Kasbah Ellouze

Rooms

Most bedrooms open off the wide, open-air corridor overlooking the main courtyard. You get pretty rugs on sand-coloured floors, terracotta walls, and stone-based beds with colourful blankets for the cool evenings and air-conditioning for hotter nights. Local colour is everywhere: a brightly-hued painting or wall hanging, a straw hooked by the door or a lantern suspended from the rainbow-painted, bamboo-thatched roof. After our long drive through the mountains, the bottled water and ornate tea glasses were a very welcome touch.

Most rooms are simple doubles or twins; we particularly liked Aicha (room 1) and Brahim (room 2) for their views over the gardens, but all are homey and welcoming. Some have space for an extra bed and Doumia (room 4) and Mehdi (room 21) have bigger bathrooms. Some rooms may lack natural light, but in this heat that can actually be a blessing. Medhi (room 21) and Nabil (room 22) are in the kasbah’s poolside wing, which is slightly separate from the other bedrooms - Colette rates these as her best standard rooms. There’s also a particularly private double room tucked beneath the alfresco dining space; like a private little den, it’s popular with couples wanting a romantic hideaway.

There are also 3 large Suites: Saida, Gazelle and Hasna. The former has a double bed and one single, while the other 2 have a double bed, 2 singles and an airy lounge area. We stayed in the Hasna suite and loved the far-reaching views afforded by its position in one of the kasbah towers.

Bathroom facilities are very simple but clean, with sand-coloured tadelakt walls, a shower with hot water enclosed by a low wall, a pretty blue-tiled basin area, towels and a mirror.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Cots available
• WiFi

Eating

There are no menus, and dinner is simply what is available that day - but you’re in safe hands with Michel. A trained chef, he applies Gallic gourmetterie to classic Moorish (and moreish) cuisine with great success. Our 3-course evening meals included a fresh hummus and salad starter, a creative fig and chicken tagine (with an unusual but delicious cinnamon noodle accompaniment), and a rosewater infused semolina pudding.

Dinners are usually taken out on the peaceful terrace overlooking the verdant gardens and bright ochre cliffs beyond, or if, like us, you experience strong desert winds whipping up the dust you might end up dining in the cosy salon room. Music inspired, there are low octagonal wooden tables, ornate lanterns and rich red walls filled with black and white photos. For the winter months, there’s also a welcoming dining room off the courtyard.

Dinner is included in the room rate, so most guests eat in every night (drinks are extra). Lunch or picnics can be arranged, otherwise there are plenty of cafes in nearby Ait Benhaddou.

Breakfast here was the biggest and best of our trip. Everything was freshly made and delicious: addictive baghrir (Moroccan crumpet-like pancakes), fresh bread, homemade fig, date and orange jam, fluffy omelettes, silky yoghurt and coffee served in bowls 'the French way'. This feast is served on the terrace, under a canopy of palm fronds, or in the salons. As it is a small, traditional hotel, there’s no room service, but Colette and her team are happy to bring refreshing drinks and snacks to you by the pool.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Dinner
• Lunch by arrangement
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Walk through the cool local gardens and shady palm groves, exploring Kasbah Glaoui and nearby cave dwellings, or traversing the 3-mile route to Ait Benhaddou and Kasbah des Juifs - Colette can provide maps or a local guide
  
• Explore the much filmed adobe town and hilltop castle of Ait Benhaddou (3km); get there early (or late) to beat the day-trippers and expect to be a little hassled by local shopkeepers and touts (it's free to enter, despite what some entrepreneurial young boys might tell you!)
  
• Soak up the atmosphere: have a chilled glass of wine by the pool or on the roof terrace and watch the wind in the almond groves, or the storks nesting atop the kasbah towers
  
• Shop for carpets, pottery, trinkets, spices, lanterns and (probably illegal) fossils, all vigorously displayed at Ait Benhaddou and Ouarzazate's souks; or browse quietly for textiles and even antique doors at the tiny store opposite Kasbah Ellouze
  
• The drive from Marrakech is an experience in itself, winding up through snaking valleys to cross the 2,000m Tizi-n-Tichka pass; at the top, make the detour to the evocatively crumbling Glaoui palace near Telouet
  
• Visit the film studios, shimmering lake and royal golf course at nearby Ouarzazate (35km)

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Private guided tours
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Traditional cultures
• Trekking

Best Time to go

Our Top Tips

Location

Kasbah Ellouze is in Tamadaght, a few miles from the Unesco-listed Ait Benhaddou kasbah, in southern Morocco. It's a 30-minute drive from Ouarzazate, and about 4 hours from Marrakech.

By Air
Ouarzazate (35km away) is the nearest airport (with some direct flights to London and other European cities), though more international flights go to Marrakech. Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving these airports.

From the Airport
It's an easy 30-minute journey from Ouarzazate. Alternatively, if you're travelling from Marrakech it’s a 4-hour journey through the dazzling landscapes of the Atlas Mountains and over the Tizi-n-Tichka pass. You can either hire a car (see below), or Colette can arrange a taxi.

By Road
Buses do operate, but chances are you will be in a rented car, a taxi or ideally a jeep with driver, on a desert tour. See our car rental recommendations.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Morocco and getting around