Dar Ahlam

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate is the main city in southern Morocco and very popular with tourists in search of adventure since its dreamlike setting is ideal for a journey into the heart of the Sahara Desert. It’s the starting point for a great many excursions. Trips are often organized in front wheel drive vehicles to discover the atypical desert landscapes and to share special moments with the inhabitants, or even participate in a traditional migration with local nomads in order to learn about their way of life and their thousand year old traditions. It’s also an opportunity to discover magnificent green oases, celebrated casbahs and the famous fortified Berber villages. One of these villages, El Kelaat M’Gouna is known as the land of roses since every year, its valleys are covered with thousands of flowers, and it’s here that the world famous rose water is produced, well known for its positive effects on the skin and the fresh tone it produces. Another site worth visiting is the Skoura Palmeraie and its palm trees going back thousands of years. Visitors also pass by date, olive and almond trees, and a few kilometers away, there are fantastic salt mines with several different kinds of salt, including the white of course, for seasoning, but also red and black salt which are more unusual, the former being used to dry meat and the latter to feed animals.

A casbah in the heart of the desert

In the heart of the south Moroccan desert, about forty kilometers from Ouarzazate, we find the majestic Dar Ahlam. This casbah, built in the 1920s, was totally transformed thanks to the work of local craftsmen and their knowhow that go back thousands of years. The owner, Thierry Teyssier gave them carte blanche with the only imperative being to conserve the authenticity and charm of this immense earthen clay structure. We therefore find zelliges, the typically Moroccan ceramics, cedar wood, mosaics and wrought iron. Several patios add freshness and calm to this magnificent site.

Eight suites with a view of the Atlas Mountains and three villas with a terrace, a garden and a private pool receive guests in an enchanting setting which blends the traditional and the contemporary. Comfort here is tied to the beauty and the charm of Moroccan tradition.

The garden surrounding this dream house is ravishing thanks to its superb rosebushes and its palm, olive and almond trees. The aromas emanating from this Garden of Eden are delicately intoxicating to the guests comfortably seated alongside the ocher swimming pool.

The riad which contains the spa proposes a hammam, a solarium, massages and a variety of treatments designed to create the sensation of total well being. The traditional and sensational cuisine, which can be served in the gardens or on the terrace, is the work of the renowned Chefs, Pierre Hermé and Frederick E. Grasser.

The Dar Ahlam also proposes different types of excursions to help guests discover the region under the most favorable conditions and enable them to continue the adventure in a private tent set up in the heart of the desert.

“There is very little in this 19^th century casbah that doesn’t leave one gaping in amazement. By following a dusty trail from the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert, you will discover a road destined to sharpen your appetite for adventure, and even the most luxury seeking visitor will be awestruck by this dream house.” Harper’s Bazaar