Back to life
Mexico’s architecture and Marrakech’s hotspots offer travelers restorative hospitality.
Pétanque Social Club
Marrakech
The restoration of a 1930s building – the old site of one of Morocco’s best private members’ clubs – has brought new life to the Gueliz neighbourhood. It was discovered by Marrakech native Kamal Laftimi, the restaurateur behind Nomad, Le Jardin, Café Des Épices and art space DaDa. “This is something we haven’t seen in decades,” says Laftimi. “A space for relaxation and serenity in the heart of the Red City.” Pétanque boasts Moroccan-Mediterranean cuisine, a great bar and a vast garden that’s open to visitors and locals alike. “Marrakech has evolved,” he adds. “It’s home to artists and nomads who bring with them creativity.”
pscmarrakech.com
Hotel San Fernando
Mexico City
The 19-room Hotel San Fernando has opened its doors on the edge of Parque Mexico, a lush patch of greenery in the capital’s La Condesa neighbourhood. This newest member of the Austin-based Bunkhouse Hotels group is set in a 1940s block refurbished by the brand in collaboration with Mexico City-based studio Reurbano. The team has enhanced the building’s art-deco charms by adding metal panes and stained-glass windows to the shell.
Rooms feature pink-and-green accents and custom wooden furniture by La Metropolitana studio. Elsewhere there are bright patterned rugs handmade by Oaxaca-based Enkelt, plus sconces and pendants by Mexico City-based ceramics studio Anfora. The rooftop bar is the spot for guests to enjoy breakfast and there is a street-facing salon for sipping a rosa mexicana and watching the city tick.
bunkhousehotels.com
The Largo
Porto
Sitting above famed chef Nuno Mendes’ restaurant Cozinha Das Flores and bar Flôr is a new and handsome hotel, The Largo. The 18-key project involved a thorough restoration of five interconnecting buildings, some dating to the 15th century.
Danish design studio Space Copenhagen was tasked with the job. The designers took aged stone and tarnished wood as starting points and introduced plastered walls in earthy tones alongside blackened steel and brass accents. The wooden flooring and plastered walls bring warmth, while generous beds, sofas and armchairs invite guests to stay that little longer. This is Portuguese hospitality at its best: bijou bar Flôr serves small plates and sparky cocktails, while Cozinha Das Flores showcases northern Portuguese gastronomy with Mendes’s signature flair.
thelargo.com
Q&A
Amina Belouizdad Porter
CEO, PS
Los Angeles-based PS aims to bring a little private-jet panache to the airport experience with a membership model. Based at LAX since 2017 – and formerly called The Private Suite – this year it’s opening a space in Atlanta and is restoring the mid-century Pan Am terminal at Miami International. At the controls is its CEO, Amina Belouizdad Porter.
How does PS work?
If you’re taking a commercial flight, instead of going to the main airport, you arrive at a standalone PS terminal where we check you in and take your luggage. Then you can either head to one of our private suites, each with a wellstocked pantry, or to our salon, which is more social and like a members’ club centred around a bar. At boarding, we take you through our own security and then a BMW will drive you across the airfield to your flight.
What are you planning in Miami?
We’re restoring what was once Pan Am’s regional HQ and will open a terminal there by early 2025. The original, nicknamed “the Taj Mahal” was inspired by the US embassy in New Delhi. Pan Am epitomised the luxury and glamour we associate with the golden age of travel.
What is the future of business travel?
Business has blurred with leisure now we can work from anywhere but the bar is set a lot higher: I need to be able to get on a call before my flight; I need a workspace but also respite. PS is certainly one solution.
reserveps.com
