iSSue n° 227 – 45

Morocco Style

46 Swiss Entrepreneurs And The Moroccan Lifestyle

49 Jardin Majorelle’s New Berber Museum

50 Travel Morocco

52 The Best Of Marrakech Hotels

SPECIAL REPORT

by Robert La Bua

46 – SwiSS Style

While the debate in Switzerland over immigration and resident expatriates continues to foment

ever stronger opinions, less attention is accorded Swiss people who become ex-patriates in other countries. They are, in fact, surprisingly numerous. Whether for personal or professional reasons, or both, citizens of Switzerland can be found across the border and across the world from Lyon to London, Sydney to Santiago. With such great emphasis in cor-porate work in Switzerland, it is not surprising that those whose are open-minded enough to take on the joys—and pitfalls—of life in another culture are also more likely to harbour a self-belief strong enough to undertake a more en-trepreneurial lifestyle than would oth-erwise be possible at home. Not all of us grow up wanting to become captains of industry aspiring to occupy a top-floor corner office with a view, yet the pursuit of success in less typical fields than banking or law can still lead to economic reward and professional sat-isfaction—and how closely the two are entwined is no surprise at all. The will to follow a dream can take people much further, both literally and figuratively, than they ever imagined. In Switzerland, Nicole Pavlin is re-membered as Swiss Television 1’s effer-vescent film critic who lit up television screens in the 1990s with her vivacious personality and impressive body of cinematic knowledge. Born in Zurich, raised in Ostermundigen (BE), a town with a talent for producing beautiful women (see A Lasting Bond To Beauty in this issue), Nicole had a great life, enjoy-ing the type of career so many people fantasise about yet one few are able to achieve. The years went by and her ex-periences in front of the TV camera led to more creative work behind the lens in production and direction. Then, Ni-cole Pavlin did what successful show-business personalities rarely do: she left behind the fame, glamour, and money of the world of television and film in order to pursue a lifelong dream. For

her, this meant owning a hotel. That Nicole’s hotel is in Morocco was never part of the plan, but Life has a funny way of directing us to where we are sup-posed to be. Sure, there are lots of Swiss hote-liers around the world—and always ex-cellent they are—but most take on the role of manager rather than owner. Ms Pavlin’s Riad Baladin, opened four and a half years ago in partnership with It-aly’s famous organic beer microbrewer, Teo Musso, is a small, simple guest-house in the medina of Essaouira, one of Morocco’s most agreeable cities. As have so many Europeans, Nicole found an old riad and transformed a family home into a hotel, choosing to eschew the path of glamour pursued by most others (and the one she left behind) to open a place where the casual, relaxed vibe generated a chicness of its own, us-ing only natural materials and colours in the décor to create an environment serving as a counterpoint to the hustle and bustle of streetlife in a Moroccan medina. Riad Baladin’s slogan—”Where you find simplicity rather than luxury”—re-inforces the sometimes forgotten reali-sation that simplicity makes things so much clearer than we usually see them through the cloudy tumult of daily life. No televisions, no phones, just blue sky and a comfortable bed to start with and the rest you make up as you go along. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish with a clear head. It works for Nicole; in addition to her ownership interest in Riad Baladin, she also manages holi-day apartment rentals in Essaouira and is now looking to capitalise further on her success by opening more hotels in collaboration with the Baladin family. All business empires start somewhere, but few of them start in Morocco. Even in a small place like Essaouira, Nicole Pavlin is not alone as a Swiss in pursuit of the expatriate dream of fi-nancial independence in an agreeable location. Having arrived some 25 years ago, Jack Oswald of Chur was already a resident when Essaouira was nowhere

