Dirt We Really Dig
If you’re going to build a hotel out of mud and straw, and place it on the far side of nowhere, then it had best be good. If you’re going to officially nickname it a ‘house of dreams’ and charge a thousand Euros a night, then it had best be phenomenal.
Dar Ahlam, hidden in a palm oasis in southern Morocco, is precisely such a place. Approaching it by road is one of those micro travel experiences that make the tummy uneasy. How can a road this dusty, bumpy and unmarked lead anywhere but in circles? Have I just bought the hotel equivalent of swampland in Texas? And then, just as you’re wondering if you’ll have a bed in your room (much less a room), you arrive. A rustic wooden door eases open, the doorman smiles warmly, and you enter the rarified world of your fortified mud dwelling. Welcome to the kasbah.
There are many wonderful hotels around the world that do a fair job of creating theatre. But Dar Ahlam is theatre. And staying there puts you centre stage in a drama of improbable and sublime contrast. It’s raw, down-to-earth and authentic—and at the same time, phenomenally refined and ethereal. The rammed earth walls (2-3 feet thick) and dark corridors are offset by deft décor and delicate, airy gardens. As one would hope (and expect) of such a singular setting, the service is highly personalized and extremely thoughtful. Your meals will never be served in the same place twice (a rooftop terrace for breakfast, maybe the olive grove for lunch, a candle-lit nook for dinner) and the chef has an international repertoire that goes well beyond the Moroccan standards of tajine and couscous.
As good as Dar Ahlam is at removing you physically from the familiar, it’s even better at spiriting you away from the norm emotionally. Walks into the palm oasis and 4×4 excursions to remote canyons and valleys literally pull you back to biblical times. And scrubs at the hammam and/or hours by the pool, whisk you away to a temporary dream state. True to the free flow style of the place you can check out more or less any time you like—but trust me, you’ll never want to leave.
Charlie Scott is a Trufflepig partner and trip planner who visited Dar Ahlam just a few short weeks ago. He’d love to share the dream world with you if you give him a shout.
