Dear Reader (2025-12-06 – posted simultaneously to FB),
I think you and I are getting close to the end of the Algeria series of posts. That said, there are still two or three things to share with you. The three structures that are clearly identifiable on Algiers’ skyline are the The Djamaa el Djazaïr (aka the Great Mosque of Algiers), the Martyr’s Memorial (see https://seandrysdale.com/2025/10/13/algeria-04/), and then there is the five star Hotel El Aurassi, which was where the second tour started and both tours ended. I refer to this hotel as the hotel that time forgot and I loved it.
The north facing verandahs and rooms look toward the Mediterranean and have some of the best views in the city. The rooms are palatial. There are no USB jacks in the rooms, and no plugs by the bed. In the toilet room there is a phone. Though there is no smoking inside, there are still ash trays in the corridors. The bell hops wear red waistcoats.
The hotel was designed by Luigi Moretti (who also designed the Watergate Complex in Washington, DC) and was opened in 1975. This year (2025) the hotel was visibly celebrating its 50th birthday. At first glance the hotel’s architecture is similar to but different from brutalism. Moretti was the inventor of parametric architecture. You are welcome to go down the rabbit hole of brutalism vs. parametric architecture. El Aurrassi has an appealing brightness and spaciousness. Think 2001 Space Odyssey vs Blade Runner (there is only one). I’m sure cigar smoking autocrats and their entourages once wandered these floors. I can also imagine the Brat Pack quaffing pitchers of Martinis by the glass on the verandahs or by the pool. Off in the corner journalists used to gather and talk about what they could and could not print.
Notes on Photos
~ 03 – Main Floor
~ 04 to 05 – On display on the main floor and available at a price
~ 06, 07 – My balcony
~ 08 – View to the west from the end of a corridor
~ 09 to 12- The main verandah at night and during the day. Coffee, tea, croissants and biscotti are always available. The bar is open later in the day. This was one of only 2 hotels we stayed at where liquor was available.
References
~ Luigo Moretti – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Moretti
~ Parametric design – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parametric_design
You are welcome to share a link to this page with others.
As always, all comments are welcome and sought.
Cheers, Sean
My note on privacy can be found under the “About” menu item, and if you would like to subscribe to this blog please enter your email.
.
All rights for all material on any media reserved – © Sean P Drysdale 2017-2025
Not to get too side tracked on Brutalism. But. I had once thought the root was from brutal, which is incorrect. It’s from the French brut, meaning raw. Aptly named. Once I realized that some of the uglier buildings in downtown Calgary were Brutalist, I looked it up trying to answer the question, why? I did not discover a satisfactory answer, other than it was cheap.
And yes, there is only one real version of Blade Runner. The non-director’s cuts (all of them) need not apply, and the same is true for the sequel. Don’t get me started on movie sequels and franchises.
Right, there are photos to be commented on. I almost forgot in the effort to not write a blog.
1-Someone probably got paid big bucks to pick those exact rocks, and put them exactly there, oriented the way they are. In Calgary many times rocks are used to keep cars from driving certain places, and that clearly does not apply here.
2-I love seeing models. I sometimes think I should have become a model builder, and maybe I’d have become famous making models for some box office smashing movie. Or make the big bucks building and keeping updated the models of refineries. This one reminds me a little of of of the building sets that I had as a kid. Or maybe something out of Captain Scarlet, or Thunderbirds.
3 to 6- The inside of a hotel. Somehow they all look the same to me.
7-The view is not the same. I could enjoy that view, assuming I ever got in the country.
9-ICM is fun!
Thank you kindly for visiting and commenting.