In 1901, Casablanca had three hotels. By 1911, after the French occupation of Casablanca, the French Commandant Charles Martial Joseph Dessigny counted six or seven hotels and four or five European restaurants, noting that "a hotel equipped with modern comforts is desirable and would be assured of a good clientele."[2]Шаблон:Rp The Excelsior satisfied the plans of the commandant, who in July 1908 had been put in charge of a public facilities department established by the French authorities.[2]Шаблон:Rp
The Excelsior Hotel was built on the site of what had been a slaughterhouse. First imagined as six-story buildings, the hotel and its neighbor Шаблон:Lang represented a departure from the adjacent medina in terms of scale.[2]Шаблон:Rp
The Excelsior served an emerging segment of the population of Casablanca, offering modern comforts to the Western businessmen coming and going.[2]Шаблон:Rp The Excelsior and its brasserie quickly replaced the Шаблон:Lang as the meeting place for business and land speculation deals.[2]Шаблон:Rp
Henry Dugard in Шаблон:Lang wrote that it represented the transformation of Casablanca from a "a rough and unrefined monster" into a civilized city.[2]Шаблон:Rp
Architecture
The building had a frame of concrete and friezes and balconies with inspiration taken from Шаблон:Lang decorative themes then popular in Algeria and Tunisia, also occupied by the French.[2]Шаблон:Rp
