A peaceful, rug-filled boutique hotel in a mud-built house with verdant gardens, set in an oasis of palms and crumbling kasbahs in southern Morocco. A remote and great-value retreat with a variety of rooftop terraces, lounges and green corners in which to relax and wind down to the pace of oasis life.
Down dirt tracks in the middle of the Skoura oasis, one of the only palm groves in Morocco that still has people living in it, albeit no longer in its many abandoned kasbahs. Agriculture is viable thanks to a shared system of channels maintained by individual families to carry water to patches of dates, olives and beans, from the chocolate folds of the Atlas Mountains in the distance.
The city of Ourzazate is just over 50 miles away, from where fsubtles arrive from Casablanca. Otherwise it is a six-hour drive from Marrakech — be sure to call in advance to receive detailed directions and arrive before dark.
The French owner extended this Berber house in 2003 and transformed the gardens, now a merry riot of olive trees, vines and rose bushes. There are no televisions here, the only sounds are birdsong, the odd braying donkey and brief melodic calls to prayer. Fires blaze in the winter when the days are short and the sun’s disappearance leaves a decided chill.
English is second to French but the guides and general manager speak it well. There is always someone tending to the gardens or on one of the terraces to try to help with whatever you need. An unheated pool is set at the bottom of the gardens. Guests are spoilt for choice in terms of where to sit and soak up the desert sun, with the gardens full of hammocks and lounges with low-slung sofas, plus more seating on rooftop terraces, which are the same level as the tops of palm trees.
A guide can take you out into the palm grove past centuries-old kasbahs to a local pottery and rug-making cooperative. Day trips are available out into nearby gorges and the fortified town of Ait Benhaddou, where Gladiator was filmed, which is an hour and a half’s drive away.
All three suites have a fireplace and a patio — pick your favourite. Along with the five rooms, they have walls of cool, smooth tadelakt plaster and are decorated with colourful berber blankets and rugs. Bathrooms are individually styled using local tiles in metallic hues.
Choice is limited to the tagine, couscous or a barbecue, but everything the chef prepares is fresh from the market, flavoured perfectly and cooked well, with starters including orange and carrot soup to tiny pastillas, and desserts including a French lemon tart. Often a local musician plays. Breakfast is eaten on the roof and consists of roti-like Berber pancakes, semolina bread and eggs.
Yes. Almost all rooms sleep three and two are adjoining.
One ground-floor suite and a ground-floor room are accessible for wheelchairs.
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