Dar Azawad

South & Sahara desert hotels, Zagora & M'hamid

ABOUT: Blessed with unusually good facilities for a hotel so far south, the kasbah-style Dar Azawad is just 400m away from the first Saharan dunes.  Run by a Frenchman called Vincent – with help from attentive Berber staff, and accompanied by Madonna the pet donkey and a camel called Azroual – it offers organic food, a pool and a terrific spa, plus three satellite bivouacs out in the desert.

 

ROOMS: Decorated in Moroccan style – which meanstadelakt plaster, rugs and zellige tiling – all quarters boast air-conditioning, TVs, comfortable beds and private bathrooms.  In the gardens are the Saharan Rooms (which can be twin-bedded), slightly bigger Sultan’s Rooms and the Sultan’s Suite, which has two large patios and a whirlpool.  The main building contains three Saharan Suites, each with a private balcony, and two family-friendly Suites of the Dunes boasting terraces.  Every suite has a lounge and a NESPRESSO machine.

 

FACILITIES: Azawad’s restaurant serves traditional Moroccan dishes within a fireside lounge, or beside the heated, 12m pool.  Created from scratch in 2010, the splendid 7.5-acre gardens contain tamarisk trees, desert basil, mint and cotton plants, date palms, thousands of acacias, various vegetables and some turtles.  The spa is equally comprehensive, with two hammam rooms, massage cabins, black-soap scrubs and Ghassoul body wraps on offer.

 

EXTRA INFO: Those camps are reached astride a camel or by 4X4.  Cookery courses are available at the hotel and guests may participate in the August–November date harvest.

Ideal for an onward journey to spend a night in one of our various desert camps.

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