Royal Mansour, Morocco Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby

All over the world, there are remarkable hotels,

born of bold vision and daring endeavour.

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.

-BELL CHIMES

-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!

I feel like Scott of the Antarctic, and it did not end well for him.

And I'm a chef who's worked at 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.

What motivates you to work so hard?

The kids. I will sacrifice everything for them.

Join us as we venture inside...

..the world's most extraordinary hotels.

CALL TO PRAYER

Marrakech 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 a tradition that today's king, Mohammed VI, wants to revive

with 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 Messant.

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 their ambition

and whether it succeeds.

Good morning. A very warm welcome.

And with Monica in her office clothes,

I'm feeling a little bit underdressed.

Welcome to sunny Marrakech 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're very welcome to Royal Mansour.

I will be pleased to be your butler during your stay.

-Thank you.

-You're our butler, just for us?

Yes, sir.

Just a stone's throw away from the teeming 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 per night.

Welcome to your riad, Mr Coren.

Look at this. It's amazing.

-Is this all mine?

-Yes, sir.

'All £3,000 per night's worth of it.'

-The living room.

-This is so beautiful.

-This is the guest room, sir.

-Very nice.

The first room, 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 a riad like this?

-I did, madam.

-How did you find that?

They escorted me from my house to the hotel in the hotel's car,

welcomed me in the main entrance,

the same welcome they would 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 is 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 1,000 metres 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...?

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 utmost discretion for butlers like Mohammed

and his new apprentice.

-OK. 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?

-A special distance.

So when you say, "Bonsoir, monsieur. Je suis Mohammed..."

You don't enter his area.

-You don't stand this close?

-One metre 60.

-Really?

-Yes.

-One metre 60.

-This's about...

-One metre 60.

-And this is OK.

-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 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." THEY LAUGH

-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 patio.

-OK.

-We walk around the, um...

The edge of the carpet but not on the carpet.

-Yes, not on the carpet.

-OK.

You can just...

Oh, 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 can't...

-We can't destroy...

-Yeah, we cannot ruin what the others have done.

OK. Sorry.

That's so weird. I was... Sorry.

I was totally expecting to come out into the sunshine

of a beautiful courtyard.

I'd completely forgotten that

we were just appearing in the underground 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'm joining the housekeeping team,

'reporting to executive housekeeper 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, from what I know, you speak French as well?

-Yes.

-Tres bien.

Laurence began her career at the Paris Ritz

and has worked at some of the world's most exclusive hotels.

She has responsibility

for maintaining the Royal Mansour's exacting standards.

At 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 smells good.

..and even telephones...

..to brushing unique palm patterns into velvet chairs

or combing the fringes of rugs.

It has to be 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 your room,

we have more this style of

-putting the cushion like this.

-Yes.

And we give it more like this.

In here, it's this shape,

and then we need really

to find the right match, the right colour.

So, today we'll remove all of them.

You remove all of them?

-Just for you.

-Oh, yay! I'm lucky.

Cos 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,

'an unplumped or wonky cushion, say,

'will be fixed for the guests on their return.'

-It's not easy to make them stand on the corner.

-I know.

Do you maybe need some help?

No!

-Yes.

-THEY LAUGH

'I'll need some help with this too, showing love to curtains.'

The curtains 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...

SHE CHUCKLES

..than, you know, one would presume.

'There are 350 pairs of curtains in 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, it will be perfect.

'Uh, 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.

Aha! Excellent.

Your outfit for today, sir.

That looks fine. Could you give it a little press, perhaps?

-Just give it 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.'

-It really suits you, sir.

-Does it?

-Can I adjust your buttons, 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.

-HE LAUGHS My LITTLE beard?!

-Yes.

Oh, dear. And we're out of the magic kingdom, aren't we?

Into the service area.

-Yes, sir.

-The dream is over.

In the nerve centre 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's Hotel in London,

'Hotel de Crillon in Paris and Hotel Metropol in Monaco.

'No sooner have I sat down, it becomes clear

'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...

-PHONE RINGS

Ah, it's my phone. Sorry.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

Sorry, we have to go.

Come with me.

-Rush, 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 after the top 100 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.'

He's got to be fit.

He's just sprinted down the stairs from up there.

I could do the same,

but I'd like to see him do it in six-inch heels.

Sorry. False alarm. 20 minutes.

SHE LAUGHS

'It's a seven-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 five o'clock

and you go home.

So, if you were starting your day at 7, 7.30,

when will you see your pillow again?

