Oceana Surf Camp — Hotel in caïdat de Taghazout

OCEA-NOPE:

Once you get past the trash-strewn streets and the starving kittens just outside - This hostile little hostel makes the Bates Motel feel positively 5-star.

You arrive to a curt escort to your dark, musty armpit rooms, your money is hastily extracted and that’s where ‘family-friendly’ ends. We didn’t find out that the hotel had a food menu until day 3…which we declined.

The rooms have windows pointing into the dark corridors where the commotion of other guests, often continuing until 2 or 3am, continually assaults the room. The staff never deter these and often are the disturbances.

The rooms are grim, grimy and look to have been trashed by former inmates. The only furnishing is the bed with its unlaundered sheets and damp pillows. The pictures of this room on the website could be from 1998 - helpfully, I’ve attached updates.

The staff never ask if you’re happy with your stay - this is a wise strategy.

The bathrooms are bog-like: They moulder, they fester and reek. Toilet paper is still on WW2 rationing it would seem. The shower head: snapped off. The door handle: snapped off - My family had to be continuously ‘rescued’ from toilet trips.

The pool was an algae green petri dish until a full vat of chemical X was tipped into the water by a very furtive pool attendant.

The self-cater kitchens - decommissioned - tap removed, plug hole filled in. Common areas? - deserted. The cafe? - never open. Fun trips? - never offered.

Even the requested taxi, met with, “It would be my pleasure.” couldn’t be fulfilled it seems - not to worry though: Checking-out of this place was like being released from prison.

Quite the daring business plan this all must have been on paper. Can I suggest the next strategy...

Be careful. You get what you pay for, and this is one of the cheapest places to stay in taghazout for a reason. If you keep that in mind, you’ll have a good time. Just expect to have to buy your own hand soap and toilet paper for your bathroom. If you get surf guiding, don’t expect surf guide to be on time (sometimes two hours late). And, I’m sure this isn’t usually the case, but I payed for their surf guiding package to be shown around etc. looking for the best waves, and when I arrived for my first morning, they said that the driver is on holidays, and the surf guide can’t drive, so if I wanted to go find waves, I would have to drive myself. They assured me it would only be one day I had to drive, but every day, same story, “sorry we still don’t have a driver”. So the surf guiding package ended up being the same as if I rented a car and drove myself around for a week. I obviously wasn’t keen on this - driving on the opposite side of the road in an African country I just arrived in, where you are at constant fear of police asking you for bribes at every checkpoint, every day. Not the best. Aside from this, it is a great location, they provide an nice breakfast each day, Samir is very nice, and hey, at least the...

I stayed at oceana surf camp the first time i visited morocco and i was absolutely bewitched. The location is so peaceful the waves literally cradle you to sleep. The view is breathtaking and everything is at your disposal in terms of necessities. Every time i come to morocco i stay here and i cannot complain the staff are all so respectful and nice they pay attention to every detail and attend to all of your needs and wants. The manager is always present on site and takes care of every single customer when needed. The cook is very well trained to prepare all the moroccan specialties. The rooms are organized and cleaned every morning by super nice and thoughtful ladies(i told one of them once that i liked vanilla soap and she made sure to put it in my bathroom every day since) the atmosphere is very cozy and everyone acts like one big family everything is prepared with care and none of your needs...