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The city of Tangier was home to one of the most luxurious hotels in Morocco and in the world. Hotel Cecil, located in Boulevard Mohammed VI and built in the 1860s, is recently going to be refurbished. According to Abdou Benattabou from Zanka 90 association in Tangier, «the rehabilitation of the area near the beach requires that the authorities renovate this hotel». «Moreover, we do not know who is going to be in charge of this project», he told Yabiladi.
Local media Tanja 24 has also confirmed the information, stating that it's the urban commune of Tangier that will take care of the project.
The hotel, which has fallen into disgrace, was a landmark and the place to be for expatriates, European royal families, diplomats and distinguished politicians visiting Tangier. According to an article written by historians Andrew Clandermond and Terence MacCarthy and entitled «No Better Address! A brief social history of the hotel Cecil, Tangier», the hotel was constructed in 1865 and its inauguration was celebrated by newspaper Al-Moghreb Al Aksa on the 25th of February, 1899.
«The inauguration of the Hotel Cecil, situated on the beach, took place on Saturday evening», wrote the newspaper, quoted by the two historians.
«The building which was formerly occupied by Senor Recio’s Universal Hotel has been thoroughly reconstructed and the newly fitted hotel is under the able management of Mr. John Sacone».
A luxurious hotel
For a tour inside the hotel, Tanger Gazette, a local newspaper, wrote on June the 23rd, 1923, that Cecil had «well ventilated rooms with the latest sanitary arrangements, suites of rooms with private bath, toilet and w.c., spacious dining, drawings, reading and Billiard rooms».
It also reported that the hotel had electric light, bathrooms on every floor, large terraces, a kiosk, a lawn tennis court and a motor-bus. Clandermond and MacCarthy wrote that the hotel looked like a British club. It «was furnished in the style of an exclusive Indian Hill Station Club», said the two historians.
«Its drawing room, boasted numerous, comfortably upholstered, cushion covered sofas, rosewood Islamic octagonal occasional tables, richly inlaid with complicated ivory or bone geometrical patterns, hanging enameled brass lamps, and walls decorated with crossed sabers and riffles».
Hotel Cecil’s magnificent architecture and interior design attracted only high heeled Europeans shortly after its opening. Indeed, the Cecil was the best hotel in Tangier and gained so much prestige because of its unexpected clientele.
Royal guests
Prince Henri d’Orleans, who was «the son of H.R.H. Prince Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orleans, and the grandson of His Majesty King Louis-Philippe I of the French», stayed in the hotel only one year after its inauguration.
This visit was a turning point for Cecil which became a royal destination. In 1907, Princess Margaret Mathilde of Saxony booked a suite in Cecil, reported Al-Moghreb Al Aksa. Staying in the hotel turned it into a trend and other officials followed the footsteps of Prince Henri d’Orleans.
Records of the hotel published by the two historians show that Winston Churchill, Prince Charles Murat, Princess Schronburg, and R. B. Cunnighame-Graham booked rooms in hotel Cecil.
Despite its beauty and prestige, the hotel was home to some weird and exceptional events. According to the same source, Hotel Cecil was a refuge for the Times journalist Walter Harris. The latter, and after he was released by Moroccan bandit Moulay Ahmed Raisuni, he «abandoned his isolated villa in favor of a suite of rooms in the hotel Cecil».
The hotel and because of its clientele was suspected to be an important platform for the «establishment of Freemasonry in Morocco», reported the same source quoting an article published by Al-Moghreb Al Aksa.
The newspaper wrote on August 23rd 1902 that «a large number of Freemasons arrived this afternoon by the S.S. Gibel Tarik for the purpose of the consecration of a lodge S.C at the Hotel Cecil», concluded the same source.
The hotel has fallen into disgrace throughout the years. «Tragically, what had once been one of the great institutions of Tangier, the favored venue for the ‘grande monde’, went into a prolonged decline from which it emerged», said Clandermond and MacCarthy.
