- From its first incarnation as the home of legendary couturier Yves Saint Laurent and partner Pierre Bergรฉ to its restoration by Jasper Conran, the award-winning Villa Mabrouka has been one of Moroccoโs must-visit hotels.
- In a past life, it was the stunning holiday house and inanimate muse of Saint Laurent; these days, itโs a dreamy 12-suite hotel where the design is so spectacular it can distract guests from the view.
- This iteration of Villa Mabrouka, operated by LโHรดtel Marrakech, opened its doors in June 2023.
Perched on a cliffside in Tangier overlooking both the Strait of Gibraltar and shimmering North Atlantic, itโs no wonder Villa Mabrouka has emerged as one of the most feted destination hotels of the 2020s.
Once the private sanctuary of Yves Saint Laurent and long-time business/romantic partner Pierre Bergรฉ, the villa โ which translates to โHouse of Luckโ in Arabic โ has recently been reimagined by the acclaimed British designer Jasper Conran: an exhaustive process that took four years to complete.
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The LโHรดtel Marrakech ownerโs sensitive restoration has breathed fresh life into this legendary estate. Beyond the installation of contemporary infrastructure, a coffee bar, three restaurants, and dining pavilions alone.
The history of Villa Mabrouka is, unsurprisingly, is woven with tales of haute couture and โoh wowโ occurrences in pop culture.
Saint Laurent and Bergรฉ acquired the villa around1997, seeking a counterpart to their Marrakech home (the now-famed Jardin Majorelle). Where Marrakech is intense โ an electric mosaic of colours and chaos โ Tangier offered a cooler, more introspective majesty. Immediately after, they enlisted the one and only Jacques Grange to revamp the interiors.
During Saint Laurentโs ownership, Villa Mabrouka played host to a revolving door of the jetset. It wasnโt particularly unusual to see figures like Catherine Deneuve, Andy Warhol, as well as the hard-living Mick Jagger at its various salons. You can bet the banter was the stuff of โif these walls could talkโ legend.
Yet, despite this, the villa mostly functioned as a personal sanctuary โ an intimate space where Saint Laurent could unwind, sketch, and find solace in an internalised universe of creativity.
Following Saint Laurentโs death in 2008 and Bergรฉโs passing nearly a decade later, Villa Mabrouka faced an uncertain future. It would eventually be Jasper Conran, with his discerning eye for blending heritage and modernity, who stepped in circa 2019 to honour the villaโs legacy with his own distinctive redesign.
Rather than overshadowing the Art Deco residenceโs history, which dates all the way back to the 1940s, Conran sought to embrace its bones โ maintaining the core essence of a Moroccan escape while infusing a lighter, brighter, and more carefree sensibility. The interiors now offer an interplay of crisp whites, ocean blues, and sun-washed terracotta, reflecting the villaโs coastal vantage.
The textures, on the other hand, are tactile yet refined: using rattan and gleaming zellige tiles that playfully catch the light. Thoughtfully placed antiques โ Ottoman mirrors, Berber rugs, mid-century French chairs โ sit in the spaces seamlessly alongside bespoke, locally crafted furniture.
โI want Villa Mabrouka to feel deeply personal, like staying in a home rather than a hotel, reflecting the way I personally like to live, the things that I enjoy, and the appreciation of beautifully made things,โ he said in a prepared statement (via Elle Decor).
โI want it to be a place where you can spend time taking in the beauty of everything around you.โ
Each of the 12 rooms & suites boasts its own theme and its generously apportioned; a continuation of Saint Laurentโs original directive that Jacques Grange limit himself to the use of one colour per living quarter.
The former master bedroom, for one, has been transformed into the Marrakech Suite; featuring a green ceiling and yellow accents, glazed window seat, working fireplace, along with a considerable private terrace. Conran preserved Saint Laurentโs Murano chandeliers, exposed beam ceilings, and striking black-and-white marble floors.
To create a warm, lived-in feel, the space is accented with white lamps, sconces, and carefully chosen trinkets โ like miniature busts and delicate porcelain pieces โ that lend the atmosphere of a private holiday retreat rather than a hotel.
One of the most captivating aspects of this brilliant reimagining lies in the garden, which is lushly coloured and strictly manicured so that it softens the villaโs clean lines.
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Working in close collaboration with various landscape designers, Conran curated a blend of Mediterranean and local flora โ agave, bougainvillea, olive trees being prominent examples โ that frame the breathtaking views of the Gibraltar Strait.
The result is a space that feels curated yet wild; complete with 6,500 new plants, shrubs, and trees on what had already been a lush terrain.
As the afternoon light slips away and the call to prayer echoes faintly over the water, itโs easy to imagine YSL himself striding among the gardens โ sketchbook in hand, contemplating his next Paris collection.
Overnight rates at Villa Mabrouka start at โฌ405 (~AU$690).
