Hotel Kasbah Oulad Othmane — Hotel in caïdat de Tamezmoute

The best place we stayed at during our travels throughout Morocco: a place with history and a very special atmosphere, run by people with an enormous amount of pride.||||Upon arrival we were given a tour and told the history of this magnificent restored C18th Kasbah. You would be hard-pushed to find a more authentic, welcoming and frankly interesting place to stay. Rooms were comfortably decorated with traditional rugs adorning the walls and floors and the bathroom was entirely tiled and very beautiful. The swimming pool is wonderful after a long drive, and offers, I imagine, a pretty rare opportunity to swim amongst the roofs of the ksar, looking over a lush palmery. Mint tea and Moroccan patisserie served by the side of the pool on arrival couldn’t have been more welcome. Dinner was served on the atmospheric roof, underneath the stars – food was good, copious and very good value. Homemade harissa paste, bread from the village and vegetables from the palmery lent a homely, authentic flavour to the night. Huge and varied breakfast served in the cushion-strewn Berber lounge, with the sun shining through the stained glass windows - lovely. Very comfortable night’s sleep, good bed and linen, and very clean.||||The highlight came the next morning when our host offered us a tour of the palmery opposite the Kasbah. An hour’s walk and a fascinating insight into the heart of the village, where fruit and vegetables are grown, dates harvested from the palm trees and donkeys rush up and down little dirt paths. By far one of our best experiences on our travels. Tour was in French but I suggest you participate even if you don’t understand the language as it offers truly unique access to a part of Moroccan life usually hidden from tourists. We ended our too-short stay by buying boxes of the dates we had just seen picked by the side of the road. We hope to return as soon as we can and luckily are able to afford to so at around 40euros a night B&B.||||We have such fond memories of this place (and some great photos) – highly...

We only stayed at the Kasbah Oulad Othmane for one night before heading back towards the coast. The Kasbah is very well located in the Draa Valley with fantastic views on the mountain and the Palmeraie. The building is extremely peaceful which we appreciated so much as we were extremely tired when we arrived. ||||The building dates from the 18th century and is the ancestral home of the owner Abdul who restored it authentically over 2 years. Upon arrival, he gave us a tour of the whole Kasbah with the history of the building and offered us a tour in the palmeraie which we first declined as we were just so tired. ||||We had the suite for the night which a very nice large room which can accommodate a family with up to 3 kids. The room was very comfortable; unfortunately, there was no running water due to a problem with the pump which needed to be fixed. ||||Please bare in mind that this is an authentic building and therefore has no air conditioning. This adds to the authenticity of the experience but of course might not be so ideal if you are planning to stay in August time.||||Dinner was served on the roof terrace with stunning views on the village and palmeraie. Staff were very friendly and welcoming. They clearly pay a lot of attention to their guests and there is a very nice sensation of being taken care of. ||The hotel also has a swimming pool which, although might have needed a bit of cleaning, was still so appreciated during the hottest time of the day.||||We then accepted the tour of the palmeraie after a very nice and copious breakfast served in the dinning Moroccan salon. This tour lasts about 1 hour and provides a very good insight of the daily life of people and their work.||||Overall, a very good and memorable place to stay; highly recommended if you want a...

We spent 3 atmospheric nights at the Oulad Othmane, hosted by the gracious Abdul Majid and his small hard-working staff. This is clearly a man who loves guests – he spent evenings (after serving dinner) sitting with us in the cushioned, carpeted dining salon (no chairs here), and during the day, took guests on a visit of the palmery which extends lushly from the bottom of the rise on which the kasbah and ksar sit. In contrast to the brown mud of the building, the interior is ablaze with colour – rugs, wall hangings, bed coverings.||||On arrival, we stepped into the beaten-earth floor reception area with pillars soaring above us. Natural light came down through this light well, accentuating the effect of having entered a caravansaray. I expected to see couched camels being unloaded! Then up a narrow winding adobe staircase to a heavily carpeted hall with rooms off it and the exotic dining salon. Our rooms were comfortable and very traditionally decorated in keeping with the centuries-old feel of the rest of the building. One marvels at the realization that this massive building with its towers and terraces is made of mud and a variety of materials provided by the date palm. Because of its pise construction, it retained its warmth at night and its cool during the hot day. ||||Bathrooms were good. We enjoyed the dinners in the colourful salon, and breakfast on the roof terrace overlooking the gorgeous palmery. At the end of our trip, my companion and I agreed that of 9 hotels we had stayed in during our trip, the Oulad Othmane led them all in ambience and authentic traditional architecture. Recommended for any traveler seeking just that, but be aware guests need to be able to...