The enchanting gardens, which put many—including Conran—under the villa’s spell, is the work of landscaper Madison Cox, who married Bergé shortly before his death and is now president of the not-for-profit Fondation Jardin Majorelle and the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. Saint Laurent was born in Algeria in 1936; 30 years later, on his first visit to Marrakesh, the spirit of North Africa awakened a creative blind spot for the designer. He once famously said, “Before Marrakesh, everything was black. This city taught me colour, and I embraced its light, its insolent mixes, and ardent inventions.”

He went on to visit the city twice a year, in June and December, to source inspiration for his collections, and he and Bergé would go on to own several properties there, and finally Villa Mabrouka in Tangier.

When Conran bought the property in 2019, proceeds from the sale went towards the Fondation Jardin Marjorelle, as per Bergé’s instructions before his passing in 2017. “I want to keep the air of Yves Saint Laurent alive around the villa,” says Conran. “Ever since I can remember, Saint Laurent has meant an immense amount to me—where some children worshipped footballers, I admired Saint Laurent. He was a genius: a man who loved his craft and was so brilliantly articulate at putting his finger right on the pulse, at the right time, in the right way. So, for me, becoming custodian of Villa Mabrouka is purely serendipitous and accidental but a very romantic story.”

The designer-turned-hotelier’s approach to Villa Mabrouka’s transformation was somewhat meditative. Conran “sat with the house for about nine months”, during which, he says, he “let the rooms tell me what they wanted to be”. There followed a colossal infrastructure project, one in which the main house and garden were taken apart and put back together again. “The whole garden needed to be taken up, but I put it back in the way Madison had laid it out,” says Conran, who added more than 6,500 new plants, shrubs and trees in a replanting programme. “If something is so beautiful, why would you want to change it?”

Other elements preserved from the villa’s “Yves era” are the stunning carved wooden doors and floor-toceiling window frames in hues of blue and green, and one of the original pavilions designed by American architect Stuart Church. Conran was also a fan of the bedroom Grange had designed for Saint Laurent, which he lovingly restored during the renovation.

But Villa Mabrouka isn’t all homages to its famous former owners, with Conran adding contemporary touches throughout the heritage property. For example, crisp white walls and tonal textiles have replaced the audacious patterns that previously adorned the sitting room—which is one of the Conran’s favourite spaces within Villa Mabrouka.

“I like it very much because it has a lovely sense of calmness to it,” he says. “It’s whites and greens, so it takes the outside in and it works with the exterior and the garden. It’s got Roman busts and mosaics and Murano glass for lights.” Other elegant details include Mauritanian rugs, handmade clay tiles crafted using the ancient traditions of bejmat and zellige, velvet slipper chairs, cascading voile curtains, mother-of-pearl inlaid mirrors and side tables, and antique embroidery.

It’s a well-curated collection that is decidedly not specific to Morocco, but one that fulfils Conran’s vision of creating a hotel that evokes an era of understated opulence. “Here, you are not walking into a Moroccan palace; it is like a house you might have once found in the south of France. It’s a Mediterranean house with the gentle nuances of Morocco,” says Conran. “I want it to feel like a classic: like a hotel of the 1930s—with that level of service and detail. A hotel on the Riviera.”

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