Depending on the day, it could be any time between 11pm and 2am.

-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 the butler of the French prime minister

and I discovered a new world.

With him, I was travelling.

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...

..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 hotel's fleet

of ten chauffeur-driven luxury vehicles,

including two custom-built Bentleys.

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.

-Hi.

-Call me Giles.

'There must be over £1 million worth of cars down here.

'No wonder Akram takes such good care of them.'

So, that's so people can clean their hands and then if they...?

-No, no. It's for the car.

-If they...

That is specially to clean the car. It's for the cleaning.

But if they come where their hands are clean

and they haven't wiped their hands and they go like that...

So, that's why always you use the cloths.

-Even if my hands are really clean?

-Yes.

-This is always to clean.

-HE CHUCKLES

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?

OK, so 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 behaviour I've become accustomed to.

After all, there could be a VIP in the back seat.

OK.

There's also the fine art of permissible conversation.

ENGINE REVS Oh, 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 Marrakech.'

Ooh!

'Or is it Marrakech that isn't ready for me?'

Can I slide over the top, you know, like the Dukes Of Hazzard? 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.

There's people on mopeds with no respect for the rules at all.

The roundabouts seem to be make it up as you go along.

He talks about "sangfroid". We'll see it in action.

Given that the national income per head

is 14 times lower than in the UK,

it's not surprising we're attracting attention.

This car alone is worth 60 times more

than a year's wages for most Moroccans.

Graham Norton?

Come on!

What about those terrible people off TOWIE?

Of course, Akram would never tell me how his mystery VIP guests feel

seeing the real Marrakech from the window of a Bentley,

but the contrast is certainly a stark one.

I think from a morning of chauffeuring around Marrakech

in a champagne-coloured Bentley with wonderful Akram,

the thing that I've learnt is the job of the chauffeur here

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 when I find myself back here,

closeted again, in what is essentially a giant Bentley

with a view of Marrakech.

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 hotel's guests want.

One of my favourite things when I travel is to speak to other guests.

Um, 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's just a few metres away,

I feel like I'm supposed to be in my riad.

I feel you have a very great service when you're inside of your area,

but there is no social life, if 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.

RELAXING MUSIC PLAYS

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 hotels in the world

one of the best hotels 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 centrepiece is Le Jardin - a new one-and-a-half-hectare garden

that has been eight months in the making.

There's a new 30-metre 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 gates...

-Uh-huh?

..could you add more bedding plants there?

I would like to do it today and tomorrow.

-Good luck!

-OK. 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 depth of the owner's pockets.

We actually got from all around Morocco

nearly 500 trees like those beautiful olive trees, palm trees.

Those olive trees, on average,

are 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 over half a tonne,

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.

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 Marrakech,

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 we 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.

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 -

a luxurious, discreet experience that showcases the best of Morocco.

But how does the hotel's dining experience

deliver that vision?

There are two 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 training like a simulation,

where each head waiter and waiters try to take an order

and welcome the guest.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

'We have to be perfect every time.

'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 these to a guest,

and we also teach how to have a good attitude

in front of the guest.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

'Of course, prices are like three Michelin star in Paris

'because we have the quality of three Michelin star.'

To bring that quality to Marrakech,

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.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

My role 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

finely wrapped in beetroot.

High-end and distinctively Moroccan.

Beetroot and orange are two flavours

that they're used to using in their cooking here in Morocco,

but this is a refinement of that wonderful cuisine.

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 modernised,

more women have entered the workplace

and its 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 Dalila and Fatima is a win-win.

The saffron Fatima and I are using in this chicken dish

is one of the most highly-prized 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 to the fertile Ourika Valley

with head chef Jerome Videau.

We've come to the farm that supplies the Royal Mansour with saffron.

The owner is Dr Lakbabi.

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Once again, I'm happy again to see so many women of all ages at work.

THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE

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, for the day.

It's not much but, in this area, every dirham counts.

Madame here is 90 years old. She's picking faster than me.

She's making me look really bad. Right. I'm going to catch up.

THEY CONTINUE SINGING

I'm loving this. Really am.

You know, for any chef,

or a lover of food, to have this opportunity...

Listen to that!

..and to see it and to really...

SHE SNIFFS

Oh, this is 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 £8 per gram,

even in Morocco,

making it literally worth its weight in gold.

It's labour-intensive.

For one gram of saffron...

200 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 Jardin, 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.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

Restaurant manager Julien is overseeing the retraining.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

We have a lot of team members.

