This hotel, in a central location, two blocks from La Tour Hassan Meridien, 200 m from the train station, is the most contemporary address in the capital. Unusually compact for this chain, it sits half a step down from its more traditional French brethren in the ranks (although, as one of the few larger properties in the city, it still attracts corporate folks and the usual bureaucrats). Set in a white, six-story corner building, the curving modern facade is marked with smoked glass and chrome trim and gives a stark, businesslike impression.
The chic marble lobby is a tour de force, with its sheer, silky drapes dropping two stories down to the mirror-finished black granite floors, an unusually modern scene in this North African nation. The
slick reception area greets all in style, while an efficient, well-dressed staff sees to guests' needs. Locals flock to the adjacent black-and-white piano lounge, undoubtedly Rabat's most cosmopolitan watering hole, where a pianist and an old-fashioned crooner work the crowd.
The mezzanine holds a dining room with a Mediterranean menu for lunch and dinner and buffets at breakfast. La Brasserie, set under a stained-glass skylight as glorious as those of Europe's old-world lodgings, attracts a loyal lunch crowd of BMW-driving bureaucrats with its traditional French fare. The simple but high-quality food is dished up at rates not seen in Paris brasseries since 1968, although the corporate accounts that cover the bills here hardly flinch. 
The hotel lacks a pool, but a hammam is provided (this is Morocco, right?), as are a meeting room for 100 people and limited parking in front of the hotel. A business center assists corporate guests, and amenities such as Internet and printing facilities are readily available. Valets will gladly handle automotive details if needed.
The well-designed, average-size accommodations are just as trendy as the public areas, with marble-paved foyers and carpeted bedrooms, theatrical recessed lighting, fabrics in pumpkin hues, overstuffed duvets, mahogany-trimmed appointments and original art on the walls. Appurtenances run 
to TVs, minibars, thermostats, phones with data ports, wireless high-speed Internet, luggage racks and good storage space with safes. The marble baths supply expensive imported fixtures, generic toiletries, phones, robes and more theatrical lighting. Even the trash cans here show a certain style with toe-activated pop-top lids of polished chrome.
Room service never stops, and nearly one-fifth of rooms are smoke-free. This is a welcome addition in a city known for staid traditional accommodations, most of which are well past their prime. This hotel sits just below Rabat's ruling chieftain, the more popular Hilton.