Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Royal Mansour, Morocco - full transcript
Giles and Monica visit and go to work in the luxury hotel in Marrakesh, which was built by royal decree to showcase the region. Monica learns how to pleat the curtains while Giles dons the uniform of a butler.
All over the world,
there are remarkable hotels
born of bold vision and daring endeavor.
Oh, my goodness, look at that.
Whether it's an epic structure
housing a sky park
the length of the Eiffel tower…
This is definitely the biggest space
I've ever been inside.
…or a glass box perched
in the cloud forest.
-Look at that view.
-Wow.
They're all products of innovation,
creativity and hard graft.
The people running these hotels
strive to create the perfect sanctuary.
But what does it take to offer
once-in-a-lifetime experiences…
in stunning locations.
To build a hotel in a place like this,
everybody thinks I'm crazy.
In total we have about
160,000 pieces of uniform.
Oh, my word.
I'm a restaurant writer,
newspaper columnist and critic.
I have opinions on just about everything.
What a mad place to build a hotel.
Feel like Scott of the Antarctic
and it did not end well for him.
And I'm a chef who's worked
for the top end
of the hospitality industry
for, well, over 20 years.
How many opportunities do you get to cook
breakfast with elephants and giraffes?
We'll travel to amazing hotels
in every corner of the world.
To spend time getting to know
the people working away behind the scenes.
When did you last have
a full night's sleep?
I don't remember.
-Really?
-Yes.
-Hooray!
-Yes!
You're the engineer,
you're like Scotty in Star Trek.
Precisely, I've been called that.
Join us as we venture inside…
The world's most extraordinary hotels.
Marrakesh is one of the most beguiling
cities in North Africa.
Once the capital of an Arab empire
that stretched across
the Mediterranean to Spain,
for many centuries it was used
by Moroccan kings
to showcase their culture to the world.
And that's the tradition
that today's king,
Mohammed VI, wants to revive.
The luxurious hotel he has built,
Royal Mansour.
We represent the kingdom, you are staying
in the showcase of the kingdom.
The man tasked with implementing
the royal vision
is Managing Director Jean Claude Maison.
Ambition is very simple here
and it's very easy to explain to the staff
the ambition, it's to be number one.
For the next few days we're joining
Jean Claude and his staff
to find out how they deliver
that ambition and whether it succeeds.
-Good morning.
-Good day too and very welcome.
And with Monica in her office clothes,
I'm feeling a little bit under dressed.
Welcome to Central Marrakesh
and Royal Mansour.
This is a hotel where staff can
outnumber guests by ten to one.
We'll be looked after
by our very own butler, Mohammed.
You are very welcome to Royal Mansour.
I will be pleased
to be your butler during your stay.
-Thank you.
-And, it's--
-You're our butler just for us?
-Yes sir.
Just a stone's throw away
from the teaming heart of the city,
Royal Mansour is a peaceful haven.
It's made up of 53 separate residences
known as riads.
The traditional Moroccan riad
is designed for privacy.
Facing inwards to a central courtyard,
it therefore, suits the needs
of the presidents,
diplomats and a listers
who can afford to stay here.
Spending between 1,000
and a staggering 35,000 pounds per night.
-Welcome to your riad, Mr. Coren.
-Look at this. It's amazing.
-This is all mine?
-Yes, sir.
All 3,000 pounds per night's worth of it.
-The living room.
-This is so beautiful.
-This is the guest room, sir.
-Very nice.
The first floor, madam.
I've never had so much space
to myself before.
To understand the levels
of service expected of them,
Royal Mansour staff
are given a guest experience.
So, Mohammed, you said
you've stayed in the riad like this.
-I did madam and--
-How did you find that?
It transported me from my house
to the hotel in the hotel's car.
Welcome me in the main entrance
the same welcome
that we do for any of the guests.
I still remember that feeling I got.
-Being special.
-Nobody can explain it.
Unless you try it,
unless you live it yourself.
Guests Victoria and Antoine
are accustomed to exclusive hotels.
But this is their first experience
of the Royal Mansour.
The Royal Mansour allows
a sense of wonder,
there's a grandeur
to walking through the doors
and feeling like you're entering
somewhere magical.
But what's interesting about this hotel
is how the magic is created.
And for that, we have
to go behind the scenes.
-So Mr. Coren welcome to the undergrounds.
-You can call me Giles now.
As part of its drive for absolute privacy,
the Royal Mansour has taken the palace
tradition of upstairs downstairs
and rolled it out on a monumental scale.
It's like Downton Abbey meets Aladdin
with a bit of James Bond for good measure.
There's a car. Can we go in one of those?
No wonder they need those golf carts,
there are more than a thousand
of meters of tunnels here
mirroring the plan of the hotel above.
It's here that the 500 staff
go about their duties.
Laundering and pressing
300 staff uniforms every single day.
Cutting and arranging the weekly delivery
of 7,000 fresh roses.
And all this for just 53 riads.
Is it a problem with staff getting lost?
-Yes, of course.
-Do people quite often order breakfast
and then the guy just disappears for hours
and they phone down and go.
Yeah, for the new ones,
it happens sometimes.
Every riad has a private service entrance
on each of its three floors.
This allows staff to appear as if by magic
wherever they're required
enabling the upmost discretion
for butlers like Mohammed
and his new apprentice.
Okay. So this way?
-Yes.
-Easy to get lost.
My first lesson from Mohammed
presents a bit of a challenge for me.
Learning how to treat people like VIPs.
So you have to respect some protocols.
For example, you have to respect
the distance, at least you leave--
-A special distance, so when you say…
-No, sorry, you have,
you have entered into his area.
-You don't stand this close to a person.
-One meter 60.
-Really?
-Yes.
-One meter 60, that's about.
-One meter 60.
-This is okay.
-Now you can speak to him.
-Really?
-Yes you don't have to speak toxic words.
For example, we never say no.
-You never say no?
-We never say no.
He would ask, for example,
for a something which we don't have,
you don't say no but you explain
that we have something else instead.
So if he says "I'd like some caviar",
you can say "Excellent choice,
we actually have pringles."
-Something like that.
-That sort of thing.
Sort of thing.
I don't think I'm quite ready
to be let loose on Mohammed's VIP guests,
but having found out that they've
left their riad, he's sneaked me in
to show me how he prepares it
for their return.
-We don't walk across the bathroom.
-Okay.
And we walk around the…
The edge of the carpet
but not on the carpet?
Yes, not on the carpet.
Okay.
You just…
We can't use that.
I'm really sorry I would…
Is it a special…
-Because it's prepared by…
-Oh, I see.
It's already prepared by
the housekeeping, we cannot--
We can't sit on it.
Yeah, we cannot ruin what
the others have done.
Okay. Sorry.
That's so weird, I was, sorry.
I was totally expecting to come out into
the sunshine of the beautiful courtyard,
I completely forgotten that we were
just appearing in the underground
of warren again. That's so strange.
Giles isn't the only one who has to dress
in a uniform
inspired by Moroccan tradition.
Ta-da!
I am joining the housekeeping team
reporting to Executive House Keeper
Laurence Jaspard.
What do you think?
It's beautiful.
You look like a room attendant.
-A room attendant?
-You are the perfect one, and then
for what I need you
to speak French as well.
Yes.
Laurence began her career
at the Paris Ritz,
and has worked in some of the world's
most exclusive hotels.
She has responsibility for maintaining
the Royal Mansour's exacting standards.
At the Royal Mansour everything
is about elegance and beauty.
Laurence leads a team
of 44 room attendants,
quietly and discreetly, they have
elevated housekeeping into an art form.
From wiping perfumed
essential oil on drawers…
When the guests open, it smell good.
…and even telephones.
To brushing unique palm patterns
into velvet chairs,
or combing the fringes of rugs.
It have to perfect
and we work hard for this.
Every little detail
is extremely important.
I've been given the task
of preparing a riad
to get a sense
of the level of detail required.
So in the room we have more a style
of putting the cushion like this
and doing even more like this,
in here it's really like this shape
and then we need really to find
the right match, the right color.
-So today we remove all of them.
-You remove all of them?
-Just for you.
-I'm lucky.
Because then you have to put them back.
To maintain a sense of magic,
the housekeeping team
aim for invisibility.
Tipped off by butlers
when their guests have left the riad,
they slip in using the service tunnels.