to be found on the tourist map. Spot-ting an opportunity, foreseeing the future appeal of the place, Jack seized the advantage of location and employed his business acumen in making numer-ous real estate acquisitions in what was then a vastly undervalued market. Well, if not undervalued, the normal value in Morocco was much lower than in Europe, Switzerland especially—not that Switzerland can even offer historic buildings with a sunset over the Atlan-tic like Jack has now in his considerable portfolio of properties that have appre-ciated handsomely over the years. Ever clever in his development of a business possibility, Jack saw the demand for visitors to Morocco looking to take the step toward homeownership; he canni-ly opened a real estate agency, Karimo Immobilier, to help facilitate their transactions. Who better to entrust a real estate purchase overseas than to a man who has lived there for decades? As a place to do business, Morocco is unexpectedly welcoming to foreigners. A few basic forms, a few simple proce-dures, and paperwork in order are all that is needed to gain a residence per-mit. Oh, yes, and money, but much less than expected and much less than in other developing countries actively cul-tivating a market of foreign residents. Tourists can walk into a bank and open an account, no problem. In fact, a bank account is a prerequisite for residency, though some people never bother with a residence permit at all, content to spend ten, twenty, thirty years as tour-ists. Looking at the statistics, Morocco is the kind of place European and US companies rush to in Asia, yet the same amount of foreign investment has not materialised here in North Africa. Maybe Canada’s Bombardier Aerospace, with its recent announcement to open a production facility on the outskirts of Casablanca in the Midparc Casablanca Free Zone in Nouaceur, will be the brave Mountie sent ahead to signal to other transnational corporations that Moroc-co’s stable government, young popula-tion, low wages, proximity to a large,

special report

Three Entrepreneurs Trade The White Cross For The Green Star

Smart, Successful, And SWISS

iSSue n° 227 – 47

mature consumer market in Europe as well as the vast wealth of resources of Africa—not to mention that continent’s potential for economic development—are all factors similar to the ones that see companies hurry to set up shop in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. As a kind man exclaimed on the street for no other reason than goodwill toward a stranger, “You are welcome in Moroc-co!” Ursula Haldimann certainly feels this to be so. “I had EVERYTHING!” This is the thought that crossed Ms Hal-dimann’s mind as she sat in the middle of a muddy Marrakech construction site, pondering the mess that represent-ed her future. Fifteen years later, that mess is one of the most charming, most stylish, and most desirable of addresses in the city. It took eight long years of restoration, renovation, reconstruction, and revelation before Riad Enija was open for business. Ursula’s vision turned a typical Moroccan home into an astonishingly beautiful palace—and that word is not used metaphorically.

The few old palaces in Marrakech open to the public are nearly as captivat-ing as Riad Enija, but why bother see-ing them at all? Better to spend every waking minute within the walls of this private world of serene splendour. Per-haps the most impressive aspect of Riad Enija is the absolute silence that pre-vails despite its location in the middle of the medina, the quietude broken only by the occasional calls to prayer and the tinkling of fountains in the various courtyards. Back when Ursula arrived in Morocco with husband and daughter in tow, “the whole medina was for sale,” she says, as Moroccans abandoned their traditional residences in favour of mod-ern apartment blocks built outside the centuries-old city centre. Unlike Nicole Pavlin’s long search for just the right property in Essaouira, Ursula knew im-mediately that the first place she saw was the right one for the realisation of her dream project. A former choco-latemaker who eventually owned a ca-tering company with more than a »»»

Riad Baladin, Essaouira. top: Nicole Pavlin

48 – SwiSS Style

hundred employees, Ursula traded a busy life in her native Murten for a busy life in Marrakech at a time when for-eign women were not exactly numer-ous as business owners in Morocco. That said, she never once experienced any kind of sexism or prejudice and today, she says, “I feel more comfortable walk-ing in the medina alone at midnight than I would at Zurich train station at midnight”. Not that Ursula Haldimann has for-saken Switzerland completely. Even af-ter fifteen years abroad, she maintains close ties with her Swiss friends and visits Switzerland on a regular basis, often indulging in that most Swiss of pastimes, mountain hiking, which she is also able to enjoy in the exotic High Atlas Mountains only a short distance from her Marrakech home. Not all of her visits to Switzerland are purely for leisure. So beautiful is Riad Enija that several guests have beseeched Ursula

to recreate her exceptional magic in their homes back in Europe, allowing her to indulge in the creative process all over again. After all, excellence in good taste never goes out of style.riadenija.comriadbaladin.comjackapartments.comkarimo.net