They have been here for over six years now,

and they have a 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,

jackets and ties have been ditched

in favour 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

and the restaurant, I hope to create this...

You know, how do 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 is 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 brought me along for the ride.

You see the snow on the mountains?

On the other side you have a ski resort.

Some of the butlers, actually, were brought 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 favourite place.

I come with my guide Hamid,

and we get dropped here and then we cycle

all the way back down to Marrakech.

It's fantastic.

So, you like to get away from luxury, then,

in your private life?

If I have the choice between Michelin three-star lunch...

..and a very rustic picnic, simple lunch,

I'll go for the rustic one.

You know, it's so luxurious at the Royal Mansour.

I wonder if the guests need to be brought out

and shown a bit of real life.

Interesting pattern within the guests.

On day one on arrival, they don't want to leave the hotel.

Day two, that's when they go out and visit Marrakech itself.

And then day three, they want to get out of Marrakech,

they want to see proper Morocco, so we will take them here.

You see, we just follow this road

and we will end up in that village over there.

Despite economic progress,

Morocco's rural areas still suffer from high unemployment,

poverty and illiteracy,

something Jean-Claude is all too aware of.

You know, I've run hotels in Paris and in London,

and it's a completely different ballgame, you know.

You run the hotel,

you go home or your staff will go home, and that's it.

-You forget about it.

-Mm-hm.

Here, you have a complete social responsibility.

Often, the salary will give them,

that salary provides for the full family -

for the kids, parents, grandparents.

-In villages out here, presumably?

-Exactly.

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 brought your guests out here, would they be happy eating this?

Would this be too rustic, or...?

I think there'd 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, we've done pretty well.

We've got as far as the mint tea

when a call from the Royal Palace comes in.

PHONE RINGS

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

I need to go. I've just been called in.

-Oh, so sorry.

-So, see you later.

-OK, 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 dessert yet,

but he got a phone call from the owner,

who is unexpectedly coming in 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 to keep myself clean,

keep my place clean,

and 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,

and then I went to school at the age of seven.

-PHONE RINGS

-Mohammed.

Oui.

Someone needs his socks folded.

Possibly just his shoes polished or a biscuit put into his mouth

because he's too busy to do it himself.

-Giles...

-Mm-hm?

-Have 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.

That's a 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.

Oui.

We were just about to prepare the white riad for the guest.

We had the minibar trolley all ready.

A call's just come through

that Mohammed forgot to clean the chimney.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

-I don't feel we're exactly dressed for chimney cleaning.

-Giles...

-Yeah?

I think I'm 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.

So, this chimney is not going to clean itself.

-Would you like to do it?

-Yeah, of course.

-Please.

Absolutely.

No, sweep it...

-Oh, the other way?

-Yes.

-Let me just do some...some finishing.

-What?

-You're going to finish it off?

-Yes.

He's not happy 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 or 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 need to know.

Even after the guests go to bed,

there is still some work to do before I 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 these feelings.

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.

BIRDS CHIRP

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.

The man has not slept for three weeks, properly.

He has two hours' sleep, three hours' sleep

because people want their laundry done at three in the morning

or they've run out of Haribos or need their fire lit.

It was 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

cos his mum had to go 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

among the chefs in the Moroccan kitchen.

Today, I'm joining chefs Fatima and Dalila

on a shopping expedition to the souk.

It's where Moroccan housewives buy their spices

and, as the hotel appreciates, they know best.

Moroccan cuisine is famous for its use of spices.

This stems back hundreds of years to Morocco's position

on the spice route from Asia to the Middle East and Europe.

The Moroccans' favourite spices add flavour and colour,

rather than heat,

and include cumin, turmeric, dried ginger and paprika.

They also use dried herbs and flowers.

Traditionally, spice shop owners

would have their own mix of spices called the ras el hanout,

meaning the head of the shop - the best in stock.

And what's amazing is, so I take it and the monsieur

is going to grind me fresh ras el hanout powder ready to go.

'The secret blend can combine all manner of spices.'

SHE SPEAKS FRENCH

Today, ras el hanout is the common name

for the quintessentially Moroccan blend.

Look what I got!

I'm so happy.

Fresh ras el hanout. It's still warm.

It's just a short walk back to the hotel.

Dalila and Fatima are going to show me

how the Royal Mansour has elevated a housewives' favourite,

pigeon pastilla, into an upmarket signature dish.

Oui.

'It's a savoury pie using filo pastry

'and more butter than I could possibly imagine.'

