WOMEN of MOROCCO

SPRING / SUMMER 2019 WOMEN of MOROCCO NEWS & STORIES TRAVEL GUIDES YOUR STAY SPA TREATMENTS DRINK MENUS The influential women of Morocco Medina, Gueliz, Fez & Ourika Useful info for your time here Choose a pampering session Cocktails & Wine EL FENN MAGAZINE SPRING / SUMMER CONTENTS 4 About El Fenn 7 Our partners Welcome 8 Interview with Nora Fitzgerald - social entrepreneur 10 Many of our guests ask about the lives of women here in Focus on the Sea & the Desert Morocco and the simple answer is that they are as varied 12 A day out in Gueliz and kaleidoscopic as those of women anywhere. 13 Interview with Cassandra Karinsky - restaurateur Walk down any street in Marrakech and you’ll see girls 14 Interview with Yasmine Berrada - gallerist in hijabs walking side by side with friends whose heads 15 are bare, women in kaftans and others in the latest high Our new exhibition fashion. Modern Morocco is home to all kinds of women 16 Focus on Fez living all kinds of lives and we celebrate them in this issue. 20 A day in the Medina Elsewhere, you’ll find articles about places we love (find 21 Interview with Hanane Chouquir - tour guide our guide to Fez on page 15) plus maps and itineraries of 22 Interview with Madou Eijkman - social activist the most visited areas in & around Marrakech (if you’re 24 looking for inspiration on a fun night out then head to A day outside Marrakech page 36). There are also snippets of news on the latest 26 A dying art: the storytellers of Morocco trends in food, travel & design. 28 Get the El Fenn look We hope you get inspired. 29 Interview with Sanaa Bousairy Berrada - designer 30 Meet the staff 33 Recipe: Amlou (Moroccan Almond Butter) 34 HOW TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH US Your Stay 36 Celebrating at El Fenn 37 Interview with Rosena Charmoy - events planner 38 The future of El Fenn 39 A day out with children FOLLOW US SIGN UP 40 @elfennmarrakech to our email list and we’ll be in touch A night out in the red city Instagram & Facebook twice a year with news & special offers 41 Interview with Norya Ayron - store owner 42 Cocktail menu 44 Wine menu COVER PHOTO Top: Hanane Chouquir, Sara Kchirid, Rosena Charmoy, Nora Fitzgerald, Cassandra Karinsky 47 Spa Treatments Bottom: Yasmine Berrada, Madou Eijkman, Norya Ayron, Sanaa Bousairy Berrada 48 Do’s & Don’ts Content & Copy MEGAN LLOYD DAVIES & TARA STEVENS | Design LARRY SMITH | Illustrations LUKE EDWARD HALL Photography : El Fenn KASIA GATKOWSKA | Interviews MEHDI MOUNIR | Fez OMAR CHENNAFI | Staff SANDRA LESVIGNE 2 3 EL FENN MAGAZINE About El Fenn We call El Fenn a home from home because that is what ROOM RATES we wanted to create from the first day we opened our doors Small Rooms from 270€ fourteen years ago. Medium Rooms from 380€ Since then we’ve added rooms, knocked down walls, hosted Large Rooms from 470€ art festivals and film screenings, huge parties and memorable Extra Large Room from 570€ weddings but that one core value of what we’re here to do has remained. Now, more than ever, we want to retain El Fenn’s Plunge Pool Rooms from 630€ intimacy and friendliness. Two Bedrooms from 700€ Three Bedrooms from 790€ Why? Small Annex Rooms from 270€ Medium Annex Room from 380€ Because our lives are increasingly time poor as the world keeps getting busier. And while we’ve seen Marrakech grow and Our five bedrooms Annex Riad from 1,460€ expand over the years since we opened - donkeys and carts replaced by scooters that buzz and smartphones that ping - the FOR BOOKINGS medina is also immutable: ancient, atmospheric and inspiring. [email protected] We want you to make the most of that while you’re here. That’s why there are no TVs but instead lots of spaces to relax WHAT’S INCLUDED in. Please do make the most of them to read, sleep or sip a mint Breakfast, in-room tea and coffee facilities, tea and listen to the muezzin’s call to prayer as the sun sets. afternoon tea, internet access, 10% TVA, city taxes Then, once your energy levels are reset, we urge you to venture WHAT’S EXCLUDED out a little further and see what you find - or finds you - in the beautiful city of Marrakech. 