Jean-Claude Messant, general manager of Royal Mansour Marrakech, currently is faced with a somewhat unusual challenge. “Every single one of my 550-strong team is now fasting,” he said.
Ramadan, determined by the moon, started in Morocco June 20 and runs for a full month. Until then, Messant’s all-Muslim staff eschew even water from sunrise to sunset (the only exceptions are pregnant women and females at that time of their cycle, who are allowed to eat discreetly, in private, but they must make up missed fast days later).
“It has to be business as usual, but no exertions are added into the daily schedule,” said Messant, who arrived from Monaco in September 2014. He delays the morning meeting from 9 a.m. to 9.30 a.m., and at sunset (decided day-to-day by the local imam), he hosts a grand iftar, a break-fast meal of soup and desserts, and food to take home.
Messant pities his hotelier colleagues in the far northern hemisphere, who have to contend with much longer days at this time of year, but he does wish that Marrakech’s typical temperature now was not the 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) it was Thursday.
In the past, tourists tended to stay away from Muslim destinations during Ramadan, but now, drawn by better airlift and good-value deals, some do come anyway. “Occupancy will probably drop 50% from its annual norm, but guests still want spa treatments, especially hammam, which requires therapists to scrub heartily and lift heavy metal pots of water, which is not easy when your energy is down,” Messant admitted.
The 5-year-old hotel is personally owned by the King, who sees it as a showcase for Moroccan tradition and art. All the 53 lodgings are three-floor riads, with one to three bedrooms each. It is 32 sizeable stone steps up from a riad’s reception to its bedrooms and a further 27 steps up to the flat rooftop with private 12-foot (3.7-meter) pool. Yes, that is tough for some visitors, who may prefer to ask, ahead, for one of the three riads with elevators. It is even tougher for fasting butlers and maids heading up for night turndown and closing rooftop sun umbrellas.
Fortunately it does not last forever. “In a month’s time, when Ramadan is over, I will preside over a celebration party not only for my team but for their families and friends,” Mesant said.
It is an occasion for general festivity, until the next Ramadan.