Cleaning, rearranging and refreshing.
And it's not just in the morning,
it could be several times a day.
The slightest deviation from perfection
and unplumped or wonky cushions
say will be fixed
for the guests on their return.
It's not easy to make them
stand on the corner.
-Do you maybe need some help?
-No. Yes.
I'll need some help with this too.
Showing love to curtains.
The curtain here are extremely,
extremely nice, as you can see,
so we have to put them like,
we need to show them.
-Making pleats.
-Exactly, yes.
Well I've never caressed a drape before.
So much more to tying a drape back.
Than you know, one would presume.
There are 350 pairs of curtains
in the Royal Mansour
and each one gets the same level
of personal attention,
that's 350 instances
of untangling, pleating
and of course caressing every single day.
I think it's a really, really good start.
Tomorrow will be perfect.
I think I might be busy
doing something else tomorrow?
There's something a little disorientating
about waking up upstairs as Mr. Coren
and being treated like a king
by my butler.
-Thank you.
-You're welcome, sir.
Knowing that the day ahead will be
spent downstairs as Giles the worker.
Mr. Coren, you will be spending some time
with Akram, the chauffeur.
-Jolly good. Excellent.
-You have this for today, sir.
That looks fine. Can you give it
a little press, perhaps?
-Just a little press.
-Immediately, sir.
-Thank you very much.
-You're welcome.
Royal Mansour luxury begins
when guests are met at the airport
by one of the hotel's chauffeurs.
First impressions count
so this is a key front line role
for me to experience.
As well as another awesome uniform.
-Really suits you, sir.
-Is it?
-Can I just have one moment, sir?
-Yeah, sure.
The ladies do love a chauffeur.
-They do, sir.
-They love a uniform, they love a car.
Yes and your little beard, sir.
-My little beard?
-Yes.
Oh dear, we're out of the magic kingdom,
aren't we?
Into the service area.
-Yes, sir.
-The dream is over.
In the nerve center of the magic kingdom,
I've arranged to meet manager Jean Claude
to find out what drew him
to the Royal Mansour.
Bonjour.
Bonjour. Good morning.
Jean Claude has managed
some of the world's finest hotels
including the St. James Club in London,
Hotel De Crillon in Paris,
and the Hotel Metropole in Monaco.
No sooner have I sat down it becomes clear
that he's very much in demand.
I always seem to notice you
somewhere in the hotel
whether I notice you
disappearing in the lobby,
I see you passing in the restaurant,
you seem to be everywhere
at the same time.
It's important to be visible.
You need to be seen.
Some people--
It's my phone. Sorry.
Sorry, we have to go.
Come with me?
-Rush.
-You need to rush?
I'm starting to understand
here, Jean Claude has an almost
diplomatic role.
He's never more than a phone call away
from a royal or official duty.
It's a job where we meet
extraordinary people, you know,
we're looking at the top hundred
of this world, a guest could walk in,
could be someone important,
could be a head of state
and you have to be there
and to be at the front.
You've got to be fit. Just sprinted down
the stairs and out there,
I could do the same but I'd like
to see him do it in six-inch heels.
Sorry, fortunately, 20 minutes.
It's a 7 days a week job,
it's a 24 hours a day job.
I couldn't work in a bank
or I couldn't work,
in a place where everything shut down
at 5 o'clock and you go home.
So if you start your day 7, 7:30
when will you see your, your pillow again?
Depending on the day, could be anytime
between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
Depends on the day.
-Yeah.
-I come from a middle class background.
I was a very happy boy
and I did my National Service in France,
I was a butler
of the French Prime Minister.
And I discovered a new world,
with him I was traveling,
I went to the Pope in Italy,
to the Vatican, I mean
I entered a new life.
I managed some great hotels worldwide
and when this one came about,
you know, it was a job
you just could not refuse.
Perhaps part of the appeal
was the seemingly limitless budget
that Jean Claude has to play with.
Take the hotels fleet
of ten chauffeur driven luxury vehicles
including two custom-built Bentley's.
As the first hotel representative
to meet guests,
the chauffeurs are ambassadors,
all are highly trained
and must speak Arabic, French and English.
To understand the chauffeur's role
and the strict protocols that govern it,
I'm spending this morning with Akram,
one of the Royal Mansour's
most experienced chauffeurs.
-Hi.
-Hi.
Mr. Coren, let me introduce you, Akram.
Hi, Akram. Call me Giles.
There must be over a million pounds
worth of cars down here.
No wonder Akram
takes such good care of them.
So is that's so people
can clean their hands
and then if they you know, if they--
-No, that's for the car.
-If they--
So to have a special… to clean the car.
But if they come
with their hands are clean
and they haven't wiped their hands
and they go like that.
So that's what, we always use the cloths.
I see but even if my hands
are really clean, it's…
Yes, it's always clean.
I need you at home to just follow me
around my house.
How do we shut the boot
if we're not allowed to touch it?
Okay so we can, then we can.
That's amazing so then you can
close it without touching it.
Oh, my goodness.
Akram has reluctantly allowed me
to get behind the wheel.
But as with the butlering
I'm having to unlearn behavior
I've become accustomed to.
After all there could be
a VIP in the backseat.
Okay.
There's also the fine art
of permissible conversation.
Listen to that baby growl.
I'm desperate to get beyond
the hotel grounds
but Akram doesn't think I'm quite ready
for the mean streets of Marrakesh.
Or is it Marrakesh
that isn't ready for me.
Can I slide over the top like in the,
you know like the Dukes of Hazard. No?
Anyway just beyond the hotel walls
is the Medina
and it's a very different place.
It's a reminder that one of the world's
most luxurious hotels
is in a developing country.
There's a lot of horses and donkeys
and there's people on mopeds
and they don't respect the rules at all,
the roundabouts seem to be
make it up as you go along.
He talks about…
Given that the national income per head
is 14 times lower than in the UK
it's not surprising
that we're attracting attention.
This car alone is worth 60 times more
than a year's wages for most Moroccans.
What about those terrible people of Towie?
Of course, Akram would never tell me
how his mystery VIP guests feel
seeing the real Marrakesh
from the window of a Bentley.
But the contrast is certainly a stark one.
I think from a morning
of chauffeuring around Marrakesh
in a champagne-colored Bentley
with wonderful Akram,
the thing that I've learned
is the job of the chauffeur is very much
like the job of everyone else,
it's to keep you closeted
and quiet and calm and well-watered
and air-conditioned,
in a position where you can see Morocco
and you're aware that you're in Morocco
but you can't touch it
and it can't touch you
and while it's a very beautiful thing,
it is very slightly frustrating
and I find myself back here closeted again
in what is essentially a giant Bentley
with a view of Marrakesh.
Being closeted to this extent
might work for the guests of a King,
royalty and presidents,
A-list stars or captains of industry.
But that's not necessarily
what all the hotels guests want.
One of my favorite things when I travel
is to speak to other guests,
that's where I make my friends
in public environments
but this hotel tends
to have you inside your riad,
although we are within the city walls
and the city is just a few meters away
I feel like I'm supposed to be in my riad.
You have a very great service
when you are inside your riad
but there is no social life,
I can say when you get out of the room
and you want to go to the bar.
All of the ingredients are here,
the place and the setting are here,
the service is here,
it's just we're waiting for the vibe.
The truth is that no amount of beauty
and luxury can make you feel
truly comfortable.
Back in my riad, I'm finding that
the privacy can be a bit isolating.
And even if I were to venture out
to the beautiful chic bar, say,
or the ornate library, the chances
are I wouldn't see another soul.
But this problem isn't lost
on the hotel management.
Yes we have a very beautiful hotel
but that's not sufficient.
It's how do we make one of the most
beautiful hotel in the world,
one of the best hotel in the world?
Well, with access to royal funds and many
years of international luxury experience,
Jean Claude has a vision.
In an extravagant bid to soften
the image of the hotel
and change its atmosphere, the Royal
Mansour is undergoing a transformation.
A new more prominent entrance
is being created by opening a gate
in the 12th century city walls.
Try doing that if you're not the king.
But the centerpiece is La Jardine,
a new one and a half hectare garden
that has been eight months in the making.
There's a new 30 meter pool surrounded
by glassy outward looking pavilions
and adjacent to these, an open
and informal pool bar and restaurant.
It's a radical change
from the existing hotel.
But one thing it has in common
is the aim to create a brand new space
that feels well-established.
