Leila Slimani’s Personal Guide to Rabat’s Art Deco and Cultural Gems

Author Leila Slimani, born in Rabat, Morocco, shares her personal recommendations for the city in a Vogue article timed to the release of her novel I'll Take the Fire (Penguin), the third volume of her autobiographical trilogy In the Country of Others. Slimani, now based in Lisbon, returns to Rabat for summers and winter holidays, noting the city's transformation with improved infrastructure, multiplied cultural venues, and refurbished gardens. She highlights the Bouregreg Valley, storks as the city's emblem, and Rabat's layered history—Andalusian settlement after the Spanish Reconquista and a 17th-century pirate republic. Her recommendations include hotels like the Waldorf Astoria in the Mohammed VI Tower and the historic Balima Hotel; restaurants such as Al Marsa, Juanita Banana, and Muskaan; and cultural sites like the Royal Theatre of Rabat, Africa's largest theater, designed by Zaha Hadid and shaped like a whale. She also mentions the Museum of Photography in Borj El Kebir, the Mohamed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the Chellah necropolis with Roman ruins and royal tombs. Slimani praises the city's Art Deco architecture, secondhand bookshops like Mohamed Aziz with over 5,000 books, and the female-led Maymana patisserie chain. She recommends visiting in spring or autumn for the mild climate and extraordinary light.