Luis Vallejo with one of his bonsai trees (he has around 200).
When you get into a garden project, the landscaper Luis Vallejo stays forever. with the of Royal Mansour hotel in Marrakesh It has been almost 17 years and two expansions, the last completed just a few months ago.
The story behind each tree is known. Somebody else saved his life. “During the hotel works we discovered some 300 year old date palms and we managed to modify the plans to respect them”.
Vallejo is aware that nature is always above humans and that is why it is essential for him to listen to the landscape and give each place what it asks of him. “It is the genius loci, the protective spirit of a place, the soul of him”.
Part of the gardens of the Royal Mansour hotel
And this palace hotel owned by Mohamed VI asked what Marrakech is: a system of agricultural gardens and plantations of olive trees, fig trees, persimmons, orange trees... Between them, elevated paths place the fruits within easy reach, while a network of ditches and pools leads happily to the new orchard, from which they feed the spa and restaurant Le Jardin, now with a space raised to the height of the trees.
Located next to the city wall, in which they have recovered a 200-year-old door that remained buried, the orchard is the apple of Vallejo's eyes: “Creating an exemplary garden in a medina that has almost no building land is something extraordinary”
***This report was published in *number 144 of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (Spring 2021) . Subscribe to the printed edition (€18.00, annual subscription, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website). The April issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device