Moroccan Mountain Retreat Wins Prestigious UNESCO Versailles World Prize for Architecture

The Olinto Atlas Mountain Retreat hotel, located in the Ouirgane valley in the High Atlas, was awarded the Versailles World Prize 2023, in the Hotels category. The Versailles 2023 Prize jury was chaired by the famous Lebanese designer Elie Saab, according to the Jardin Majorelle Foundation in a press release. Announced annually at UNESCO since 2015, the Versailles Prize is a set of architectural competitions highlighting the most beautiful contemporary achievements worldwide, the same source said. The Jardin Majorelle Foundation will specify that the criteria adopted by the Global Jury include innovation, creativity, echo to local heritage and ecological efficiency. For its part, Olinto has indicated that it hopes this prestigious award will attract more tourists from around the world.

Olinto Atlas Mountain Retreat was inaugurated at the end of 2022. This property of the pioneering hotelier based in Marrakech, Fabrizio Ruspoli, includes nine guest pavilions, each with its own private garden surrounded by traditional earth walls, making it a haven of tranquility in a magnificent mountain setting. The establishment gives visitors the opportunity to explore the local landscapes, culture and traditions. "Situated at the foot of the High Atlas mountains, Olinto invites its guests to immerse themselves in Moroccan cuisine and craftsmanship during a retreat in one of the stunning pavilions," writes the famous American magazine Spaces. Without failing to specify that this hotel establishment "is located above the Berber village of Imlil, about an hour from Marrakech, in a largely intact territory that has a hunting reserve and the Toubkal National Park as its closest neighbors".