Kasbah Hôtel Tombouctou — Hotel in Caïdat de Taouz

The location of the hotel is beautiful at the edge of the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi desert. Yet the hotel gives the impression to be built to be exploited for large groups. Apperently we were there in low season, only scattered individual travellers like us and arabic health tourists were there. The arabic tourists were there for treatments in desert sand, which apparently is good for you. Some services were closed - the restaurant for lunch for example, and some services from the spa. The restaurant is vaste and has a buffet. The choice of food is abundant, but we expected a smaller and more local hotel. We had lunch in a family auberge, which was very personal (the lady of the house looked our lunch on demand and came out to ask if we enjoyed it) and just as tasty. The hotel arranged a jeep safari through the desert - or to be precise: around Erg Chebbi desert. This was well organised and realy worth while. You can also do a camel trip and stay the night in tents. We saw the camps from the car - it is all pre set up for tourists and realy nearby the hotels and resorts… When we were there the temperature in the desert didn't get under 30 degrees celcius at night. On the day that we arrived at Merzouga there was a strong desert wind, so when you have bad luck you see nothing in the sand dunes and have a bad night in noisy tourist tents in high temperatures. Merzouga is all about tourism, so when we would come back, we would stay in a family auberge with airconditioned rooms and would again do a jeep safari...

One of the Worst Hotel Experiences of My Life – Stay Away

واحدة من أسوأ تجارب الفنادق في حياتي – لا تقترب

I recently stayed at this so-called “desert oasis” in the Sahara, and it was nothing short of a nightmare. The room was sweltering—easily 35°C overnight—because the air conditioner was laughably undersized for the space. I spent the night drenched in sweat, feeling sick from heat exhaustion. The hotel provides a generous two tiny water bottles in the minibar, which I downed instantly, only to be refused any more when I asked the staff. That’s right—they denied me drinking water in the middle of a desert.

In desperation, I had to boil tap water and drink it hot, further turning my room into a steam box. This alone made me feel like I was going to pass out. But the nightmare didn’t end there.

The pool? A cesspool of pigeon feces. The building appears to double as an aviary, with flocks of pigeons living in the rafters and pooping freely into the water. Add to that the stray cats that prowl the halls and sneak into guest rooms due to the staff’s carelessness, and you’ve got a setting that feels more like an abandoned ruin than a functioning hotel.

Wi-Fi? Non-existent. Food? Like someone opened a greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere and gave up trying. I’m genuinely shocked this place has any positive reviews. The only thing this hotel is good for is a cautionary tale. Stay here at your own risk—if you’re lucky, you’ll only leave dehydrated...

We stayed at this hotel during our desert trip and I have to say it was an experience I would have liked to miss. Starting from the unfriendly staff who ignored us several times (especially during dinner and check out) the bad food in buffet style which clearly didn’t have great quality and tasted below average and uncomfortable eating area to very unclean rooms with also had and now the worst part: cockroaches. They came out in the evening and apparently have nests in the ceiling. It was the pure horror. The staff apparently knows because we had a spray in our room upon arrival. It didn’t help though. The air conditioning was working very poorly and in general there is just so much to list that not worth more than one star. A huge disappointment especially because we paid an extra fee for this hotel to our tour company as it was advertised as a more luxurious option. I really don’t understand all these positive reviews…why can’t possibly be the only ones who made such a terrible experience. Only good thing: the location close to the desert and the pool. But the pool area again was very dirty and not well maintained.

One other thing to mention: We received a wake up call at 5.50am to come to our camel ride, which we never booked. The staff again was super unfriendly when we told them they must have called the wrong room.

To sum it up: Never to there and save yourself this...