HAUTE HISTORY

Villa Mabrouka, the last private home of Yves Saint Laurent in Tangier, Morocco, is now an intimate hotel evoking 1930s charm

- Coco Marett

For British designer Jasper Conran, chancing upon Villa Mabrouka was love at first sight.

“I will never forget that first sensation of coming off the narrow Tangier streets and into the villa’s green and shady courtyard, full of banana and palm trees,” he says, “before emerging into an oasis of big, sweeping lawns and an incredible garden looking out to sea, filled with hollyhocks, nasturtiums, roses, agapanthus, bougainvillea, jasmine and orange blossom, as well as ancient pavilions.”

When Tatler caught up with Conran over the phone, he was sitting on a terrace looking over those exact gardens—only this time, he’s the owner of the property, which he has spent four years transforming into a charming 12-suite hotel with views of the Strait of Gibraltar and the North Atlantic.

The opening of the hotel took place in June this year, with a low-key but lavish garden party for just 60 guests, who flew in from all corners of the world. “There was a moment when I’d planned for all the waiters to come down with desserts—big trays of jellies, cakes and ice creams. They all came down from above to the pool carrying these great big trays of wonderful sweets,” Conran recalls fondly. “It was a spectacularly beautiful vision, and everyone clapped. That was a moment. A very happy moment.”

In 2019, Conran travelled to Tangier in search of a tent to use for excursions for guests staying at his first hotel, L’Hotel in Marrakesh. His antiques dealer revealed that Villa Mabrouka, the last residence of legendary fashion designer and couturier Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé, was up for sale.

“The rest, as they say, is history,” says Conran.