Over the past ten days
we've planted 25,000 bedding plants.
I don't know how we did it, but we did it.
Outside of the main gate,
could you add more bedding plant there?
I would like to do it today and tomorrow.
-Good luck.
-Okay, thank you.
Morocco's fabulous gardens
with their olive and palm trees
take hundreds of years to mature.
But mother nature's work can be speeded up
in the magical world of the Royal Mansour.
Thanks to the depths
of the owners pockets.
We actually got from all over Morocco
nearly 500 trees
like the beautiful olive trees,
palm trees,
it's also olive trees in average of
anything between 600 to 800 years old.
What makes this even more impressive
is that they're all planted above
a brand new network of tunnels.
Welcome to the underground world.
It contains everything
from pool filtration,
power supplies and offices
to classrooms for staff training.
With most of the palm trees
above weighing half a ton,
the tunnels are engineered to take
their weight and allow them to grow.
There seems to be no limit
to the scale, ambition
and cost of the project.
But one luxury they don't have is time.
Do we have pressure?
Yes, deadline is six working days.
The pressure is on but we'll manage.
Jean Claude's calmness under pressure
is all the more extraordinary
given the nature of his deadline.
A UN climate change conference
is coming to the Marrakesh
and the Royal Mansour has been asked
to host six heads of state.
By the time they arrive all construction
work has to be finished
and the pool, bar and restaurant
must be open.
We have a lot of people working on site.
When on a normal project
should be with 50 people,
we have 350 people or 400 people working.
We're working seven days a week,
we're working 24 hours a day.
I have guest number one,
will arrive at ten o'clock next Friday.
After my time with housekeeping,
I understand how important the riads are
in delivering the royal vision.
Luxurious discreet experience
that showcases the best of Morocco.
But how does the hotel's dining
experience deliver that vision?
There are 2 fine dining restaurants,
one French, the other Moroccan.
They're serviced by a team of male
and female waiting staff,
managed and regularly trained
by 24-year-old Julien.
We are doing the training
like a simulation
where each head waiter and waiters
try to take an order and welcome guest.
We have to be perfect everytime.
This kind of clientele
they expect a perfect service,
they pay the price
for this quality of service
so they expect it.
So they are really challenging.
We teach how to take an order, we teach
how to explain the dish to a guest
and we also teach how to have
the good attitude in front of the guest.
Of course prices are like
a 3 Michelin star in Paris
because we have the quality
of a 3 Michelin star.
To bring that quality to Marrakesh,
the kitchens are run
by French chef, Jerome Videau,
and the mastermind of the menu
is three Michelin starred culinary
superstar, Chef Yannick Alleno.
He regularly flies in from Paris.
My work here is to train the people
and to train them to the excellency.
The level has to be at the top.
In trying to combine Moroccan tradition
with the highest international standards,
Yannick had plenty of homework to do
when creating the menu.
It's a huge country with a lot
of regional tastes
so I had to understand that.
Take the dish I'm making,
an amuse-bouche of beetroot jelly
topped with orange segments
finally wrapped in beetroot.
High end and distinctively Moroccan.
Beetroots and oranges are two flavors
that they used to using
in their cooking here in Morocco
but this is a refinement
of that wonderful cuisine.
The Moroccan?
In fact there are more women in
this kitchen than I've been used to.
Moroccan cuisine was created by women
who traditionally stayed at home.
But as the country has modernized,
more women have entered the workplace
and it's restaurant culture has blossomed.
And it makes sense to have
a Moroccan restaurant with the women,
the chefs here,
that know how to make it properly.
As the hotel is a showcase
for a modern kingdom,
giving opportunities to local women
like Delilah and Fatima, is a win-win.
The saffron Fatima and I
are using in this chicken dish
is one of the most highly-priced
ingredients for any chef.
And this being the Royal Mansour,
it has to be Moroccan.
So, it's an early start for me because
I want to find out where it comes from.
I'm heading the fertile Ulrika Valley
with head chef Jerome Videau.
We've come to the farm that supplies
the Royal Mansour with saffron.
The owner is Doctor Lakbarbi.
-Bonjour, bonjour.
-Enchante, je suis Monica.
Once again, I'm happy to see
so many women of all ages at work.
The women are racing against the sun,
they have to complete their picking
before it gets too high
so I'd better get stuck in and help.
My fellow pickers are Berbers, descendants
of the pre-Arab population of Morocco.
They're paid 100 dirhams
or about 8 pound for the day,
it's not much but in this area
every dirham counts.
Madam here is 90 years old,
she's picking faster than me,
she's making me look really bad.
Right. I've got to catch up.
I am loving this. Really am.
You know for any chef,
lover of food, to have this opportunity,
listen to that, and to see it
and to really, it's heaven.
With the sun up and the flowers picked
we're off to a shady spot
to separate the saffron stigmas
from the rest of the flowers.
The finished product sells
for eight pounds per gram even in Morocco
making it literally worth
its weight in gold.
It's labor intensive,
for one gram of saffron,
Two hundred of these.
For one gram.
You can see why it's so expensive.
But you have the Royal Mansour hotel
who can afford to buy this saffron
in abundance,
as long as the hotel is there.
It's actually a bit of
a support network, you know,
it's actually providing the jobs
for these amazing people.
In Le Jardine, the new garden development
there's a final push ahead of the opening.
The pool has been filled and filtered.
And the last of the trees
are being planted.
The finishing touches
are being given to the pavilions,
and to the new alfresco bar
and restaurant.
But architecture alone won't transform
the atmosphere of the Royal Mansour,
for that the staff need to change
their attitude and approach.
Restaurant manager Julien
is overseeing the retraining.
We have a lot of team members,
they are here for over six years now.
And they have really
strict sense of protocol
and it was perfect for the French
fine dining restaurants.
But with this place, we have to make them
more relaxed, you know.
To help create the more relaxed vibe,
the jackets and ties are being ditched
in favor of polo shirts,
chinos and loafers.
We wanted a different kind of service
so we have to train the team to keep
the quality but to change the attitude.
It's really new for us you know,
with a lot of people
around the swimming pool,
the restaurant, I hope to create this
you know, how you say, the beating heart
of the Royal Mansour you know.
But we need time, of course.
In a rare moment away from the hotel,
manager Jean Claude
has headed for the hills.
Well, the Atlas Mountains to be precise.
He's been invited to sample
a restaurant for guest excursions
and he's bought me along for the ride.
You see the snow on the mountains?
On the other side, you have ski resorts.
Some of the butlers actually
were bought up here,
either in Imlil or in Asni.
Those villages now
are only filled with kids,
women, grandparents. All the men
have gone to town to work.
Let's go.
That's my favorite place.
I come with my guide Hamud
and we get dropped here,
and then we cycle all the way
back down to Marrakesh.
Fantastic.
So you like to get away from luxury
then in your private life?
If I have the choice between
Michelin 3 star lunch and
a very rustic picnic, simple lunch,
I'd go for the rustic one.
Our lunch stop, the Kasbah du Toubkal
is managed by local Berber people
and offers traditional cuisine.
It doesn't promise luxury
but a rustic experience
could be just the ticket
after a few days at the Royal Mansour.
If you bought your guests out here
would they be happy eating this?
Would this be too rustic?
I think they would be very happy
to come here.
It's not too far, convenient,
great view, good food, nice people.
-No wine.
-No wine.
But I mean otherwise,
they've done pretty well.
We've got as far as the mint tea when
a call from the royal palace comes in.
So sorry, go ahead.
-So, I'll see you later?
-Okay, fair enough.
Thanks for a good day.
Well that was nice while it lasted,
that's basically as long as you're
going to get with Jean Claude,
we hadn't had desert yet, but he got
a phone call from, from the owner
who's unexpectedly coming for lunch
and when I say the owner it's actually
Mrs. Owner, possibly even more of a panic
than Mr. Owner, has arrived
for lunch at the Royal Mansour
and she can't possibly be served
without him being there
so he's run off to see to it
that she is served in the way
in which he thinks is fitting.
And that's just how it rolls
with the Royal Mansour.
And there won't be many more opportunities
for a tete-a-tete with Jean Claude.
The Royal Mansour is gearing up
for a succession of VIP arrivals
for the impending UN conference.
During a quick break in the canteen
where lunch is free for staff,
Mohammed explains where he gets
his incredible work ethic from.
