An Event Planner’s Notes from Marrakech

July 23, 2012 | AUTHOR: Julius Solaris | POSTED IN: Guest Post

Jamaa el-Fna square – the heart of Marrakech.

This is serious shopping, with every imaginable handmade product from gorgeous Berber rugs to exquisite parquetry boxes to finely cut metal lamps and shades. It’s all here, in abundance and for a good price. Tell your clients to bring an extra piece of luggage because they will need it.

A side trip to the Sahara on dromedaries (one humped camels) – no problem, ballooning over countryside villages and farms – a snap, a trek in the Atlas Mountains – done. It’s all here, in place and ready for you and your event guests.

In Marrakech, WiFi is available almost everywhere: hotels, cafes, restaurants… and there is the Arsat Moulay Abdeslam Cyber Park in the middle of the city where anyone can go online at internet stations. They even provide the laptops on pedestals.

Power outages are rare – something that is quite common in other developing nations. A solar powered flight from Madrid to Rabat recently made global headlines as the Moroccan government announced a multi-national joint venture, with financing in the tens of billions, to start work on a 160-megawatt solar power plant to be built in the southern city of Ouarzazate. Morocco plans to draw 40% of its energy needs from the sun by 2020.

Luxury hotels and resorts such as the The Four Seasons, The Selman – featuring magnificent Arabian horses, and The Amanjena – one of the Aman resorts, abound, with new properties opening all the time and with many new and exciting locations in the works. There are smaller gems – elegant boutique hotels with full service amenities like La Maison Arabe and La Sultana, and there is, of course, La Mamounia, one of the great hotels of the world.

For this article, I’m focusing on 7 high-end hotel, resort and restaurant properties but in truth, this is a place where event producers can truly let their imaginations run wild, where events can be anything, at any price from Boho Berber to Coutts & Co. The possibilities are endless: the shopping is beyond extraordinary, the culture is warm and welcoming and the country is exotic and familiar, all at the same time.

deb robins

Great piece. Makes me want to pack my bags and go! Thanks, Deb Robins
tom

A very fluidly written, vivid and informative piece. I want to visit Marrekech!
http://www.facebook.com/maryannweisberg Mary Ann Weisberg

No one is more knowledgeable, interesting and capable as Carl George!
abethers

So evocative! I feel like I am there. Who wouldn’t want to produce an event in such a magical place?
KEMBRA

CARL THIS MAKES ME WANT TO GO TO MOROCCO, ESPECIALLY INTO THE MEDINA. LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT SORT OF CONCEPTUAL BEAUTIFUL EVENTS PEOPLE COME UP WITH.
baobabfr

an evocative and beautifully written article! makes me want to hear and learn more…….
http://www.facebook.com/daveandkate.hebert DaveandKate Hebert

Marrakesh was never on my radar for travel…until now! I can almost taste the city from the vivid and wonderful description in this article. This city sounds amazing and I will be going. I can’t wait to get myself lost in the medina! Great piece of writing!
Lauren

Absolutely gorgeous. I would love to spend some time getting lost there, and then going up into those mountains! I really knew nothing about it until reading this post and the lovely descriptions therein.
John schweitzer

Great article! very helpful and great photos
FZ

Lovely article full of common sense and a lot of LOVE for Marrakesh. You used a tender eye in all your exploration. what a wonderful soul!
PS. i live in Marrakesh
diane sutherland

Carl, what a beautifully written article! It surely makes me want to go tot Morocco! I am forwarding your article to my friend in L.A. who is planning a trip there in December. Your wrote with such affection and it is quite thorough as well. Thanks so much for sending it.
Kim Alderden

Wow, how cool to meet a soulmate! Love the place!
And I was one of those lucky ones to create and develop some
fabulous events here. But let’s try to keep Marrakech
authentic please and not transform it to a tourist trap.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=526204242 Dennis George

An inviting and compelling article. Marrakech will be on my list of places to visit. A well written descriptive article
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=526204242 Dennis George

Two thumbs up for an article that was well written by someone who has actually experienced Marrakech. It’s now on my places to visit list
http://www.facebook.com/saida.elkhadiri.7 Saida Elkhadiri

Hi my name is SAIDA, I was born in Marrakech, I lived in Texas for almost 17 years. I found this article very interesting, MR Carl gave a beautiful description about the city, very nicely written !!!!!!
Good job !!!
Germaine

Germaine DiMenna
Dreamlike labyrinth and yet so clearly described . The article is so visually enticing it makes one eager to actually be there. I’ve added Marakesh to my Bucket list of places to experience at least once.
Joanne xo

How wonderfully descriptive and inviting is your writing piece regarding the Medina of Marrakesh, and Marrakesh in general! Looking forward to travelling to Morocco based on your vivid descriptions of this mysterious, beautiful and ancient part of the world. Thanks so much Carl.
Jack Waters

It makes me wish I was there!
stefani mar

interesting to catch up on what’s happening in marrakech, especially since i haven’t been there since the 70s! love the horse pix at the selman. the stables look pretty fancy!
http://twitter.com/Cornucopiaevent dorothy

Carl, make my canceled trip that much more painful! But thank you for all the visuals and great article…in the file for the next trip
jane bognacki

Carl, absolutely gorgeous, great article, definitely would love to visit Marrekech!
Lousje O

Makes me want to ride “The Marrakesh Express”, real soon.
Thank you Carl,for letting me drift away,to this faraway mystical place,for a spell………
Well done
Maggie R

Carl organized a terrific party for us two years ago that people are STILL talking about. I would love to be invited to whatever he ends up doing in Marrakech! This article certainly has put Marrakech at the top of my list of places to visit.
Joseph T.

Wow, great article Carl — bravo! You really make me want to visit there now!
Carl George

Hello Everyone. First, thank you for the wonderful comments. Morocco is an amazing country and I encourage everyone to visit or plan a special event there. The second thing is, the article is 9 pages with beautiful photos of the hotels and resorts. Most people who read the post, I’m learning now, did not see the small page numbers at the bottom of page one. Thanks. Carl