Essaouira hotels
Hotel of the Week: Lalla Mira
If you’re a bit of an eco warrior, or even just an eco enthusiast, finding an exotic holiday destination that meets your green credentials can sometimes be a bit of challenge. That’s why, for this week’s Moroccan riad of the week we look at Morocco’s first ‘Bio hotel’ – an Essaouria haven for green travellers.
Hotel: Lalla Mira
Region: Essaouira
Address: 14 rue d’Algérie, 44000 Essaouira Medina
Rating: **
Although Lalla Mira is a new hotel by Essaouira’s standards, being built in 2002, it incorporates the oldest bath house in the city.
Sustainable development is the focus of this riad, which serves organic local produce in its restaurant and dresses its beds in organic bed linen. The underfloor heating inside the hotel comes from solar power and much of the fruit and vegetables served are grown by the hotel itself.
The hotel’s owners want their guests to have an authentic Moroccan experience, without missing out on any comfort.
There are 13 rooms in total, from single rooms to large suites. meaning that there’s something to suit all budgets. Because of the location on the Atlantic coast, the rooms don’t have air conditioning, as the natural cool air from the sea keeps them at an ambient temperature.
There is a wide range of vegetarian cuisine available in the restaurant, and for this reason it is popular with vegetarian travellers. For those who enjoy seafood, fish served in the restaurant is freshly caught from the Atlantic. There are also several quality restaurants and cafes on the nearby harbour that are well worth a visit.
The town centre location of Lalla Mira makes it ideal for older travellers and those not keen to do too much walking. It’s only a short trip to the city walls and the Blue Flag certified beach.
Lalla Mira’s staff can also arrange trips to Marrakesh, the Atlas mountains and the desert. For something a little different, the hotel manager can even arrange a marriage service for guests, so long as they inform the hotel at least a month in advance.
Hotel of the Week: Chez Rebecca
There’s never a bad time to go travelling. Taking a year out before (or during) university, paying off the mortgage and seeing the kids leave home, or just taking a break from the rat race, when the opportunity to see the world crops up, you’d be mad not to take it. In celebration of a more nomadic break, this week’s Hotel of the Week is a self-catering apartment in Essaouira.
Hotel: Chez Rebecca
Region: Essaouria
Rating: **
Chez Rebecca is a private self-catering apartment in Essaouira, on Morocco’s Atlantic Coast. With a large double bedroom and a smaller room with additional beds, Chez Rebecca can sleep four to five people – perfect for a family or group of friends – while also being intimate enough to suit a holidaying couple.
Unlike larger Moroccan hotels, this private villa has a real family feel. The manager will collect arriving guests from the airport at any time of the day and the manager’s brother runs a taxi firm, which means highly competitive rates for travelling around the area with a driver you know you can trust.
Unlike larger Moroccan hotels, this private villa has a real family feel.”
The apartment itself is gorgeous. It overlooks a sheltered private terrace complete with table for up to six people. There’s a second terrace on the roof, shared with three other apartments, giving you the perfect opportunity to meet other travellers and holidaymakers against the backdrop of the medina and the Atlantic ocean. Up here you’ll find chairs, tables, sunloungers and a communal barbecue.
Within the apartment there is a spacious, airy living room (where, if you’re lucky, a friendly neighbourhood cat might just drop in for a visit). This living room is the perfect combination of traditional and modern, with an authentic open fireplace and subtly concealed satellite TV, DVD player and music system. The apartment also has a wireless internet connection.
A second open fireplace is found in the master bedroom, which also opens out on to a private terrace – perfect for catching the sun. The smaller bedroom contains two bed settees and a window overlooking the terrace.
Essaouria itself is an area steeped with history. Protected by a natural bay, there is evidence that Essaouria has been occupied since prehistoric days. However, the present city was only built in the 18th Century, when Mohammed Ben Abdellah al-Qatib had it rebuilt and encouraged Moroccan Jews to handle trade with Europe.
Today Essouira is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city, with a small harbour where sardines and conger eels are offered in abundance. Camel treks, windsurfing and kite surfing are all popular activities on the beach, while the medina boasts a plethora of micro arts and crafts businesses, including cabinet making and thuya wood-carving, which uses the roots of the Tetraclinis tree.
Camel treks, windsurfing and kite surfing are all popular activities on the beach”
When you get hungry, you’ll be spoiled for choice. Chez Rebecca is close to the food souks, where you can purchase all manner of fresh ingredients to cook in the apartment’s open plan kitchen. You must also order a mouth-watering home cooked meal at least once – it’s a treat your tastebuds won’t forget. There are also numerous restaurants just a few minutes’ walk away if you fancy eating out.
Morocco Gateway can offer special discount deals on Chez Rebecca, as well as other Morocco hotels and riads. To book your stay at Chez Rebecca, follow this link. We guarantee you won’t forget this charming apartment in a hurry!