When I was young my mother used
to teach me keep myself clean,
keep my place clean, I used to take care
of my sisters and the brothers.
-When your mother went out to work.
-Yes.
And so you took care of them
and you cleaned the whole house?
-Yes.
-At what age?
Six years old, five.
Five or six years old,
you cleaned the whole house.
Yeah because I used to do that
before I went to school, you know,
at the age of seven.
Mohammed.
Someone needs his socks folded.
Possibly just tissues polished or
a biscuit put into his mouth
because he's too busy to do it himself.
-Giles.
-Need to go?
Yeah, we've got to go.
Although it looks perfectly tranquil
above ground,
the hotel is at its busiest.
The Royal Mansour is at full occupancy,
meaning Mohammed has very little downtime.
-It's very fast walk you've got there.
-Yes, we have to hurry up.
Right now he's been asked
to prepare a riad for an arrival.
-Shall we take the polythene off?
-Yes, please.
We've only just started,
when Mohammed receives another call.
We were just about to prepare
the white riad for the guests,
we had the minibar trolley all ready
and a call's just come through
that Mohammed forgot to clean the chimney.
I don't feel exactly dressed
for chimney cleaning. Yeah?
I think we, I am in trouble,
I forgot to clean the chimney.
I heard on the phone,
shall we go and do it?
Please.
Even in emergencies like this
it's important to remember the protocols.
For a butler there's to be
no walking on the carpet.
Hustle, this chimney's
not going to clean itself.
-Would you like to do it?
-Of course. Absolutely.
-Sweep it to the…
-The other way?
Yes.
-It's not finished.
-What? You need to finish it off?
He's not happy with my, with the job
I've done, just got to finish it off.
Do you ever rest?
-Yes I do. When I can.
-You do?
When I can.
When did you last have
a full night's sleep?
-I don't remember.
-Really?
Yes.
For this week, I have two,
three to four hours sleep.
Really? Why? What do people need
in the middle of the night?
Why are you so busy?
There is one thing you have,
you need to know.
Even after the guests go to bed,
there is still some work to do
before you go.
Do you think your work ever suffers
because you're too tired?
No. Actually, I enjoy it.
Does it remind you of when you were
a child and your mother
wanted you to clean the house?
I always remember this feeling
when I see my mother,
I was always telling her
when I will be older I will work
and bring you money.
-And is that why you work so hard?
-Well, I work so hard
because I have to work so hard,
everyone has to work so hard.
Well, I'm exhausted after just a few hours
of frankly only really tailing Mohammed
and I can't imagine what it would be like,
that man has not slept
for three weeks properly,
he has two hours sleep, three hours sleep
because people want their laundry
at three in the morning
or they've run out of Haribos
or they need their fire lit.
It's a bit of a mystery to me about
why Mohammed would want to do that
but then you see he took a genuine
pride in keeping his home clean,
'cause his mom had to get up at the crack
of dawn to go and get water,
his dad was out working, you know,
that was the thing that
sort of made him was the hard work.
I hope the squillionaire plutocrats
he's working for appreciate that,
when he waits on them hand and foot.
I've been impressed with
the dedication of all the staff.
For me, this is particularly evident
amongst the chefs in the Moroccan kitchen.
Delilah and Fatima are going to show me
how the Royal Mansour has elevated
a housewife's favorite,
Pigeon Pastilla,
into an upmarket signature dish.
It's a savor pie using filo pastry
and more butter
than I can possibly imagine.
I have never used this much better
in one dish.
Delilah's been stewing the wood pigeon
in ras-al-hanout spices
and of course, saffron.
Moroccan cuisine combines flavor
in a very distinctive way,
so inside the filo pastry case,
dry spiced scrambled egg
is combined with our gamy pigeon meat
followed by a layer
of ground spiced almonds.
I mean my senses are just being set
on fire with the spices
that are going into this dish.
More butter. Yes very good.
Why bother with the brush,
let's just pour it in and use our hands.
Oh, my word.
Even after baking, the distinctiveness
of Moroccan cuisine is very apparent.
They certainly have a sweet tooth
look at the amount of icing sugar
being dusted on what is
essentially a savory dish.
I've had to film it cause people
won't believe how much sugar
has gone into this pastilla.
I can't wait to try it.
Giles is missing out.
Sure.
That is incredible.
I'm very honored to be taught
by the masters of pastilla
here in this very kitchen
and this is how they eat it,
just the whole family sit down
and everyone gets in with their hands
and you just take a bit of the pastilla
and drink your tea with it.
A wonderful way to enjoy such a dish.
Since Mohammed told me about his
upbringing, I'm beginning to understand
what gives him his incredible motivation.
And now I have a chance
to see where he grew up.
He's invited me to join him on his day
off at his family's Berber village home
around an hour's drive from Marrakesh.
Although this old house looks
superficially unchanged,
there are plenty of signs
that Mohammed's family
enjoy a better lifestyle
than the one he grew up with.
And his mother no longer
has to make the daily trek for water,
they're now connected to the mains
and to electricity.
It's clear who's behind these
improved circumstances.
This is a luxury life for my family now
comparing it to what it we,
to what it used to be.
And do they, do they know
where you work now?
They do.
Have they seen pictures?
Have they seen photographs?
I showed them pictures but I am
sure they don't remember.
It's just interesting, isn't it?
Because at the hotel,
they think it's such a big deal
and your parents don't care.
They don't care about sophisticated life,
they care about their children.
You know what I'm worried about
is we go back to the hotel
and I can't have you
waiting on me hand and foot,
I can't have you serving me.
-Why not?
-Because that sort of that,
skin is broken between where
we you know, we're real people and--
Listen to me, there is a saying in Arabic…
The master of the people
is the one who is serving them.
Is the one who serves them.
So I never feel any shame,
I never feel any inferiority.
No.
To serve or to do any kind of work.
His parents it seems to me that for them
this is old Morocco and that's their life
and he goes from here
to new Morocco in the city
and he works and he provides for them
with a better life,
he's the.. second father for the kids,
he looks after everyone,
it's all thanks to the hotel.
With the arrival of the UN conference
on climate change,
it is the new Morocco
that is being shown off to the world.
Nearly 200 nations have sent
representatives to the negotiation.
It's exactly the kind of showcase to
the world that the hotel tries to embody.
With the Royal Mansour
hosting six heads of state,
finishing the construction on time
for Le Jardine to open was crucial.
This hotel was lacking
possibly a little bit of emotion.
I'm sure the garden and the pool
will help us tremendously
to give that extra bit
we were possibly lacking.
Now your space here,
you have this magnificent garden,
it has to grow a bit but maybe
in six months, one year
it's gonna be perfect.
But we needed some breath,
to breathe some fresh air
so now I think we got it.
Manager Jean Claude has invited
all the hotel's 500 staff
many of whom spend most of their
time underground to a launch party.
They're celebrating a new chapter
in the hotel's life
and a new approach to service.
The pressure was on to open this week
on time for this big global conference.
The first very important guest
is arriving today
and that for the next few days, it's…
this place is going to be crammed
with head of states, presidents.
So it was important
to be open today and we've made it.
No stress or a little bit of stress.
It looks like it's time for us
to make ourselves scarce.
So we're beginning a gentle transition
back into our butler-free life
by serving our own champagne.
Here's to drinking.
This for me has been, you know, an
extraordinary experience, really it has.
You know what it's felt
the most like to me,
the sort of overall experience,
it's as if I was sort of distant relative
of the king of some crazy land
and he invited me to come and stay
and I got here and there was nobody here
and I'm allowed to run around
the giant imperial palace all on my own.
It's quite amazing you know,
knowing that underneath all this
is 500 people working away
to make it run and the fact
that when we walk around the riad
with the room service
or housekeeping as soon
as they hear you, they disappear.
Is that a flaw or is that a benefit?
This is the place you know,
by royal decree
this place was built for the king.
So this is what a king wants,
to never have to look a servant in the eye
and they walk away backwards and
then is it when you have people like us,
would we want that?
Would we want this silence and emptiness?
Maybe not but the global political elite
descending on this place certainly do.
And if the new garden can bring
that missing vibe,
that beating heart then the Royal Mansour
will finally have completed its transition
from palace annex
to international super hotel.
I think it's one great thing which I've
really appreciated about being here
and my time with the staff is the detail.
