Moroccan cooking workshops of la maison arabe

The story of La Maison Arabe began in the 1930’s when two enterprising French women, Hélène Sébillon- Larochette and her daughter, Suzy, settled in Marrakech. In 1946, the pasha of Marrakech, Thami El Glaoui, granted them the right to establish the first restaurant open to foreigners in the medina. He provided them with one of his best dadas – traditional Moroccan chefs – from his palace’s kitchens to teach them the intricacies of the local cuisine.

La Maison Arabe enjoyed an immediate success and quickly became “the” place to dine in Marrakech. Winston Churchill, who came often to the red city in his later years and stay at the legendary Mamounia, would dine regularly at La Maison Arabe. The restaurant’s other illustrious guests included Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Charles de Gaulle, Jackie Kennedy and the Aga Khan.

In 1994 Fabrizio Ruspoli, a descendant of a noble Roman family, acquired the property as well as several adjoining riad buildings. After three years of renovation work, La Maison Arabe reopened in late-1997 as the first riad-hotel in Marrakech. Nineteen years later, it is estimated there are over 800.

Today La Maison Arabe carries 26 rooms and suites, two restaurants, a world-renowned cooking school, a wellness center, and two swimming pools: one on-site in the medina and another at a luxuriant country retreat several minutes away from the medina, reserved exclusively for hotel guests.