livefromtuscany

Seems we were REALLY lucky here, having a perfect Aman-stay and leaving just before this started. I feel sorry for the whole reservations and management team, those dealing with disgruntled guests and arranging alternate accommodations.

scented

Amanjena up and running again very shortly... for those seeking a Moroccan retreat, you should be able to go back next week!

Will post more details if I can, and get the full picture...

troyb

Good news I guess. Unfortunately I had plans for a stay beginning tomorrow that of course will not work out. To be honest, I am pretty underwhelmed with the way they dealt with my reservation. They did help reach out to the FS and got their agreement to waive my cancellation period (so that I could use the FS as a backup), however I had really wanted to stay at the MO and in fact had cancelled a booking I had there once I confirmed my Amanjena reservation. Unfortunately, by the time it became clear Amanjena wouldn't be open during my planned travels, the lower level room category I had planned to book was no longer available at MO.

At at the end of the day, I lost the package and room type that I had booked at Amanjena and will end up paying way more at what I think will be a lesser property for a similar room type and package. It would have been nice if Amanjena helped coordinate a stay at another property with a similar room / package. I asked for this and was basically ignored.

scented

Bad form to ignore your request but I fear their hands were tied. Did you not communicate with Nicolas directly?

So do you end up going to FS now? Or did you cancel, if I may ask? I would gladly stay at FS over MO, but I am the minority here in this regard. Let me know if you need help with FS MRK.

A lot of frustration here due to this sad incident and you're not alone. Who would have thought!

troyb

Yea, I'll end up at the FS. I was in communication with Nicolas but suspect he had more pressing matters, which is somewhat understandable. Just not what I expected from an Aman.

Good to know you prefer FS over MO - that certainly counts for something!

FlyingDoctorwu

Glad to hear the strike is over. I got a little worried given that I saw on instafram Nicolas is off to Seoul...

fdw

scented

Ah... the boon or bane of social media

chinmoylad

Yep I was wondering too! He'll be back in mid-June. Enjoying a much deserved break I guess - must have been very stressful.

Kagehitokiri

anyone heard of service recovery from aman corporate after jolivet left?

scented

Monty is at Jena overseeing recruiting. Nicolas is back, too, along with support from a very young but enthusiastic team. Guess everything is back to normal. For those of you wondering about a potential stay there, contact them beforehand and wait for a while, as they are on minimal staff levels. They just had a huge Brazilian wedding there (another buy-out), but even with low-ish occupancy I wonder how they will cope. Thankfully summer is quite slow in Morocco -- at least at MO and Jena, while FS is as busy as they can be. Impressive.

Villa D'Orangers is still quite accomplished, with good service and passable food.

For those who PMed me about Palais Namaskar... yikes. May I recommend they hide their arrivals/departures list at reception when guests are around, even more so when there are only 2 guests staying in total. No security to speak of, minimal staff and maintenance a nightmare. I won't comment about design, as this has been discussed extensively here and my dislike for anything Monsieur Starck is known by now. But when you have this amount of ponds and water features maintenance is crucial and it appears the current owners just don't want to spend. What is their plan? Is there a plan? I don't believe there is. Anyone who tried to take responsibility in the past has long left (various GMs), now a Moroccan GM is in charge, or is he? The place smells like an old, moldy movie theatre and the few staff left aim to please but it is tough. I had a drink, to give them the chance to have a guest at least once in their lifetime, which was quite good. While I don't drink I made sure it was with Champagne as I wasn't quite trusting of something fresh...

Marrakech has had the best few months in a very long time and the winners are clear (FS amongst them), but as more people go and the Red City becomes more lively, I wonder if Palais Namaskar still has a market.

SojournsOf

Any recommendations for nice dinners in Marrakech? We have three nights mid-September at La Sultana.
Are the Moroccan restaurants at Aman/Royal Mansour/La Mamounia any good?

scented

I would dine at

Nama at Amanjena
La Grande Table Française/Marocaine at Royal Mansour
Ling Ling at MO

All excellent... try to have lunch at Le Jardin at the Royal Mansour -- stunning! And don't forget Quattro at Four Seasons.

Regarding La Mamounia... frightful. We tried their Italian restaurant and it was a nightmare. It took them 45 minutes to bring the first course and over 30 minutes for the second course. Needless to say we skipped dessert and drove back to FS for dessert. Al Fresco dining is nice, especially as Moroccan summer evenings are quite mild and not as hot, but you sit outside on awful garden chairs and hear music from two sources simultaneously. Service is old school, almost cold. I asked for extra black truffle shavings on a dish, which was met with a blank "no". They wouldn't do it -- would have been a nice extra charge for them, but alas. The entire hotel was refashioned in 2009 and the interior designer managed to turn it into a resort that Sol Kerzner dreams about at night... just as I was saying it feels like a casino resort, we stepped outside and saw: their casino. I won't go back. Don't know what people like about it, aside from the garden?

In other news: At MO, Ling Ling just re-opened after a short break for various reasons (ahem) -- Mes'Lalla however is now closed and no longer a restaurant at MO, since Meryem is no longer a chef at MO...
The restaurant will be re-thought and opens sometime in fall with a new menu, new concept and new chef. A bit sad, since I loved her cuisine.

SojournsOf

Thanks for the tips. Was looking at the pool/lunch package at Royal Mansour so think will definitely do that.
Would seem a shame to be in Marrakech and eat Japanese/Chinese - love Middle Eastern / North African food.

scented

I see -- in this case my Tajines at Amanjena were the best in Morocco, even better than Royal Mansour. FS does amazing Mezze at Inara, although the menu there is now more International than Moroccan. Quality of produce and meat was not high at La Mamounia, so keep this in mind. Would also look at some Riads, as they often have amazing Moroccan food.

scented

So very happy Quattro at FS Marrakech finally opened its doors! Haven't had a chance to check it out just yet, but from what I gather it is exactly what I was hoping for.

Might drop by before winter settles into Morocco and see if they were able to get it right -- had a glimpse before opening and lighting was something they needed to look into but the pictures I saw do look stunning. Really good chef as well.

Now with all the other changes your next Moroccan sojourn awaits...