Would you, I mean if this was your house
would you like all these candles?
Yes. I would.
Well actually no my butler would.
Your butler would light all the candles.
there are remarkable hotels
born of bold vision and daring endeavor.
Oh, my goodness, look at that.
Whether it's an epic structure
housing a sky park
the length of the Eiffel tower…
This is definitely the biggest space
I've ever been inside.
…or a glass box perched
in the cloud forest.
-Look at that view.
-Wow.
They're all products of innovation,
creativity and hard graft.
The people running these hotels
strive to create the perfect sanctuary.
But what does it take to offer
once-in-a-lifetime experiences…
in stunning locations.
To build a hotel in a place like this,
everybody thinks I'm crazy.
In total we have about
160,000 pieces of uniform.
Oh, my word.
I'm a restaurant writer,
newspaper columnist and critic.
I have opinions on just about everything.
What a mad place to build a hotel.
Feel like Scott of the Antarctic
and it did not end well for him.
And I'm a chef who's worked
for the top end
of the hospitality industry
for, well, over 20 years.
How many opportunities do you get to cook
breakfast with elephants and giraffes?
We'll travel to amazing hotels
in every corner of the world.
To spend time getting to know
the people working away behind the scenes.
When did you last have
a full night's sleep?
I don't remember.
-Really?
-Yes.
-Hooray!
-Yes!
You're the engineer,
you're like Scotty in Star Trek.
Precisely, I've been called that.
Join us as we venture inside…
The world's most extraordinary hotels.
Marrakesh is one of the most beguiling
cities in North Africa.
Once the capital of an Arab empire
that stretched across
the Mediterranean to Spain,
for many centuries it was used
by Moroccan kings
to showcase their culture to the world.
And that's the tradition
that today's king,
Mohammed VI, wants to revive.
The luxurious hotel he has built,
Royal Mansour.
We represent the kingdom, you are staying
in the showcase of the kingdom.
The man tasked with implementing
the royal vision
is Managing Director Jean Claude Maison.
Ambition is very simple here
and it's very easy to explain to the staff
the ambition, it's to be number one.
For the next few days we're joining
Jean Claude and his staff
to find out how they deliver
that ambition and whether it succeeds.
-Good morning.
-Good day too and very welcome.
And with Monica in her office clothes,
I'm feeling a little bit under dressed.
Welcome to Central Marrakesh
and Royal Mansour.
This is a hotel where staff can
outnumber guests by ten to one.
We'll be looked after
by our very own butler, Mohammed.
You are very welcome to Royal Mansour.
I will be pleased
to be your butler during your stay.
-Thank you.
-And, it's--
-You're our butler just for us?
-Yes sir.
Just a stone's throw away
from the teaming heart of the city,
Royal Mansour is a peaceful haven.
It's made up of 53 separate residences
known as riads.
The traditional Moroccan riad
is designed for privacy.
Facing inwards to a central courtyard,
it therefore, suits the needs
of the presidents,
diplomats and a listers
who can afford to stay here.
Spending between 1,000
and a staggering 35,000 pounds per night.
-Welcome to your riad, Mr. Coren.
-Look at this. It's amazing.
-This is all mine?
-Yes, sir.
All 3,000 pounds per night's worth of it.
-The living room.
-This is so beautiful.
-This is the guest room, sir.
-Very nice.
The first floor, madam.
I've never had so much space
to myself before.
To understand the levels
of service expected of them,
Royal Mansour staff
are given a guest experience.
So, Mohammed, you said
you've stayed in the riad like this.
-I did madam and--
-How did you find that?
It transported me from my house
to the hotel in the hotel's car.
Welcome me in the main entrance
the same welcome
that we do for any of the guests.
I still remember that feeling I got.
-Being special.
-Nobody can explain it.
Unless you try it,
unless you live it yourself.
Guests Victoria and Antoine
are accustomed to exclusive hotels.
But this is their first experience
of the Royal Mansour.
The Royal Mansour allows
a sense of wonder,
there's a grandeur
to walking through the doors
and feeling like you're entering
somewhere magical.
But what's interesting about this hotel
is how the magic is created.
And for that, we have
to go behind the scenes.
-So Mr. Coren welcome to the undergrounds.
-You can call me Giles now.
As part of its drive for absolute privacy,
the Royal Mansour has taken the palace
tradition of upstairs downstairs
and rolled it out on a monumental scale.
It's like Downton Abbey meets Aladdin
with a bit of James Bond for good measure.
There's a car. Can we go in one of those?
No wonder they need those golf carts,
there are more than a thousand
of meters of tunnels here
mirroring the plan of the hotel above.
It's here that the 500 staff
go about their duties.
Laundering and pressing
300 staff uniforms every single day.
Cutting and arranging the weekly delivery
of 7,000 fresh roses.
And all this for just 53 riads.
Is it a problem with staff getting lost?
-Yes, of course.
-Do people quite often order breakfast
and then the guy just disappears for hours
and they phone down and go.
Yeah, for the new ones,
it happens sometimes.
Every riad has a private service entrance
on each of its three floors.
This allows staff to appear as if by magic
wherever they're required
enabling the upmost discretion
for butlers like Mohammed
and his new apprentice.
Okay. So this way?
-Yes.
-Easy to get lost.
My first lesson from Mohammed
presents a bit of a challenge for me.
Learning how to treat people like VIPs.
So you have to respect some protocols.
For example, you have to respect
the distance, at least you leave--
-A special distance, so when you say…
-No, sorry, you have,
you have entered into his area.
-You don't stand this close to a person.
-One meter 60.
-Really?
-Yes.
-One meter 60, that's about.
-One meter 60.
-This is okay.
-Now you can speak to him.
-Really?
-Yes you don't have to speak toxic words.
For example, we never say no.
-You never say no?
-We never say no.
He would ask, for example,
for a something which we don't have,
you don't say no but you explain
that we have something else instead.
So if he says "I'd like some caviar",
you can say "Excellent choice,
we actually have pringles."
-Something like that.
-That sort of thing.
Sort of thing.
I don't think I'm quite ready
to be let loose on Mohammed's VIP guests,
but having found out that they've
left their riad, he's sneaked me in
to show me how he prepares it
for their return.
-We don't walk across the bathroom.
-Okay.
And we walk around the…
The edge of the carpet
but not on the carpet?
Yes, not on the carpet.
Okay.
You just…
We can't use that.
I'm really sorry I would…
Is it a special…
-Because it's prepared by…
-Oh, I see.
It's already prepared by
the housekeeping, we cannot--
We can't sit on it.
Yeah, we cannot ruin what
the others have done.
Okay. Sorry.
That's so weird, I was, sorry.
I was totally expecting to come out into
the sunshine of the beautiful courtyard,
I completely forgotten that we were
just appearing in the underground
of warren again. That's so strange.
Giles isn't the only one who has to dress
in a uniform
inspired by Moroccan tradition.
Ta-da!
I am joining the housekeeping team
reporting to Executive House Keeper
Laurence Jaspard.
What do you think?
It's beautiful.
You look like a room attendant.
-A room attendant?
-You are the perfect one, and then
for what I need you
to speak French as well.
Yes.
Laurence began her career
at the Paris Ritz,
and has worked in some of the world's
most exclusive hotels.
She has responsibility for maintaining
the Royal Mansour's exacting standards.
At the Royal Mansour everything
is about elegance and beauty.
Laurence leads a team
of 44 room attendants,
quietly and discreetly, they have
elevated housekeeping into an art form.
From wiping perfumed
essential oil on drawers…
When the guests open, it smell good.
…and even telephones.
To brushing unique palm patterns
into velvet chairs,
or combing the fringes of rugs.
It have to perfect
and we work hard for this.
Every little detail
is extremely important.
I've been given the task
of preparing a riad
to get a sense
of the level of detail required.
So in the room we have more a style
of putting the cushion like this
and doing even more like this,
in here it's really like this shape
and then we need really to find
the right match, the right color.
-So today we remove all of them.
-You remove all of them?
-Just for you.
-I'm lucky.
Because then you have to put them back.
To maintain a sense of magic,
the housekeeping team
aim for invisibility.
Tipped off by butlers
when their guests have left the riad,
they slip in using the service tunnels.
Cleaning, rearranging and refreshing.
And it's not just in the morning,
it could be several times a day.
