Hotel Therapy

(Hotel Amiris, Marrakesh, Morocco)One of my main thrills in traveling abroad is the hotel experience.  Sure, tasting new cuisines and meeting the natives is always exciting but I look forward to kicking off my dusty shoes and just relaxing at my lodgings too.  First, there’s the small but important detail – the room is already clean and neat – you don’t have to deal with personal messes.  Then there are the amenities that you may not have in your own home – the powerful jet spray in the shower or the spa toiletries on that dual sink marble vanity. And of course, there’s that menu near your phone – cocktails and midnight snacks ready to be ordered in a moment’s notice. 

Besides service amenities, you have the lifestyle aspect.  You may live in a cramped city apartment but for a few days or so, you can experience life in a lakeside rustic cabin or a petite villa by the sea.  Then there are the grand old palaces that some enterprising soul converted into hotel rooms – borrowed luxury to be remembered for a lifetime.

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Desert Oasis at Majorelle

Blue Workshop, Majorelle GardensThe deep cobalt blues and contrasting bright lemon yellows that compose the color palette of the Majorelle Gardens appear to have stepped out of a Matisse painting.  Every scene, every vista, everywhere you looked could be the setting of an unforgettable painting.  The Majorelle Gardens were the brainchild of French artist Jacques Majorelle, a contemporary of Henri Matisse.  Majorelle envisioned a green, cool oasis amidst the hot red Marrakesh desert and proceeded to turn a mirage into reality. 

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