Raid Enija, Marrakech. top left: Ursula Haldimann

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iSSue n° 227 – 49

special report

Marrakech is known as Moroc-co’s city of gardens, and gar-dens are indeed of particular

importance here in the desert where greenery is a symbol of prestige and of Life itself. The city’s most famous garden is, of course, Jardin Majorelle, which op-erates under the auspices of the Paris-based Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, celebrating its tenth anni-versary in 2012. The most popular attraction in the city is also the most discreet. Located in a residential neighbourhood, Jar-din Marjorelle keeps its main entrance on rue Yves Saint Laurent, a simple yet elegant lane off Avenue Yacoub El Mansour. A relatively small garden that seems much larger than its size, Jardin

Majorelle is famous as the North Afri-can home of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé, and of the French painter before them from whom the garden takes its name, Jacques Majorelle. Mr Bergé, a great pa-tron of the arts whose tireless work has garnered him a number of awards and commendations, including member-ship in the French Legion Of Honour, still owns Villa Oasis, his private villa oc-cupying another (larger) parcel of land adjacent to Jardin Majorelle, which to-day is run under the astute directorship of Mr Quito Fierro. Now occupying Jardin Majorelle’s fa-mous cobalt-blue building is the Berber Museum, opened with great fanfare in 2011. The only one of its kind in Moroc-co, the Berber Museum displays items from Mr Bergé’s personal collection as well as other objects accumulated in an appealing array beautifully presented for easy appreciation. Now that suppres-sion of Berber culture is a thing of the past, many more Moroccans are embrac-ing their roots; more than half the popu-lation have Berber ancestry.jardinmajorelle.com

50 – SwiSS Style

No one rushes in Morocco. Unless waiting for government approv-al for a construction permit,

that is part of its charm. Eventually, the Swiss perception of time, hopelessly out of its element, surrenders to time as an interpretation rather than a translation. As Moroccans like to say, “The Swiss have the watch, but we have the time”. A land of ethereal beauty and mysteri-ous cultures, Morocco has called to the adventurous traveller for many centu-ries. Most go home with a satisfied spirit and an ambivalent smile of content-ment and lament, happy to have had the experience on one hand, regretful over having to go home so soon. Some of them stay. While the entire country has ben-efited from the growth of tourism since the advent of jet travel, Marrakech has always been a destination for the dis-cerning traveller. Today, with a spate of luxury hotels opened in recent years, the city sees an increasing number of high-end visitors come for the weekend or the winter, depending on the porta-bility of their work and their wealth. These hotels are often destinations unto themselves; indeed, repeat visitors who

have found their favourite places to stay often never leave the grounds, content to amble around private gardens when done ambling around private suites. If Marrakech does not exactly have a bounty of tourist attractions, Essaouira has even fewer—one reason why it is so popular a destination. A three-hour drive west from Marrakech, past the groves where insatiable goats climb trees to feast on flavourful argan nuts,

Essaouira is a city of historical signifi-cance whose charm lies in its authenti-city and atmosphere. Essaouira’s raffish charm attracts an increasing number of curious visitors wanting to see this walled city fronting the North Atlan-tic, whose winds and waters are among the top attractions for windsurfers and beachgoers. Not that a tourism infrastructure is invisible. Last year, French hotel group

