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Marrakech is riding a renaissance, says GQ Magazine

Marrakech. Photo credit:  KatitaC on Flickr.

Marrakech. Photo credit: KatitaC on Flickr.

Writing for GQ Magazine, Warren Jackson writes up the makings of a luxurious weekend away in Marrakech:

After its independence from France in 1956, Morocco, and specifically the fourth largest of the historical Berber Empire’s Imperial Cities, Marrakech, took off as a hippie mecca for artists (Andy Warhol), Hollywood starlets (Rita Hayworth), film directors (Alfred Hitchcock shot scenes for The Man Who Knew Too Much here) and the musical jet-set with The Beatles and the Rolling Stones enjoying rest and hazy “relaxation” in the maze-like alleys of this medieval medina.

Into the Eighties, and the expatriate arrivals and investment continued when Yves Saint Laurent bought the colonial Majorelle Garden (where his ashes are now buried). Meanwhile, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès – former cavalryman and great-great-grandson of the luxury brand’s founder Thierry Hermès –  bought Ain Kassimou, a late 19th century estate originally built for Leo Tolstoy’s daughter Olga, which Guerrand-Hermès transformed into the Royal Polo Club de la Palmeraie with the help of the dapper, super-secretive and publicity averse American garden designer Madison Cox.

And now in the 21st century, Maroc is on a roll and the city is riding a renaissance as a destination for the in-crowd. [fully story]

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