Hiba Lodge — Hotel in caïdat d'Asni

Do not stay more than a night unless you want to struggle in a lot of ways. The things we experienced are not mentioned anywhere before booking. If we expected some of these things we wouldn’t be leaving a poor review. ||||Freezing at night in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb & March but there’s no heating and the log fire in the bedroom fizzles out in an hour so you wake up frozen. Scarce water in the area due to extreme poverty (they save water) so the hot water stops in the middle of a shower so you have to be quick or finish your shower in someone else’s room. No front reception. Just the random main lodge door in one of the cramped alleys in the side of the valley/mountain. Had to ask local children to show us the door because everything looked the same; homes of the poor and the actual lodge looked similar. ||||No signs on our journey to get to Hiba Lodge, and no sign at the front door. No actual reception desk either. 1 and a half hours to get there from Menara Marrakech Airport and taxi drivers tried to rip us off. 300 dirhams per person!! No way. Eventually 1st driver with very bad attitude took 600 dirhams for all of us but onlytook us part of the way and we had to pay another driver. ||||Worst part was trugging 3 suitcases along a narrow dirt cliffside road going downwards to get to the lodge with it growing dark, After such a long tiring day. Took 10minutes and I fell down and hurt myself. Then a lovely but feeble man to greet us who spoke no English and so we had to use google translate for everything. Damaged our luggage. We came to find out that Rachida (the owner) was this man’s wife. ||||Where to start? We did not see the owner manager at all even though her husband tried calling her after we requested we speak with her; she was in Marrakech. The husband looked as if he didn’t know we were coming. The lodge was cold and dark. And he grew worried. He did try to make us comfortable. Poorly lit as they are trying to save electricity and looks very different at night in comparison to the day.||||Surrounding area right up to the front door is very poor and destitute. Have people offering to take luggage on the dangerous path to the front door for few dirhams. Dinner was bland but plentiful. It took 3 hours to make by the maid who lived in a hut under the lodge. There’s no restaurant so you cant just eat whenever you like. There’s set times. And you have to let them know in advance what you’d like and when you’d like it. We had breakfast at 10:30 as the husband and the maid were nowhere to be found until then. One of our rooms was next to the noisy kitchen and the other above the main seating area. Very clean lodge, smelled lovely and the blankets kept us warm luckily. Views and rooftop varanda were stunning. And it was mild nice weather from 12noon to sunset. ||||We checked the visitors sign-in book and we realised noone stays here more than a day or two. The man seemed to know our thoughts, the fact we realised his wife’s sketchy business and the fact that so many people leave so soon and so he tried to make our stay as comfy as possible. He was very meek and mild.||||After just one night and we originally paid to stay 6 nights, we had to move to another more central hotel and ask Expedia for a refund. It was so far out from anywhere and the owners are so poor they can’t cater to normal needs. Nothing at all like what it seems on the...

We stayed five days in Hiba Lodge over New Year and enjoyed it very much indeed. ||||I was glad we were out of the bustle of Imlil (we came from Marrakech so were ready for some peace and clean air). Walking up from Tamatert rather than the bottom of the valley meant that we reached super viewpoints and lovely picnic areas more easily. We were happy to read on the sunny terrace most afternoons - you see a regular parade of sheep and goats from there as well as local people going about their business. If you don't have car, it's about a 30 minute walk to the centre of Imlil so in winter in the dark you are unlikely to venture out for dinner options. We were more than happy to eat Rachida's excellent food. It was different every night although she did make our favourite dessert again when we asked. Her chicken tagine was superb. There were also soups and various side dishes using lentils and vegetables - all great and served in large portions.||||The lodge is decorated in traditional Berber style. It's clean and comfortable. There were fresh tablecloths and napkins for every meal and our sheets and towels were changed after three days. The bed was incredibly comfortable and very warm.||||People have written about the cold. We stayed in several places over 17 days in Morocco in December/January and not a single one was warm in the evening and early morning; you probably need to book into - and pay for - a western style hotel for that. The fires at Hiba Lodge were beautiful; we loved going to sleep looking at the one in our room. No, they're not enough, but do as the locals do and wear a lot of clothes (including a hat). It was warm enough to shower comfortably - which it certainly wasn't in some places. The heater in the main room was turned on when someone asked. And finally - wear the long djellaba-type robes provided! They're very warm.||||The approach to the lodge from the main road is a sandy/stony slope with some steps. It's typical of the area and difficult to navigate. Go to the lodge and tell them you're there (children will help you find it) and Abdu will come and help you with your luggage. When we left, he got a mule to take the bags uphill.||||We feel very positively about this lodge, mainly because of the kindness and hospitality of Rachida and Abdu. Abdu speaks French, Rachida English and French so communication is not difficult. Rachida came up after meal times and chatted to guests. She advised on our tour guide, who turned out to be excellent. She even got me some cough medicine and made me some honey and lemon for the cold I had when I arrived. We felt we were experiencing local village life in a comfortable environment.||||It was a completely relaxing and very...

I rarely write a poor review but in this case I felt I needed to. I booked this for my family of 4 for 2 nights so we could explore this part of the Atlas Mountains, we booked through Booking.com and even emailed them with some questions. We took a taxi from Marrakesh (500dh) and arrived midday on time, it was hard to find but we saw the small sign on the road, the driver called to ask for directions but got no answer. We eventually found it and had to wait a long time for someone to open the door. We were met by a man who seemed surprised to see us and did not know what to do. He showed us to the roof where we waited and then he gave us the normal welcome cup of tea. Our first impression was its lovely and we were confident we booked a good lodge, he showed us down to our room and proceeded to then complain we had our shoes on and not the slipper they provide. We ordered lunch (120dn per person) which was a good meal but no choice in what we could have so our vegan daughter went hungry as it had meat in it with no alternative offered. The walk to the town was 3km which was a nice walk but it did mean we had to take the even more expensive dinner at the lodge as doing the walk in the dark was not an option. It gets very cold at night so we asked to have the fire lit in our rooms, he provided 3 logs for the entire evening which gave off very little heat, we ended up going to bed at 8pm as it was the only way to keep warm. The next morning we had to wait for him to arrive at 9am to prepare breakfast, again it was very cold and he did not turn on any heating although there was a calor gas heater next to the table. He asked us how many nights we were staying as he had no idea. Another couple arrived who had booked for 5 nights, they left the next morning complaining. The lodge itself was very clean and nice, the atmosphere was why I could not rate it higher, we felt like an inconvenience to the owner and was not looked after in any way. The meals cost more than the accommodation and were in no way value for money, I am sorry to say I would not return to this Lodge and with foresight I would book something near to the town so we could of at least enjoyed the...