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Royal Mansour Casablanca Hotel, Review: Regal Service, Slick Vibes

When your big sister, the Royal Mansour Marrakech, is renowned the world over for being one of the most lavish, the most impressive, the most intriguing hotels (a subterranean labyrinth of corridors for staff so they don’t disturb guests? You bet!), it’s safe to say that it’s a pretty big shadow for Royal Mansour Casablanca to be in.

Royal Mansour’s second outpost in Morocco, however, does not hide in the shadows trying to emulate Big Sis. Rather, it has its own slick, city-polished vibe with the same solid-gold service that you expect from the RM.

Found at the infamous location of 27 Avenue des Forces Armées Royales, the hotel is not technically new — it opened in 1952 as the first five-star hotel in the White City and was the hotel of choice for Moroccan royalty. After eight years of careful restoration (it was deconstructed and reconstructed floor by floor), a number of the original details have been kept the same — notably the building’s facade.

Inside, the decor is gloriously Art Deco, from the elevators with their half-moon dials to the bar that remains in the same spot as it did in the 1950s. The grand lobby has custom artwork with a geometric interpretation of Casablanca, an ‘ecosystem’ paludarium with 1,000 fish from the Amazon River and Asia that nods to Casablanca’s history as the first port of Morocco, and a Bohemian crystal chandelier with 149 fireflies — one for each room within the hotel.

Stay

The unmatched service begins long before you even get close to the hotel. Airport transfers are in a Maybach, with the pristinely dressed driver presenting a traditional silver Moroccan pot with rose water to refresh (apparently, it's tradition to have the water sprayed on your face).

There are 149 guest rooms to choose from, but opt for one of the four apartments. Each one has a theme paying homage to previous guests, and this theme dictates the decor. The two-bedroom, 2,368-sq-ft apartment’s theme is fashion: Within its chic living room (check out the magnificent views across the city, including the Hassan II Mosque), you’ll see a dressed mannequin that is changed four times a year, as well as copies of Vogue from the 1950s. The one-bedroom, 1,614-sq-ft apartment’s theme is music, so there you’ll find a gorgeous turntable complete with a number of vinyls to spin.

All apartments come with butler service, gorgeous views of the city and a workspace — some apartments even have a watch winder. The largest suite is the four-bedroom Royal Suite. At 12,800 sq ft, it has a cinema room, fitness studio, spa with hammam and a hanging garden on the 24th floor.

Dine

There are four restaurants and one bar: the lobby floor’s La Brasserie serves refined French cuisine courtesy of chef Éric Fréchon of Paris’ three-Michelin-starred Epicure (be sure to get a side of the perfectly crispy fries); Le Sushi Bar serves up divine sushi including the ‘Wagyu sandwich’ — juicy chunks of Wagyu between small bits of toast. Or, if you can’t decide, go for the omakase experience, where chef Keiji Matoba will provide culinary delights.

The two restaurants share a pretty enclosed courtyard, should you wish to dine alfresco. The bar, also on the lobby floor, pays homage to Le Bar Diplomate, the first American bar in Morocco, which attracted its share of luminaries in the 1950s and ’60s. Order a cocktail or peruse the cigar library.

Up on the 23rd floor, the rooftop bar and restaurant is an urban sanctuary with trees growing up through the retractable pergola and a neutral color scheme with deep-green velvet and olive-green furnishings — a calming respite contrasted with the mad honking of the traffic below. The sunsets here are spectacular; sit for hours and watch the sun paint the sky before it dips behind the mosque.

There’s also the fine dining restaurant, La Grande Table Marocaine, with similarly captivating views. Serving classic Moroccan cuisine (M’qui de Petites Pêches des Côtes de Casablanca, a traditional dish of Casawi fishermen; quail makfoul; lamb kofta; turbot tajine and a selection of couscous), there are two private dining areas that can be closed off from the rest of the restaurant — or keep the doors open to enjoy the live music. All restaurants are open to non-guests, so you’ll see the city’s well-heeled having business meetings and cocktails. To access both restaurants, there’s a glass footbridge — you can look down at the city beneath your feet. (There’s a non-glass walkway, too, if heights aren’t your thing.)

Relax

The 27,000-sq-ft spa — the largest in the city — is spread across two floors with treatment rooms, a traditional hammam, swimming pool, beauty salon and a fully equipped gym with an adjoining studio for one-on-one boxing sessions.

There’s also a spacious hair salon, designed by Sarah Hamizi of La Barbière de Paris salons in France, that caters to male grooming, from haircuts to beard trimming. The spa’s treatment menu is bountiful; I went for a 24-karat-gold age-defying facial that uses collagen and elastin, mogra, king of jasmine and 24-karat gold leaf. Book it for the morning and you won’t need a touch of makeup all day.

Explore

While the hotel acknowledges that guests might be in town on business (there’s a printer and a shredder in every room, plus 47,200 sq ft of event space), there’s still plenty to explore. Book a sightseeing tour with the concierge (ask for Naima, an affable and fabulously passionate guide) to cruise around the city in a Maybach.

You’ll visit Le Petit Paris and its stunning Art Deco architecture, the Old Medina, and the incredible Hassan II Mosque — it’s one of the largest in the world and it took six years and thousands of craftsmen, who worked round-the-clock in shifts, to create. Naima will explain the details of the craftsmanship and take you to the best spots to snap pictures. You’ll have to remove your shoes to enter, so it’s best to wear sandals.

One-bedroom Themed Apartment from $1,700 per night. Contact casablanca@royalmansour.com, +1 800 745 8883, royalmansour.com

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