“The Swiss have the watch, but we have the time.”special report

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Accor opened the luxurious Sofitel Essaouira Mogador just south of Essaouira in Diabat, where the beach-front golf course is already popular with the European citybreak set, here look-ing for a break from cities in favour of stylish accommodation, fine weather, and golden sunsets. With a complimen-tary shuttle to the medina, Sofitel guests have easy access to the action when they wish to explore Essaouira beyond the resort’s well-manicured grounds, which include an organic swimming pool that uses no chemicals, only natural filtra-tion, to keep water fresh. Others prefer to immerse themselves completely in the medina, where the elegant simplic-ity of Nicole Pavlin’s Riad Baladin offers a charming sanctuary after a day explor-

ing the souks and sampling the local cuisine in restaurants like Dar L’Oussia, where a rooftop dining area offers beau-tiful views of the Atlantic Ocean beyond the historic ramparts. Exotic as Morocco is as a destination, it is also very easy to reach thanks to increases in flight services from major European cities, many of them provided by easyJet. If you think easyJet is only for the desperate or the destitute, think again. With a surprising number of Swiss owning second homes in central Morocco, more than a few millionaires are regulars on easyJet’s routes linking Basel three times a week and Geneva daily via nonstop flights to Marrakech, living up to its name by making travel from Switzerland to Morocco very easy,

indeed. Prices start at less than 50 francs each way, all taxes included, which means for the price of a dinner in a good Moroccan restaurant in Switzerland you can be having the real thing in Marrakech—with change to spare. Try having that dinner at La Sultana, locat-ed in a beautiful riad immediately adja-cent to the ethereal Saadian Tombs. For more information about Marra-kech and Essaouira, visit the website of the Moroccan National Tourist Office for a comprehensive overview of the country’s many appealing destinations.easyjet.comvisitmorocco.comlasultanamarrakech.comriad-darloussia.comsofitel.com

“The Swiss have the watch, but we have the time.”

52 – SwiSS Style

La Villa des Orangers: At Home In Luxury

A private mansion turned splen-did relais in the traditional riad style, La Villa des Orangers is in-

deed a member of the esteemed Relais & Châteaux collection of fine hotel prop-erties around the world. The discreet entrance on busy rue de la Kasbah is easy to miss; it’s meant to be. Those who pass through it, however, pass into an alternate reality of sublime luxury very different from other luxury properties in Marrakech. With the air of a British gentlemen’s club embellished with deco-rative touches of the African continent, the ambience of La Villa des Orangers is one of flawless sophistication cultivated for more than a decade under the fastidi-ous leadership of General Manager Jean-Paul Compagnon, a name familiar in Switzerland to guests of Geneva’s La Cigogne, where Mr Compagnon served as GM for fifteen years. As the former home of a privileged Moroccan family, La Villa des Orangers

still exudes a heady air of refinement and grace, one readily breathed in by guests wanting to enjoy a home away from home in an environment simpler than that of larger hotels without sacri-ficing the personalised service expected by affluent travellers. That this tranquil sanctuary should be found only a few hundred metres from Jamaa El Fna, one of the greatest streetshows in the world, only adds to its appeal. The fifty rooms and suites are admira-bly understated in dark, neutral tones to soothe visitors after a day out amidst the stimulation of Marrakech. If the colours are not enough to achieve that goal, there are two pools, one in the garden and one on the roof. For those verging on being overcome by the allure of Mar-rakech, further relaxation is available in the Villa’s spa, where a classic Moroccan gommage treatment will have senses restored in time for dinner. And you wouldn’t want to miss that. Much to the

benefit of its guests, La Villa des Orangers takes dining seriously. Elegant dishes are prepared with the finest ingredients and served anywhere on the property, accord-ing to guests’ wishes; this flexibility reit-erates the feeling of being at home.villadesorangers.com

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marrakech style

Four Seasons Resort Marrakech:Contemporary Elegance

With a view toward the modern, Four Seasons Resort And Resi-dences Marrakech offers a total-

ly different hotel experience from other properties in the city. Located on an estate of 16 hectares in the Ville Nouvelle, the fabulous Four Seasons Marrakech opened to great acclaim last year as the com-pany’s first foray into Morocco. As one of the most prestigious hotel brands in the world, Four Seasons’ vast experience in luxury accommodation was well applied