The slightest deviation from perfection
and unplumped or wonky cushions
say will be fixed
for the guests on their return.
It's not easy to make them
stand on the corner.
-Do you maybe need some help?
-No. Yes.
I'll need some help with this too.
Showing love to curtains.
The curtain here are extremely,
extremely nice, as you can see,
so we have to put them like,
we need to show them.
-Making pleats.
-Exactly, yes.
Well I've never caressed a drape before.
So much more to tying a drape back.
Than you know, one would presume.
There are 350 pairs of curtains
in the Royal Mansour
and each one gets the same level
of personal attention,
that's 350 instances
of untangling, pleating
and of course caressing every single day.
I think it's a really, really good start.
Tomorrow will be perfect.
I think I might be busy
doing something else tomorrow?
There's something a little disorientating
about waking up upstairs as Mr. Coren
and being treated like a king
by my butler.
-Thank you.
-You're welcome, sir.
Knowing that the day ahead will be
spent downstairs as Giles the worker.
Mr. Coren, you will be spending some time
with Akram, the chauffeur.
-Jolly good. Excellent.
-You have this for today, sir.
That looks fine. Can you give it
a little press, perhaps?
-Just a little press.
-Immediately, sir.
-Thank you very much.
-You're welcome.
Royal Mansour luxury begins
when guests are met at the airport
by one of the hotel's chauffeurs.
First impressions count
so this is a key front line role
for me to experience.
As well as another awesome uniform.
-Really suits you, sir.
-Is it?
-Can I just have one moment, sir?
-Yeah, sure.
The ladies do love a chauffeur.
-They do, sir.
-They love a uniform, they love a car.
Yes and your little beard, sir.
-My little beard?
-Yes.
Oh dear, we're out of the magic kingdom,
aren't we?
Into the service area.
-Yes, sir.
-The dream is over.
In the nerve center of the magic kingdom,
I've arranged to meet manager Jean Claude
to find out what drew him
to the Royal Mansour.
Bonjour.
Bonjour. Good morning.
Jean Claude has managed
some of the world's finest hotels
including the St. James Club in London,
Hotel De Crillon in Paris,
and the Hotel Metropole in Monaco.
No sooner have I sat down it becomes clear
that he's very much in demand.
I always seem to notice you
somewhere in the hotel
whether I notice you
disappearing in the lobby,
I see you passing in the restaurant,
you seem to be everywhere
at the same time.
It's important to be visible.
You need to be seen.
Some people--
It's my phone. Sorry.
Sorry, we have to go.
Come with me?
-Rush.
-You need to rush?
I'm starting to understand
here, Jean Claude has an almost
diplomatic role.
He's never more than a phone call away
from a royal or official duty.
It's a job where we meet
extraordinary people, you know,
we're looking at the top hundred
of this world, a guest could walk in,
could be someone important,
could be a head of state
and you have to be there
and to be at the front.
You've got to be fit. Just sprinted down
the stairs and out there,
I could do the same but I'd like
to see him do it in six-inch heels.
Sorry, fortunately, 20 minutes.
It's a 7 days a week job,
it's a 24 hours a day job.
I couldn't work in a bank
or I couldn't work,
in a place where everything shut down
at 5 o'clock and you go home.
So if you start your day 7, 7:30
when will you see your, your pillow again?
Depending on the day, could be anytime
between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
Depends on the day.
-Yeah.
-I come from a middle class background.
I was a very happy boy
and I did my National Service in France,
I was a butler
of the French Prime Minister.
And I discovered a new world,
with him I was traveling,
I went to the Pope in Italy,
to the Vatican, I mean
I entered a new life.
I managed some great hotels worldwide
and when this one came about,
you know, it was a job
you just could not refuse.
Perhaps part of the appeal
was the seemingly limitless budget
that Jean Claude has to play with.
Take the hotels fleet
of ten chauffeur driven luxury vehicles
including two custom-built Bentley's.
As the first hotel representative
to meet guests,
the chauffeurs are ambassadors,
all are highly trained
and must speak Arabic, French and English.
To understand the chauffeur's role
and the strict protocols that govern it,
I'm spending this morning with Akram,
one of the Royal Mansour's
most experienced chauffeurs.
-Hi.
-Hi.
Mr. Coren, let me introduce you, Akram.
Hi, Akram. Call me Giles.
There must be over a million pounds
worth of cars down here.
No wonder Akram
takes such good care of them.
So is that's so people
can clean their hands
and then if they you know, if they--
-No, that's for the car.
-If they--
So to have a special… to clean the car.
But if they come
with their hands are clean
and they haven't wiped their hands
and they go like that.
So that's what, we always use the cloths.
I see but even if my hands
are really clean, it's…
Yes, it's always clean.
I need you at home to just follow me
around my house.
How do we shut the boot
if we're not allowed to touch it?
Okay so we can, then we can.
That's amazing so then you can
close it without touching it.
Oh, my goodness.
Akram has reluctantly allowed me
to get behind the wheel.
But as with the butlering
I'm having to unlearn behavior
I've become accustomed to.
After all there could be
a VIP in the backseat.
Okay.
There's also the fine art
of permissible conversation.
Listen to that baby growl.
I'm desperate to get beyond
the hotel grounds
but Akram doesn't think I'm quite ready
for the mean streets of Marrakesh.
Or is it Marrakesh
that isn't ready for me.
Can I slide over the top like in the,
you know like the Dukes of Hazard. No?
Anyway just beyond the hotel walls
is the Medina
and it's a very different place.
It's a reminder that one of the world's
most luxurious hotels
is in a developing country.
There's a lot of horses and donkeys
and there's people on mopeds
and they don't respect the rules at all,
the roundabouts seem to be
make it up as you go along.
He talks about…
Given that the national income per head
is 14 times lower than in the UK
it's not surprising
that we're attracting attention.
This car alone is worth 60 times more
than a year's wages for most Moroccans.
What about those terrible people of Towie?
Of course, Akram would never tell me
how his mystery VIP guests feel
seeing the real Marrakesh
from the window of a Bentley.
But the contrast is certainly a stark one.
I think from a morning
of chauffeuring around Marrakesh
in a champagne-colored Bentley
with wonderful Akram,
the thing that I've learned
is the job of the chauffeur is very much
like the job of everyone else,
it's to keep you closeted
and quiet and calm and well-watered
and air-conditioned,
in a position where you can see Morocco
and you're aware that you're in Morocco
but you can't touch it
and it can't touch you
and while it's a very beautiful thing,
it is very slightly frustrating
and I find myself back here closeted again
in what is essentially a giant Bentley
with a view of Marrakesh.
Being closeted to this extent
might work for the guests of a King,
royalty and presidents,
A-list stars or captains of industry.
But that's not necessarily
what all the hotels guests want.
One of my favorite things when I travel
is to speak to other guests,
that's where I make my friends
in public environments
but this hotel tends
to have you inside your riad,
although we are within the city walls
and the city is just a few meters away
I feel like I'm supposed to be in my riad.
You have a very great service
when you are inside your riad
but there is no social life,
I can say when you get out of the room
and you want to go to the bar.
All of the ingredients are here,
the place and the setting are here,
the service is here,
it's just we're waiting for the vibe.
The truth is that no amount of beauty
and luxury can make you feel
truly comfortable.
Back in my riad, I'm finding that
the privacy can be a bit isolating.
And even if I were to venture out
to the beautiful chic bar, say,
or the ornate library, the chances
are I wouldn't see another soul.
But this problem isn't lost
on the hotel management.
Yes we have a very beautiful hotel
but that's not sufficient.
It's how do we make one of the most
beautiful hotel in the world,
one of the best hotel in the world?
Well, with access to royal funds and many
years of international luxury experience,
Jean Claude has a vision.
In an extravagant bid to soften
the image of the hotel
and change its atmosphere, the Royal
Mansour is undergoing a transformation.
A new more prominent entrance
is being created by opening a gate
in the 12th century city walls.
Try doing that if you're not the king.
But the centerpiece is La Jardine,
a new one and a half hectare garden
that has been eight months in the making.
There's a new 30 meter pool surrounded
by glassy outward looking pavilions
and adjacent to these, an open
and informal pool bar and restaurant.
It's a radical change
from the existing hotel.
But one thing it has in common
is the aim to create a brand new space
that feels well-established.
Over the past ten days
we've planted 25,000 bedding plants.
I don't know how we did it, but we did it.
