Caravan Agafay by Our Habitas

Style

Queen of the desert

Setting

Lunar desert landscapes

Caravan Agafay by Our Habitas is a dream basecamp for sybarites and adventure seekers alike. This back-to-nature stay consists of Berber-style tents, wrapped by dune scenery, and serves trad Moroccan fare and a mean mint tea. But beyond its meditative trappings, a hedonist’s playground awaits. Dune buggying, camel rides and alfresco dance sessions are just some of its pulse-raising pastimes. And lively evenings laced with hibiscus cocktails footnote days here in sociable style. This out-in-the-wilds retreat is no place for nomads.

Facilities

Quartos

40 Berber-style tents, of which two are suites.

Checkout

Noon. Check-in is at 3pm. Guests arriving early can store luggage and make use of the facilities until their rooms are ready. Late check-outs can also continue to use the facilities, but there’s a US$50 fee to retain use of your room until 3pm.

Mais detalhes

Rates include breakfast in the Olivar restaurant, served until 11.30am. Wake up late to smoothies bursting with fresh fruit, and tuck into freshly baked breads and waffles, fruit bowls, confit-tomato quiche, banana bread with coffee mousse, and more.

Also

The camp is on one level, with few stairs to negotiate. But rustic stone paths and some rough terrain may prove challenging for anyone with serious mobility issues.

Piscina

Restaurante no local

At the Hotel

Free WiFi in public areas. In rooms: free bottled water, safe, and organic local bath products with honey and argan oil.

Our Favourite Rooms

There’s not a single accommodation option here that won’t leave you starry-eyed. All of the tents come with furniture and decorative pieces from local artisans and the Marrakech souks. We’re talking oversized Berber rugs, fine Moroccan linens, giant leather pouffes, beautiful Moroccan lanterns, and more. Terraces up the ante, promising views across gently undulating desert dunes to the Atlas Mountains, spectacular at any time of day, but particularly at sunrise and sunset – and great for stargazing after dark. For a bit of extra room opt for a Dune or Desert Lodge. Or go all out with an Atlas Lodge for maximum cat-swinging space and a huge private deck.

Poolside

There are two outdoor pools, both open 9am to 6pm. Hit up the main one by the bar if you’re in the market for fine desert views and a juice or cocktail with your afternoon dip. The second pool invites sunrise and sunset plunges with native birdlife for company.

Spa

There are two treatment rooms, with a range of options incorporating local techniques and products including argan oil.

Packing Tips

Apart from the stars, the bright lights of Marrakech on the distant horizon and a few well-placed Moroccan lanterns, there’s not a whole lot of night-time illumination here, so a torch is essential. Likewise mosquito repellant. And, should the idea of a complete digital detox strike the fear of God into you, you should also factor in a couple of pre-loaded portable power packs – electrical sockets are in short supply in the desert.

Also

The camp’s extensive activity programme runs the gamut from morning yoga to bread-making, calligraphy workshops, and quad-biking in the desert.

Crianças

Over-12s are welcome and will be wowed by the experience of sleeping under canvas, as well as activities like camel-riding and stargazing. Downside: there’s no kids’ club or crèche. To add children to your booking, contact Smith24.

Galeria

Food & Drink

Top Table

There’s a single table that sits slightly apart from the rest. This is the one to ask for if you’re planning a dinner proposal – or just don’t like other people.

Dress code

No need to dress for dinner here, where chucking a floaty kaftan over your swimsuit is practically de rigueur. Layers are a good idea for cooler desert evenings, when even the most persistent mosquito can be thwarted by shirt sleeves and a long trouser.

Hotel Restaurant

Wicker gazebos and huge woven lampshades provide much-needed shade at breakfast, brunch and lunch in the Olivar restaurant. There’s traditional Moroccan fare on the menu at dinner, when low-key lighting (lanterns and fire pits) allow the (literal) star attraction to shine. But if you can bear to tear your eyes away from those hypnotic night skies, you’ll discover tables laden with cheese tacos, delicately spiced fish tagines and must-try signature dishes that include chicken kabsa with crispy garlic, tahini and harissa oil, and meat-stuffed pastry briouates. Bowls of local breads, olives and dates will keep you just the right side of hungry while you wait for the main course to arrive.

Hotel Bar

A small but mighty cocktail list blends local ingredients – mint, hibiscus, seasonal fruits – at the outdoor bar. Pitch up at dusk for the aptly named signature Sunset cocktail (vodka, hibiscus, rosemary, agave, and ginger) and stick around for a rum-laced Market Sangria with local fruits and spices, as the mountains and dunes fade into shadow and the night sky bursts into life with great clumps and clusters of stars.

Last Orders

Both the bar and restaurant are open until 10.30pm.

Planes

The hotel’s a 40-minute drive from Marrakech Airport. Transfers can be arranged in advance for groups of up to six people for an additional cost.

Trains

Marrakech train station is a 40-minute cab ride from the camp, and connects to Casablanca, Rabat and Fez.

Automobiles

You can rent a car at the airport and there’s private parking at the camp entrance, though camels and quad bikes tend to be the preferred modes of transport out among the dunes.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Just because you’re in the desert doesn’t mean the only things worth doing are cooling off in the pool, cooling off with a hibiscus cocktail and cooling off with a mint tea in the shade of the ancient olive tree. Although there’s a very solid argument to be made for doing just this, on a blissed-out loop, for the duration of your stay.

But, should you feel even the slightest urge to get active, Caravan Agafay by Our Habitas has you covered. The spectrum of activities covers everything from meditation in the dunes to kicking up dust on desert quad-biking adventures. Wake up to a rejuvenating morning yoga session beneath the purpose-built geodesic dome and learn how to bake bread to traditional local recipes before enjoying the fruits of your labour fresh from the clay oven.

How you choose to connect with the desert’s otherworldly landscapes may well be dictated by your tolerance for saddle soreness. Brave souls can navigate rocky dunes on camelback or, for a slightly smoother ride, cruise through aromatic eucalyptus forests on an e-bike tour. Hire a dune buggy for maximum comfort and greater manoeuvrability on the shifting sands – and to fulfil that lifelong Mad Max fantasy of yours. Pleasure-seekers of a more sensitive nature can opt for gentler pursuits. The traditional evening tea ceremony, afloat on a super-soft woven picnic blanket beneath burning sunset skies, for example. Or interpretative desert dancing in the dunes. A blackboard by reception details each day’s activities, and has also been known to include the likes of calligraphy classes and stargazing sessions, complete with telescopes and laser pens.

Guided excursions to traditional Berber villages in the Atlas Mountains can also be organised and you will, of course, want to unleash your best haggling game on the Marrakech souks. Successful navigators of these atmospheric narrow lanes, seduced by the heady scents of exotic spices and the traders’ irresistible patter, can expect to emerge bearing armfuls of tea, saffron, jewellery, Berber rugs, and Moroccan lamps.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .