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Omar what's mine okay and you are the founders of um Legrand we're the founders of frugal at qazar
okay what's the meaning of the name so Alcazar comes from there is a museum in Sevilla and that
is called when Andalusia was Muslim there was a lot of Muslim people living there it was built
and it means Al qasar it comes from Arabic it means which means Palace so and we we thought
about a name that would have an Arabic origin but would be known internationally that's how it's
where it comes from so and this is a traditional Moroccan Fest building how did you find it
well basically we already we the family already owned the house the traditional house and it was
this like it was it had another Destiny it was supposed to be either sold or rent it
or whatever we used to be Bankers in Montreal nothing to see with the industry and we came
back to Morocco in 2018 and that's when we decided to give it a second life and maybe
try to see what we could do with this so we rented the house we started on the other side
not this part but the other other part with the six seven rooms let's say seven rooms we started
in 2019 the activity and then one year after kovit came and we had to stop unfortunately
the timing was when it was so when did you open again I took when the borders closed they said
that everything was closed for three months like all type of businesses in Morocco uh then it was
summer it was very low season we tried to work but being especially Fez was not very famous
locally we didn't have a lot of guests coming from Morocco so that that summer we couldn't
work we after 15 days we closed back and we started again four months later in October
2020 uh doing a lot of communication and marketing to bring some influencers some artists Moroccan
artists to make this place famous in Morocco and that's how the good part started good marketing
actually it was a beautiful gift because before kovid was always we we used to work 100 with
foreign tourists and we had almost no Moroccan guests coming to visit and when we started this
uh the strategy of of promotion of proactive promotion we wanted first to give visibility
to our city because there's much to see and then we also gained and we were able to have some very
loyal Moroccan customers that came and came back again who started to spread the word and we've
had many families coming from all over Morocco to discover or to ReDiscover or to show their kids
some of what they knew what they were younger or the lifestyle their fathers have their parents had
had before so it's a beautiful mission for us that was not expected that but we're very happy to be
there and one of the other gifts one of the other gifts of kovid was the opportunity to expand we
were in negotiating with the neighbors for ages one day they want to sell they were like four
four brothers were inherited the house from their family and one day they want one day they don't
want to the day they all want one doesn't want anymore and I think they got they [Music] they
was like okay I think it's the moment we don't know what will happen with the markets I think
if coffee didn't come they would have never sold so we're happy to have this today ready for the
for the season starting pack so the first thing I know I notice here it's a lot of details can
you talk about a little bit about the details the decoration of the building what can we found here
basically these houses both houses were already beautiful beautifully done with lots of Hearts
lots of passion The handicrafting Fez is very rich and when we were restoring the houses we
were like we're not gonna reinvent something that already exists we just wanted to give it
back the shape it used to have before well the only credit we have is the renovation part but
we didn't we didn't add much into what it was before the houses were already beautiful and
we have a beautiful culture and a beautiful architecture here in Fez that involves the
traditional ZD Styles the plaster work the curved wood carved plaster it's full of details it was
full of details and with that man when we started the objective was to make it like a showroom of
all the and that's the thing we really wanted to have a small museum for our guests to be able to
discover our craft work in all its shapes all it's shapes so iron wood copper like plaster
Village tiles portray all type because this is Fez actually we had a lot of Masters of craft
work for all over the the centuries and I think it's very important to make sure these things
don't get lost especially today with the with the new technologies and the way the word the the
speed the pace uh that the word is is going right now uh ever with AI and it's crazy I think this
has never took to to disappear a machine cannot replace men doing this manual work otherwise it
has for me nobody nobody experience some really good meals already here can you talk about your
menu we want to be a home away from home we have a Moroccan restaurant on site but we don't want
to be a restaurant we really want to do home food we have a chef with us that has been without our
family for over 30 years she is very experienced very talented and we want to do it exactly as we
do it at home as our grandmother used to do it we preserve the same recipes we don't want
to calculate cost we just want to do it the exact way the right way and do it the best so yes we're
really proud to be able to offer some food that is very rare to find even our guests when they come
and sleep with us and they taste it generally they they are happy to eat here some those that tried
the first night generally read the second night here and those that tried the last night they're
like oh I wish I knew it before because it's really different from what we can find elsewhere
yeah I can confirm it was really delicious and we can't wait for another deal our home thank you for
traveling um and I saw some I think videos with some events are you planning to do more events
I saw the piano electric piano in the other room or was that just like one time occasion
during kovid reservations were very rare we used to and especially that it was only one house so
it was seven rooms it was a lot easier to sell as a private as a private house so we would sell the
whole the whole react that was great because that allowed us to do a lot of events to bring artists
and especially that there is a beautiful natural acoustic in these houses in these specials that uh
like even the artists are very pleased to come and sing here so that's how it
started we used to do a lot of events now that we have a lot of reservations it's
very difficult to address we have we need to adjust to people who are here just to rest
so that's generally when it's private and what he didn't say is that some of the guests have
the chance to listen to Ant-Man playing some beautiful piano music he is very
talented and very passionate he loves it and sometimes the piano is there all the
time sometimes that's when when he wants easier well when when there is that connection [Music]
it's not something that we always do but it's a pleasure I love to share moments with my guests
I think we forget everything remember the moments and we never we can forget
everything never the way people make us feel and that's what it's all about here we want to thank
you for coming visiting us it's a delight for us to welcome you here in Fest to get to know you
both and your beautiful baby you guys are really amazing God bless God bless wishing you all the
best we are looking forward to having you again because I know you are in a rush this time so come
back anytime this is your home in fans and we'll be pleased to having you again another time really
I thank you very much for your time and for doing the advertisement after we had really appreciate
wow
what do you think she's blocked she has no words
this is the touching dance more you want more touching or touching we like it a lot I think
we got good food here [Music] yum