Outside of the main gate,
could you add more bedding plant there?
I would like to do it today and tomorrow.
-Good luck.
-Okay, thank you.
Morocco's fabulous gardens
with their olive and palm trees
take hundreds of years to mature.
But mother nature's work can be speeded up
in the magical world of the Royal Mansour.
Thanks to the depths
of the owners pockets.
We actually got from all over Morocco
nearly 500 trees
like the beautiful olive trees,
palm trees,
it's also olive trees in average of
anything between 600 to 800 years old.
What makes this even more impressive
is that they're all planted above
a brand new network of tunnels.
Welcome to the underground world.
It contains everything
from pool filtration,
power supplies and offices
to classrooms for staff training.
With most of the palm trees
above weighing half a ton,
the tunnels are engineered to take
their weight and allow them to grow.
There seems to be no limit
to the scale, ambition
and cost of the project.
But one luxury they don't have is time.
Do we have pressure?
Yes, deadline is six working days.
The pressure is on but we'll manage.
Jean Claude's calmness under pressure
is all the more extraordinary
given the nature of his deadline.
A UN climate change conference
is coming to the Marrakesh
and the Royal Mansour has been asked
to host six heads of state.
By the time they arrive all construction
work has to be finished
and the pool, bar and restaurant
must be open.
We have a lot of people working on site.
When on a normal project
should be with 50 people,
we have 350 people or 400 people working.
We're working seven days a week,
we're working 24 hours a day.
I have guest number one,
will arrive at ten o'clock next Friday.
After my time with housekeeping,
I understand how important the riads are
in delivering the royal vision.
Luxurious discreet experience
that showcases the best of Morocco.
But how does the hotel's dining
experience deliver that vision?
There are 2 fine dining restaurants,
one French, the other Moroccan.
They're serviced by a team of male
and female waiting staff,
managed and regularly trained
by 24-year-old Julien.
We are doing the training
like a simulation
where each head waiter and waiters
try to take an order and welcome guest.
We have to be perfect everytime.
This kind of clientele
they expect a perfect service,
they pay the price
for this quality of service
so they expect it.
So they are really challenging.
We teach how to take an order, we teach
how to explain the dish to a guest
and we also teach how to have
the good attitude in front of the guest.
Of course prices are like
a 3 Michelin star in Paris
because we have the quality
of a 3 Michelin star.
To bring that quality to Marrakesh,
the kitchens are run
by French chef, Jerome Videau,
and the mastermind of the menu
is three Michelin starred culinary
superstar, Chef Yannick Alleno.
He regularly flies in from Paris.
My work here is to train the people
and to train them to the excellency.
The level has to be at the top.
In trying to combine Moroccan tradition
with the highest international standards,
Yannick had plenty of homework to do
when creating the menu.
It's a huge country with a lot
of regional tastes
so I had to understand that.
Take the dish I'm making,
an amuse-bouche of beetroot jelly
topped with orange segments
finally wrapped in beetroot.
High end and distinctively Moroccan.
Beetroots and oranges are two flavors
that they used to using
in their cooking here in Morocco
but this is a refinement
of that wonderful cuisine.
The Moroccan?
In fact there are more women in
this kitchen than I've been used to.
Moroccan cuisine was created by women
who traditionally stayed at home.
But as the country has modernized,
more women have entered the workplace
and it's restaurant culture has blossomed.
And it makes sense to have
a Moroccan restaurant with the women,
the chefs here,
that know how to make it properly.
As the hotel is a showcase
for a modern kingdom,
giving opportunities to local women
like Delilah and Fatima, is a win-win.
The saffron Fatima and I
are using in this chicken dish
is one of the most highly-priced
ingredients for any chef.
And this being the Royal Mansour,
it has to be Moroccan.
So, it's an early start for me because
I want to find out where it comes from.
I'm heading the fertile Ulrika Valley
with head chef Jerome Videau.
We've come to the farm that supplies
the Royal Mansour with saffron.
The owner is Doctor Lakbarbi.
-Bonjour, bonjour.
-Enchante, je suis Monica.
Once again, I'm happy to see
so many women of all ages at work.
The women are racing against the sun,
they have to complete their picking
before it gets too high
so I'd better get stuck in and help.
My fellow pickers are Berbers, descendants
of the pre-Arab population of Morocco.
They're paid 100 dirhams
or about 8 pound for the day,
it's not much but in this area
every dirham counts.
Madam here is 90 years old,
she's picking faster than me,
she's making me look really bad.
Right. I've got to catch up.
I am loving this. Really am.
You know for any chef,
lover of food, to have this opportunity,
listen to that, and to see it
and to really, it's heaven.
With the sun up and the flowers picked
we're off to a shady spot
to separate the saffron stigmas
from the rest of the flowers.
The finished product sells
for eight pounds per gram even in Morocco
making it literally worth
its weight in gold.
It's labor intensive,
for one gram of saffron,
Two hundred of these.
For one gram.
You can see why it's so expensive.
But you have the Royal Mansour hotel
who can afford to buy this saffron
in abundance,
as long as the hotel is there.
It's actually a bit of
a support network, you know,
it's actually providing the jobs
for these amazing people.
In Le Jardine, the new garden development
there's a final push ahead of the opening.
The pool has been filled and filtered.
And the last of the trees
are being planted.
The finishing touches
are being given to the pavilions,
and to the new alfresco bar
and restaurant.
But architecture alone won't transform
the atmosphere of the Royal Mansour,
for that the staff need to change
their attitude and approach.
Restaurant manager Julien
is overseeing the retraining.
We have a lot of team members,
they are here for over six years now.
And they have really
strict sense of protocol
and it was perfect for the French
fine dining restaurants.
But with this place, we have to make them
more relaxed, you know.
To help create the more relaxed vibe,
the jackets and ties are being ditched
in favor of polo shirts,
chinos and loafers.
We wanted a different kind of service
so we have to train the team to keep
the quality but to change the attitude.
It's really new for us you know,
with a lot of people
around the swimming pool,
the restaurant, I hope to create this
you know, how you say, the beating heart
of the Royal Mansour you know.
But we need time, of course.
In a rare moment away from the hotel,
manager Jean Claude
has headed for the hills.
Well, the Atlas Mountains to be precise.
He's been invited to sample
a restaurant for guest excursions
and he's bought me along for the ride.
You see the snow on the mountains?
On the other side, you have ski resorts.
Some of the butlers actually
were bought up here,
either in Imlil or in Asni.
Those villages now
are only filled with kids,
women, grandparents. All the men
have gone to town to work.
Let's go.
That's my favorite place.
I come with my guide Hamud
and we get dropped here,
and then we cycle all the way
back down to Marrakesh.
Fantastic.
So you like to get away from luxury
then in your private life?
If I have the choice between
Michelin 3 star lunch and
a very rustic picnic, simple lunch,
I'd go for the rustic one.
Our lunch stop, the Kasbah du Toubkal
is managed by local Berber people
and offers traditional cuisine.
It doesn't promise luxury
but a rustic experience
could be just the ticket
after a few days at the Royal Mansour.
If you bought your guests out here
would they be happy eating this?
Would this be too rustic?
I think they would be very happy
to come here.
It's not too far, convenient,
great view, good food, nice people.
-No wine.
-No wine.
But I mean otherwise,
they've done pretty well.
We've got as far as the mint tea when
a call from the royal palace comes in.
So sorry, go ahead.
-So, I'll see you later?
-Okay, fair enough.
Thanks for a good day.
Well that was nice while it lasted,
that's basically as long as you're
going to get with Jean Claude,
we hadn't had desert yet, but he got
a phone call from, from the owner
who's unexpectedly coming for lunch
and when I say the owner it's actually
Mrs. Owner, possibly even more of a panic
than Mr. Owner, has arrived
for lunch at the Royal Mansour
and she can't possibly be served
without him being there
so he's run off to see to it
that she is served in the way
in which he thinks is fitting.
And that's just how it rolls
with the Royal Mansour.
And there won't be many more opportunities
for a tete-a-tete with Jean Claude.
The Royal Mansour is gearing up
for a succession of VIP arrivals
for the impending UN conference.
During a quick break in the canteen
where lunch is free for staff,
Mohammed explains where he gets
his incredible work ethic from.
When I was young my mother used
to teach me keep myself clean,
keep my place clean, I used to take care
of my sisters and the brothers.
