Dream weaver

by Joe Mortimer | November 20, 2011

Philippe Soulier just spent EUR50 m ($68 m) building his dream hotel. He now plans to take some time out with his girlfriend to explore the islands of Oceania in his new private jet – this is a man with his priorities in order

I'm sitting at lunch in the Armani Hotel in Dubai with French businessman Philippe Soulier and his girlfriend Jade.

They're in town with new colleagues from European luxury hoteliers Oetker Collection, with whom Soulier has just signed a management contract for his new boutique resort in Marrakech. Six years and around EUR50 m (US$68 m) after he first set eyes on the building site, Palais Namaskar is almost ready to welcome its first guests.

After building a lucrative logistics business in Nigeria and travelling the world for much of his adult life, Soulier decided in his mid-30s that it was time to settle down and plant roots.

He planned to head back to the south of France, but after a few days in Marrakech, he realised he had found his eden. Seduced by the city's heady mixture of Oriental mysticism, North African culture and Moroccan hospitality, he found a property that immediately conjured up images of a private haven that he could share with friends.

Philippe is a busy man – there are press conferences in Abu Dhabi and Paris to attend, then Soulier and Jade are heading off to explore the world in his new private jet. Alright for some, as they say – we have a new hero.

Tell us a bit about your background.
I am of French descent but I am a citizen of the world – I have been travelling all my life. I am 42 years old now, and when I was 24 I went to work in Nigeria, where I set up my own business in shipping and transportation. I always had a passion for southern France and luxury hotels. When I was about 27 years old, I used the first of the money I made to visit Hotel du Cap Eden Roc in the south of France and spent a week there. Later, after 10 years running the business in Nigeria, I decided to travel around the world. Finally, about six years ago, I needed a home where I could settle down, and I arrived in Marrakech and fell in love with it at once.

How did you discover Palais Namaskar?
I had been thinking of buying somewhere in the south of France because that is where I was born, but I realised that for the same price I could buy something wonderful in Marrakech. I arrived in Marrakech and asked a friend to show me around some of the properties. I visited what is now Palais Namaskar and within half an hour I said, 'this is my place'. Just like that. I immediately understood that this was a place that I would share with others, so I discussed it with the former owner and made the deal. In the process of buying I had the luck to meet a great architect, Imad Rahmouni, who had an office in Marrakech. We shared the same passion and the same vision and he said to me, 'Look, you have been travelling around the world and are always complaining that things are not quite right – this chair is nice but the blue is not quite right or the venue is nice but the lighting is not quite right.' So I decided that now it was my turn. I decided to set up a hotel just for me.

What was your original plan for the hotel?
I wanted to know what I would do just to please myself – that way I wouldn't look at it at the end and say: 'I would have done it differently'. I wanted to create the best hotel and the best experience I could imagine, with love and generosity. When was the last time you experienced a perfect moment? The idea was to create an environment where you feel that everything is taken care of – you have a nice comfortable chair, the drink is cold, the music is soft, the food is excellent and the ambience is right. I hope I've created a hotel where everyone will have their own personal space where they can enjoy serene moments, but still belong to a dynamic public place when they want. So we spent the last five or six years in Marrakech discovering the area and the nice climate, the laid-back atmosphere and the cuisine. You ask how you can combine all those elements and put them all together to provide the world with a setting where people can come and experi- ence a very personal place, where the visitor is at the centre of the action.

How did you find your first venture into hotels?
It's a difficult process because you have to demystify so many fields – construction, design – you have to be practical. It has to be beautiful but also comfortable and working. It's a very delicate and difficult process. At the same time it was very easy because I was the only one making the decisions. I was the one to say yes or no to each detail. I got involved in the process of designing, creating, even drawing sketches with the architect.

Tell me about the design and the spiritual side of the project?
How much did you budget for the hotel? Because I had a successful business in Nigeria, I was lucky enough to have no limitations on resources. For an architect, it's not easy when you have an owner dictating the style or the budget. All in all I have spent about AED5 m (US$1.36 m) per room. There are 41 keys and 50 beds, so I've spent about AED250 m ($68 m) in total. You have to think a little about the investment versus the money that you make, and it is always good to think like that because it gives you a bit of vision, but you cannot only think like this. You can't come up with a product filled with so much generosity if you have to think, 'how much do I get if I do this?'. When you spend more than EUR2 m ($2.75 m) on a pool, it doesn't make sense to think like this. If you start making decisions because of an Excel spreadsheet – that is your loss. .

You recently partnered with the European hotel company Oetker Collection to manage the resort?
I was approached by a lot of hotels. Some of them offered me millions of Euros just to be able to put my hotel in their portfolio, but I wasn't thinking only about the money. I met the people from Oetker and it immediately clicked. They have this delicate collection and when you go to the hotels you really feel there is something different. Of course for me it was a dream come true – 20 years after going on vacation to Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, my hotel was becoming a part of the group.

What do you do when a VIP guest acts unruly?
I try to not let those people through the door. I've been in this business a very long time and you can generally spot unruly people from a mile away. We are a bit specific about the kind of clientele we go for. In general, I'm pretty well-known in the West End, and, although it sounds a bit vacuous, it's somewhat of a privilege to be able to come in to my clubs, so people tend not to abuse that. But sometimes you do get bad behaviour.