in Marrakech, where large rooms and suites match the ample grounds in spa-ciousness. Sitting across the street from the Menara Garden close to the modern district of Guéliz, Four Seasons Marrakech is a convenient location for exploring the modern side of Marrakech, though the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle each evening for guests wanting to take in the timeless spectacle of Jamaa El Fna, designated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece Of The Oral And Intangible Heritage Of Humanity. The grounds of Four Seasons Mar-rakech, however, offer enough entertain-ment to last an entire stay. With fine din-ing crowned by splendid Italian food at Bleu d’Orange, two swimming pools (one for everyone, the other for adults only), two tennis courts, a kids’ centre, a teen-agers’ retreat (from their parents), and a unique knowledge centre where various cultural aspects of Morocco are displayed and explained, there are ample diver-sions for any interest. Beyond rooms and suites within the main building are pavil-ion suites, some with pools, where guests can enjoy the Moroccan sunshine with a higher degree of privacy. While on the

Four Seasons premises, enjoy a Moroccan treatment at the spa pavilion, where rose petals are rubbed on the body as part of the Plants Of Paradise treatment. When the unfortunate day of depar-ture arrives, Four Seasons reduces the separation anxiety by providing a VIP de-parture service which sees guests enjoy priority check-in regardless of airline as well as access to a private lounge, though the most impressive aspect of the service has to be the bypassing of queues at Immi-gration for immediate processing. A simi-lar VIP service exists in reverse for arrival. If looking to be among those Swiss jetting off to second homes in the winter sun, Four Seasons Resort And Residences takes the hotel experience one step fur-ther by offering it on a permanent basis. Among the most serious considerations of second-home ownership is mainte-nance and security while a home is unoc-cupied, especially for extended periods. Within a private complex such as Four Seasons, these worries are eliminated, al-lowing a second home to be exactly what it should be–a carefree complement to a first home. fourseasons.com/marrakech

54 – SwiSS Style

USM U.Schärer Söhne AG, CH-3110 Münsingen, Phone +41 31720 72 72Showrooms: Berlin, Bern, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, New York, Paris, Tokyo info@usm.com, www.usm.com

Sanctuary Pure form stirs the senses – USM harmonizes with your individual lifestyle.

usm_swiss_style_rp_usm_individuell 25.02.11 11:03 Seite 1

La Mamounia: Classic Marrakech

La Mamounia’s renovation is nearly as famous as the hotel itself. Aware of the increasing number of tony

establishments competing for high-end travellers, La Mamounia closed for three years of intensive renovation, reopening in 2009 to even more laudatory acco-

lades than it earned in its previous in-carnation. Under the discerning super-vision of French designer Jacques Garcia, La Mamounia has been transformed into a fascinating hotel and a tourist at-traction in its own right; the many beau-tiful photographs displayed throughout the hotel augment the mysteries of Moroccan culture and serve as a fit-ting complement to the glamorous fur-nishings. No detail is overlooked here, not even the details we don’t even re-alise are details: gardeners catching trimmings in dropcloths so as not to have them fall on the ground; a but-ton to open the door to the suite lest the occupant prefer to receive visitors while seated; two bathrobes of differ-ent weights for daytime and nighttime comfort. On the grounds of the hotel are three individual riads for the ultimate in pri-vate luxury. Each of the three bedrooms has its own living room; all have direct access to the private pool and patio area. Within the main building, the signature

suites are the last word in classic ele-gance; the Majorelle suite is particularly appealing with its semi-circular bed-room’s wall lined with windows right around. Dining experiences at La Mamounia match the accommodation in quality, with Le Marocain a standout in its pre-sentation and preparation of local cui-sine. Breakfast next to the pool is a fine way to start the day. La Mamounia’s VIP welcome at the thoroughly modern Marrakech Menara Airport sees guests staying in suites whisked into a private lounge where Im-migration formalities are handled by someone else while guests enjoy a selec-tion of traditional pastries and a relaxed arrival. Already, La Mamounia’s special qualities are apparent. After all, how many hotels have their own literary award? How fitting, then, that La Mamounia’s lifts are lined in fine, embossed Moroccan leather like a classic book on the shelf of a distinguished library.mamounia.com

marrakech style