-When your mother went out to work.
-Yes.
And so you took care of them
and you cleaned the whole house?
-Yes.
-At what age?
Six years old, five.
Five or six years old,
you cleaned the whole house.
Yeah because I used to do that
before I went to school, you know,
at the age of seven.
Mohammed.
Someone needs his socks folded.
Possibly just tissues polished or
a biscuit put into his mouth
because he's too busy to do it himself.
-Giles.
-Need to go?
Yeah, we've got to go.
Although it looks perfectly tranquil
above ground,
the hotel is at its busiest.
The Royal Mansour is at full occupancy,
meaning Mohammed has very little downtime.
-It's very fast walk you've got there.
-Yes, we have to hurry up.
Right now he's been asked
to prepare a riad for an arrival.
-Shall we take the polythene off?
-Yes, please.
We've only just started,
when Mohammed receives another call.
We were just about to prepare
the white riad for the guests,
we had the minibar trolley all ready
and a call's just come through
that Mohammed forgot to clean the chimney.
I don't feel exactly dressed
for chimney cleaning. Yeah?
I think we, I am in trouble,
I forgot to clean the chimney.
I heard on the phone,
shall we go and do it?
Please.
Even in emergencies like this
it's important to remember the protocols.
For a butler there's to be
no walking on the carpet.
Hustle, this chimney's
not going to clean itself.
-Would you like to do it?
-Of course. Absolutely.
-Sweep it to the…
-The other way?
Yes.
-It's not finished.
-What? You need to finish it off?
He's not happy with my, with the job
I've done, just got to finish it off.
Do you ever rest?
-Yes I do. When I can.
-You do?
When I can.
When did you last have
a full night's sleep?
-I don't remember.
-Really?
Yes.
For this week, I have two,
three to four hours sleep.
Really? Why? What do people need
in the middle of the night?
Why are you so busy?
There is one thing you have,
you need to know.
Even after the guests go to bed,
there is still some work to do
before you go.
Do you think your work ever suffers
because you're too tired?
No. Actually, I enjoy it.
Does it remind you of when you were
a child and your mother
wanted you to clean the house?
I always remember this feeling
when I see my mother,
I was always telling her
when I will be older I will work
and bring you money.
-And is that why you work so hard?
-Well, I work so hard
because I have to work so hard,
everyone has to work so hard.
Well, I'm exhausted after just a few hours
of frankly only really tailing Mohammed
and I can't imagine what it would be like,
that man has not slept
for three weeks properly,
he has two hours sleep, three hours sleep
because people want their laundry
at three in the morning
or they've run out of Haribos
or they need their fire lit.
It's a bit of a mystery to me about
why Mohammed would want to do that
but then you see he took a genuine
pride in keeping his home clean,
'cause his mom had to get up at the crack
of dawn to go and get water,
his dad was out working, you know,
that was the thing that
sort of made him was the hard work.
I hope the squillionaire plutocrats
he's working for appreciate that,
when he waits on them hand and foot.
I've been impressed with
the dedication of all the staff.
For me, this is particularly evident
amongst the chefs in the Moroccan kitchen.
Delilah and Fatima are going to show me
how the Royal Mansour has elevated
a housewife's favorite,
Pigeon Pastilla,
into an upmarket signature dish.
It's a savor pie using filo pastry
and more butter
than I can possibly imagine.
I have never used this much better
in one dish.
Delilah's been stewing the wood pigeon
in ras-al-hanout spices
and of course, saffron.
Moroccan cuisine combines flavor
in a very distinctive way,
so inside the filo pastry case,
dry spiced scrambled egg
is combined with our gamy pigeon meat
followed by a layer
of ground spiced almonds.
I mean my senses are just being set
on fire with the spices
that are going into this dish.
More butter. Yes very good.
Why bother with the brush,
let's just pour it in and use our hands.
Oh, my word.
Even after baking, the distinctiveness
of Moroccan cuisine is very apparent.
They certainly have a sweet tooth
look at the amount of icing sugar
being dusted on what is
essentially a savory dish.
I've had to film it cause people
won't believe how much sugar
has gone into this pastilla.
I can't wait to try it.
Giles is missing out.
Sure.
That is incredible.
I'm very honored to be taught
by the masters of pastilla
here in this very kitchen
and this is how they eat it,
just the whole family sit down
and everyone gets in with their hands
and you just take a bit of the pastilla
and drink your tea with it.
A wonderful way to enjoy such a dish.
Since Mohammed told me about his
upbringing, I'm beginning to understand
what gives him his incredible motivation.
And now I have a chance
to see where he grew up.
He's invited me to join him on his day
off at his family's Berber village home
around an hour's drive from Marrakesh.
Although this old house looks
superficially unchanged,
there are plenty of signs
that Mohammed's family
enjoy a better lifestyle
than the one he grew up with.
And his mother no longer
has to make the daily trek for water,
they're now connected to the mains
and to electricity.
It's clear who's behind these
improved circumstances.
This is a luxury life for my family now
comparing it to what it we,
to what it used to be.
And do they, do they know
where you work now?
They do.
Have they seen pictures?
Have they seen photographs?
I showed them pictures but I am
sure they don't remember.
It's just interesting, isn't it?
Because at the hotel,
they think it's such a big deal
and your parents don't care.
They don't care about sophisticated life,
they care about their children.
You know what I'm worried about
is we go back to the hotel
and I can't have you
waiting on me hand and foot,
I can't have you serving me.
-Why not?
-Because that sort of that,
skin is broken between where
we you know, we're real people and--
Listen to me, there is a saying in Arabic…
The master of the people
is the one who is serving them.
Is the one who serves them.
So I never feel any shame,
I never feel any inferiority.
No.
To serve or to do any kind of work.
His parents it seems to me that for them
this is old Morocco and that's their life
and he goes from here
to new Morocco in the city
and he works and he provides for them
with a better life,
he's the.. second father for the kids,
he looks after everyone,
it's all thanks to the hotel.
With the arrival of the UN conference
on climate change,
it is the new Morocco
that is being shown off to the world.
Nearly 200 nations have sent
representatives to the negotiation.
It's exactly the kind of showcase to
the world that the hotel tries to embody.
With the Royal Mansour
hosting six heads of state,
finishing the construction on time
for Le Jardine to open was crucial.
This hotel was lacking
possibly a little bit of emotion.
I'm sure the garden and the pool
will help us tremendously
to give that extra bit
we were possibly lacking.
Now your space here,
you have this magnificent garden,
it has to grow a bit but maybe
in six months, one year
it's gonna be perfect.
But we needed some breath,
to breathe some fresh air
so now I think we got it.
Manager Jean Claude has invited
all the hotel's 500 staff
many of whom spend most of their
time underground to a launch party.
They're celebrating a new chapter
in the hotel's life
and a new approach to service.
The pressure was on to open this week
on time for this big global conference.
The first very important guest
is arriving today
and that for the next few days, it's…
this place is going to be crammed
with head of states, presidents.
So it was important
to be open today and we've made it.
No stress or a little bit of stress.
It looks like it's time for us
to make ourselves scarce.
So we're beginning a gentle transition
back into our butler-free life
by serving our own champagne.
Here's to drinking.
This for me has been, you know, an
extraordinary experience, really it has.
You know what it's felt
the most like to me,
the sort of overall experience,
it's as if I was sort of distant relative
of the king of some crazy land
and he invited me to come and stay
and I got here and there was nobody here
and I'm allowed to run around
the giant imperial palace all on my own.
It's quite amazing you know,
knowing that underneath all this
is 500 people working away
to make it run and the fact
that when we walk around the riad
with the room service
or housekeeping as soon
as they hear you, they disappear.
Is that a flaw or is that a benefit?
This is the place you know,
by royal decree
this place was built for the king.
So this is what a king wants,
to never have to look a servant in the eye
and they walk away backwards and
then is it when you have people like us,
would we want that?
Would we want this silence and emptiness?
Maybe not but the global political elite
descending on this place certainly do.
And if the new garden can bring
that missing vibe,
that beating heart then the Royal Mansour
will finally have completed its transition
from palace annex
to international super hotel.
I think it's one great thing which I've
really appreciated about being here
and my time with the staff is the detail.
Would you, I mean if this was your house
would you like all these candles?
Yes. I would.
Well actually no my butler would.
Your butler would light all the candles.