I have never used this much butter in one dish.

'Dalila's been stewing the wood pigeon

'with our ras el hanout spices, and, of course, saffron.

'Moroccan cuisine combines flavour in a very distinctive way,

'so inside the filo pastry case

'dry spiced scrambled egg is combined

'with our gamey pigeon meat,

'followed by a layer of ground spiced almonds.'

I mean, my senses have just been 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 savoury dish.'

I've had to film it because

people won't believe how much sugar has gone into this pastilla.

I can't wait to try it. Giles is missing out.

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Mm...!

That is incredible.

I'm very honoured to be taught by the masters

of pastilla here in this very kitchen.

And this is how they eat it.

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.

What 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 Marrakech.

But first, I need to stop off in a nearby town to buy a gift.

-And this is 200?

-Yes.

-THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Perfect. It might look like quite a strange present

to take round to someone's house for dinner,

a massive piece of meat, but I've asked around

and people said that's the thing Mohammed's family

would like the best.

So I've gone for side of lamb, a leg and most of the ribcage.

The more I think about it, the more I think, "What a great present."

Instead of a rubbish old bottle of wine, flowers or stinky chocolate,

imagine a side of meat with the organs still attached.

Excellent present.

Like many hotel staff, Mohammed moved to Marrakech for work,

but he always tries to return to his home village on a day off.

It's Mohammed in civvies.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-How are you?

-I'm all right.

-Welcome.

-Thank you very much.

You look different now. You look happier.

Because I'm visiting my family.

And this is the village where you were born?

Yes, this is the village.

'And the house, it turns out.'

Mohammed is the eldest of 11 children,

some of whom still live in the family home.

His father is 88 years old and spent his working life as a farm labourer.

-My father.

-Hello.

Conversation will be limited as most of his family speak only Berber.

Mohammed speaks Berber, Arabic, French and English.

GILES SPEAKS FRENCH

-He's saying thank you.

-You're very welcome, indeed.

What an amazing view.

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 are 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 used to be.

I will tell you,

there were days where we had old bread.

Dried bread.

But my mother used to keep, when there is a piece of that left,

she doesn't throw it, she will keep it.

She will save it for the future.

When there is nothing to eat, she will bring that bread.

We'll soak it in water and we'll eat it.

And they don't have to do that now?

No. No.

-Thanks to you.

-Thanks to God.

-Thanks to God.

-To Allah.

Do they know where you work now?

-They do.

-Have they seen pictures? Have they seen photographs?

I have showed them pictures, but I am sure they don't remember.

It's just interesting 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.

What I am 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.

HE SPEAKS 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, no, no.

-..to serve or do any kind of work.

I have left them still eating.

It was an amazing thing to see the house that he was born in,

the 100-year-old house that his father inherited from his father.

An amazing lack of resent.

He doesn't care the hotel keeps him away, Mohammed,

and then he gets back so infrequently,

but when he is, he's still happy.

He harbours no ill will, the idea of service...

His parents couldn't care less where he works. They don't know.

I asked them, they couldn't even remember the name of the hotel.

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 is the deuxieme pere, the second father for the kids.

He looks after everyone. It's all thanks to the hotel.

As I head back to the city,

it is with the real sense of there being two Moroccos.

And 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 for negotiations.

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 Jardin 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 you have spaces, you have this magnificent garden.

It has to grow a bit, but maybe in six months,

one year, it is going to be perfect.

But we needed some breath,

to breathe some fresh air, so now I think we have 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 are 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 for the next few days it's going to be crammed

with heads of state, presidents,

so it was important to be open today, and we have made it.

No stress.

Oh, a little bit of stress.

It looks like it's time for us to make ourselves scarce.

CHAMPAGNE CORK POPS

So we're beginning a gentle transition

back into butler-free life by serving our own champagne.

At least we're drinking!

This for me has been, you know,

an extraordinary experience, it really has.

You know what it's felt most like to me as an overall experience?

It's as if I was a sort of distant, distant, 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 was allowed to run around the giant imperial palace

all on my own.

It is quite amazing, you know, knowing that underneath all this

there's 500 people working away

to make it run, and the fact that when we walk around the riad,

if there's room service, or a housekeeper around,

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, when you have people like us, would we want that?

Would we want the 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 annexe to international super hotel.

But there's one great thing which

I've really appreciated about being here

and my time with the staff,

is the detail.

If this was your house, would you light all these candles?

Yes, I would.

Well, actually, no. My butler would!

Your butler would light all the candles.