7.5% service charge There’s a saying in Morocco that you don’t choose a house, a AIRPORT TRANSFER house chooses you. And we feel incredibly lucky that El Fenn 40€ each way (per room) happened to choose us. It is a place that we hold deep in our 90€ Standard Fast Track hearts and it gives us great pleasure to be able to share it with 120€ VIP Fast Track you. ADDITIONAL BEDS 0–5 years free of charge Please make yourself at home. 5+ years 50€ per night Maximum 1 bed per room (small, medium & large rooms excluded) 4 EL FENN MAGAZINE SPRING / SUMMER Our Partners Between them, our five El Fenn partners Vanessa and Howell’s original vision was to For more than 20 years, painter turned have advised prime ministers, influenced use the large scale rooms as a backdrop for designer Madeline Weinrib built a textile the art and design scene on either side strong colours, the abundant artisan skills brand beloved by some of the US’ most of the Atlantic and built up a peerless found in Morocco, deep baths, powerful influential tastemakers. knowledge of rug makers everywhere from showers, handmade beds, luxury linen, and Afghanistan to Shanghai. delicious, simple food. Mixed in would Blending the beauty of traditional crafts be serious contemporary art and striking with her own unique aesthetic, Madeline And it’s this mix of talents, interests and mid-century modern furniture. worked with artisans across the world expertise that we believe gives El Fenn its to create her range of rugs, cushions and unique atmosphere. El Fenn opened its doors in 2004 with six accessories. bedrooms, soon gained a cult following and The hotel’s life began in 2002 when Howell expanded into neighbouring properties. Then the internet caught up, her work was James and Vanessa Branson were hunting imitated and gradually felt increasingly for a holiday house. At the end of a long The next phase of El Fenn’s life came in unsustainable in a world where prices are day, they walked into what was then a near 2012 when Willem Smit arrived to manage constantly being driven down by mass derelict riad. By the time they left an hour the hotel - and kick start a refurbishment production. Architectural Digest labelled later, they were on the way to owning not that built on the original look and feel. it ‘the end of an era’ when Madeline just one Marrakech home – but several. It’s still ongoing in many ways because, as announced the closure of her eponymous return guests will know, nothing ever stays label last year. Unknown to them, the main building the same too long. (today centred on the courtyard that houses Now, in addition to working with the our reception) was being sold with a string Paintings, colours, fabrics, furniture and Cristina Grajales Gallery in New York of smaller properties – some with only one spaces are constantly being repositioned, to create truly bespoke pieces for private or two rooms. reinvigorated or reinvented. clients, Madeline is bringing her eye, aesthetic and experience to El Fenn. It was only when Howell, a former El Fenn’s drama and decorative abundance permanent secretary in the Cabinet Office has earned it a reputation as one of She’s joined by her husband Graham Head, who has also held senior positions at the Marrakech’s most beautiful hotels – with president and vice chairman of the iconic BBC and Christie’s, and Vanessa – an art Architectural Digest calling it ‘Instagram New York store abc carpet and home, collector, gallerist and patron - signed the gold’ – and today we employ ninety staff who has spent the last 30 years scouring sale papers that they realised just how much and stretch over a site occupying an entire the world for rugs and textiles that have house they were getting. acre of the medina. changed the home furnishing world. They took a leap of faith and decided to Then last year, El Fenn’s newest partners So what’s next for El Fenn? Turn to page 34 open a small guest house. joined the team and a new era began. to find out. From left: 6Willem Smit, Madeline Weinrib, Graham Head, Vanessa Branson, Howell James 7 EL FENN MAGAZINE SPRING / SUMMER starting their own businesses, the truth is very few want to go that route, they prefer the stability of being an employee. A small “Over 80% of our graduates percentage do have entrepreneurial spark, and we have one student who started a are subsequently employed in sweets business recently on Facebook. She’s doing really well. a healthy environment like a The Future’s Female What does the future look like for Nora Fitzgerald’s organisation the Amal Foundation has local restaurant or riad.” Moroccan women? I see a drive in young women that I’m expanded because ambitious women have driven the growth, not sure I’m seeing in young men. For How did the women find out me, Morocco’s greatest opportunity is she tells Tara Stevens. about you? undeniably female. The legal framework is changing to favour women more and Mostly they simply walked by and came more in different ways, for example the in to ask about what the association was Born in Morocco to American parents who introduction of the law against les petites about.

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