Emeraude Luxury Camp & Tents — Hotel in caïdat de Ouazguita

I read so many negative reviews that I wanted to share our 2-night experience in April.

First, there are many positives:

1. The tent is very comfortable, beautifully designed and I would dare say even luxurious considering the engineering/infrastructure needed to achieve this setup in the middle of the desert. Every tent has its own private patio with an incredible view.

2. The food is tasty - don't expect gourmet, but homecooked Moroccan dishes. Breakfast is generous.

3. Wifi mostly worked surprisingly well and at times when it got spotty, we could rely on mobile data.

4. Employees are all willing and do their best to serve.

5. Location is gorgeous - a quiet oasis to enjoy a peaceful break. The pool is a cooling respite in the afternoon heat. There are also numerous activities you can purchase like quads, camel ride, pottery class etc if that is more your thing (the quad ride activity offers fantastic views of the desert landscape!)

In my opinion, the biggest issue only comes down to two things: (1) extremely poor or no communication, and (2) highly inexperienced and untrained employees who are very keen to help but just don't have the ability to do a good job - simply because they just don't know how and no one is training/guiding them to succeed. It's actually quite painful to see so just bring a heap of patience and you'll be fine.

The camp operates within clear parameters, which are all perfectly reasonable and sensible - if only they bothered to explain and communicate it to their guests. This is a useful list to be aware of (no info about this was provided or explained even at the point when we checked in):

1. Electricity for heavy appliances (AC) runs on generator which is switched off around midnight to 7am/8am. Totally rational not to burn petrol when not needed since it is cold at night, but guests need to know this so they are not relying on AC for heating and can use the warm blanket or request for a fire to be started in the nice wood burning stove in the tent.

2. The kitchen only opens for breakfast 9-10.30am , lunch 1-4pm and dinner 7-10pm. Again very reasonable as there are only 13 tents/rooms to cater for, but guests need to know so they can plan their meal times. Or bring your own snacks to the camp if you like.

3. No hot water for showers. I agree this would be lovely to have but am personally not sure there is any feasible, low electricity consumption solution. Perhaps they could install solar panels for every room but that would be costly and not very aesthetic. Still this is not a big issue if clearly communicated to guests so they can plan for showers in the afternoon when it is hot out.

4. No alcohol is sold. I believe this is due to specific Moroccan alcohol laws rather than any desire of the camp to deprive their guests of this (and themselves of profits). But you can certainly bring your own alcohol for personal consumption.

5. Private transfer service to and from the camp is available at 100 EUR return per vehicle. Payment in cash only. You should specify you want a private transfer if you need to arrive/leave at specific times. Otherwise the camp only informs you of their group shuttle service.

All things considered, I thought the fees, restaurant prices and room rates were fair and not exorbitant - bearing in mind the distance and logistics involved in providing these services. Sure you can pay cheaper prices for riads or meals in the medina, but that's basically like comparing apples versus strawberries.

I can honestly say despite these limitations, we had a very enjoyable and pleasant 2 nights in the desert and would rate our overall personal experience at Emeraude as 5/5. However since this review is for the property, it's maximum 4/5 given the areas of improvement needed. But if you come with an open mind, know what to expect and how to prepare for your stay, you will have a fantastic time!! We certainly did and bring many positive memories (and funny moments) from our...

It was a complete disaster. We saw good reviews on booking so we decided to book camp Emeraude. What we thought would be a dream destination quickly turned into a nightmare.

We booked a "luxury" dome for 180 euros. On the pictures they look very modern and pristine. The outside looked alright but when we entered we were immediately overwhelmed by a horrendous stench. The smell was so afwul (read rotten fish smell). We asked the manager to change rooms, that wasn't an option so he sprayed the room with parfum and blamed the staff for not having cleaned it thoroughly before our arrival (we had to wait until 16:30 to check-in, 2,5 hours later than planned). Soon after, the smell had returned completely. We took a closer look and there was mold everywhere in the bathroom section of the dome (black stains on the tent) which is not separate from the rest of the tent. We couldn't sleep because of the smell, it was really unhealthy and toxic (we had a pressing feeling on our lungs).

Aside from that, the AC doesn’t work at night, so it was really cold. The water in the shower is not heated. The food was cold, late or not tasty. The music during dinner was so loud we could not have a conversation and my ears literally hurt. The table next to us packed their things in the middle of the dinner and drove home. The camp is badly accessible, so expect to pay a very high transfer fee (80 - 100 euros). There were dogs barking all night and you can hear the music from the other camps. The camp is clearly understaffed: the employees were really friendly, except for the manager, but there were just too few people to help everyone.

The day after, we decided to adress the problems to the manager. He minimalised everything and again tried to blame the staff. He didn't acknowledge any of the problems and he told us to just enjoy our vacation like the other residents and not complain about the situation. After a heated discussion they gave us a small discount on the food that we ate but we still paid the room full price. This is unacceptable. AVOID AT ALL COSTS,...

Emeraud Luxury Camp in Agafay is fantastic. A wonderful place to spend a romantic night with your wife, girlfriend, or lover :-)

The camp is very well prepared for tourists. They have several types of tents, but I personally recommend the half-round ones (similar to igloos) with a big panoramic window.

The tents have a bathroom with a shower, and even the water pressure is good enough to wash properly. The tents are also air-conditioned, so in the evening it is pleasantly cool inside. During the day, when the sun comes up, it is not that cool anymore – but then you can go and refresh yourself in the swimming pool.

In the evening, you can go for dinner in the restaurant inside the camp and try local food with the sounds and music of Berber musicians.

The staff are very kind – both the waiters and the reception staff (who in the evening probably also become waiters). Wonderful, smiling people.

The atmosphere is amazing. If you ask, they will even play your favorite song from YouTube – for example Adam Zhurek.

If you want, you can also ride a camel or go on a quad bike. The only problem is that they are not flexible – you cannot choose a 15- or 30-minute ride. They only agree to one-hour rides with a guide, for 500–600 MAD. For me, this is too expensive, and the fact that you cannot shorten the quad rental is very unprofessional and not customer-friendly.

But overall, the impression is very positive – especially compared with the prices of other camps. Other camps sometimes ask for 200–400 euros per night without offering higher standards.

Meanwhile, at Emeraud Camp the AC tent costs 100–110 euros per night. This is still a lot for a tent, but much less compared to other places.

I honestly recommend Emeraud Camp to everyone – families with children as well as couples.

I have only one comment. Some rude people from Holland were shouting in their tent for two–three hours, and unfortunately the staff did not react. We had to tell them ourselves to respect the...