco’s business capital, not as popular as Marrakech or Fez. But the lack of tourists has undeniable charm: there’s a gentle elegance to Casa’s faded Art Deco districts, the Parisian-style street cafés and the
quiet, arched labyrinth of the New Medina. It has some smart, buzzing nightspots and worthwhile sights like the beautiful Hassan II mosque – the third largest in the world, towering on the edge of the ocean. And there’s always Rick’s Café, an elegant homage to the movie and a popular expat hangout. It’s a good idea to see it soon, because the city is changing. Downtown, a new opera house is being built, plus a state-ofthe-art tram network. Golf courses are popping up. Empty coastline is being claimed by dramatic new lifestyle developments. Casablanca Finance City, a vast new business district, will be the base for multinationals looking to enter Africa. Some people talk about “a new Dubai”. After years of being overlooked, there’s a sense that lost glory is about to be reclaimed. “Casablanca was well known in the Forties,” says Thomas. “Today this is a city that grows every day.” Doubles from AED 1,180; 00212-529-07 3700, fourseasons.com/casablanca FEBRUARY 2016 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER 55
