Dar Ahlam Ouarzazate

Secluded by palm groves and almond trees at the edge of the Moroccan desert, this two hundred year old rammed earth Kasbah the color of Champagne is our original maison des rêves.

Gracefully made over with all modern comforts and the necessary technology, this singular fourteen room hideaway overlooks the Atlas Mountains, with a palm shaded swimming pool, hammam and candle-lit massage room.

Yet Dar Ahlam is not so much a hotel as a team of over 100 people dedicated entirely to you. Meals are customized and served to you among a selection of distinct, private settings like our flourishing gardens by Louis Benech, the gifted designer of the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris and the Bosquet du Théâtre d’Eau at Versailles.

Days at Dar Ahlam take shape around completely personalized adventures with your dedicated guide. Trek into the Valley of Roses, explore among the corn stalks and pomegranate trees of a nearby palmeraie and drive to the hilltop vestiges of a 12th century Berber village for a traditional tea ceremony at dusk.

To all of these, we add elements of surprise. Our only wish is for you to leave Dar Ahlam with memories more beautiful than dreams.

The Dune’s Camp

Tea in the Sahara anyone? Sand dunes ripple in every direction as far as the eye can see. Welcome to Iriki, the ancient salt lake we transform into your seemingly endless sandbox, if only fleetingly.

Kick off your shoes and tap that inner child, by climbing up and racing down this magnificent sandscape. Encircled by the honey hued bluffs, your tent is an inviting retreat filled with African reed mats, Berber cushions and vintage camp decor, plus an en-suite bathroom with toilet, mirror and sink.

Watch the desert light fade from atop a dune, aperitif in hand. Whenever you wish, meander back to camp along the path of lanterns. They lead to dinner by the campfire.

Dream under a sky awash in stars and rise with the first hints of the brilliant North African sun. Your breakfast table is poised to admire nature’s awe-inspiring morning ritual.

The Summer Camp

A cornflower blue sky meets the craggy vermillion hills that slope towards our bespoke campsite in the rightfully named Valley of the Roses. We take refuge here from the desert’s summer sun.

Your canvas wrapped tent is a cozy sanctuary of Moroccan textile-covered cushions, Berber kilims and a beckoning bed, plus en-suite bathroom. Fragrant candles created for us by celebrated French perfumer Olivia Giacobetti serve as dream elixirs after dark.

The day’s adventure may include visiting our nomad friends who make their homes in nearby caves. For some, you may be the first foreigners they have ever seen.

Your dedicated butler and our camp team stake out the most spectacular backdrops for each meal, serving dinner by crackling bonfire. Return to your tent where camp chairs have been placed with stargazing in mind.

The Memory Road

The very essence of travel… A journey from Marrakesh to Dar Ahlam with 5 stopovers that follows the oases of Southern Morocco through varied and awe-inspiring landscapes from the Atlantic Coast to the sand dunes of the Sahara.

A sophisticated and authentic journey where at every instant the magic that has made Dar Ahlam so successful waves its wand and sprinkles your dreams with just that little bit more pizazz. More than 1,000 km of endless wonder and encounters.

A journey from Marrakesh to Dar Ahlam with 5 stopovers that follows the oases of Southern Morocco through varied and awe-inspiring landscapes from the Atlantic Coast to the sand dunes of the Sahara.

A sophisticated and authentic journey where at every instant the magic that has made Dar Ahlam so successful waves its wand and sprinkles your dreams with just that little bit more pizazz.

Our Dishes

Meals among all our Maisons des Rêves are curated for you from 450 gourmet recipes created by the likes of Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, Philippe Conticini, Frédéric Eyrier, Cédric Nieuvarts and Thierry Alix, with desserts by the incomparable Pierre Hermé. Each dish has a story to tell. Dining is private at every meal.

Each venue along the Route du Sud has been thoughtfully selected for dramatic impression like you picnic lunch served alongside the natural basalt archway that curves acrobatically over Legzira Beach and into cerulean Atlantic waters and the strategically placed dining table atop a 12th century agadir built by Berber tribesmen.

At the Nomad Camps, those first rays of morning sun illuminate breakfasts while dinners are served under a canopy of stars. In residence at Dar Ahlam, you might be collected from the lounge after a cocktail and led through in darkness through this 19th century fortress to a lavish dinner table for two, lit by 100 candles.

Following a guided nature walk among abandoned Kasbahs tattooed with Berber motifs, you may be whisked by SUV to a secret celadon hued lake and surprised with a Moroccan salads and chicken skewers served as you recline on Berber cushions and carpets shaded by canvas cover.

Our Ingredients

Living within a Berber village as we do at Dar Ahlam, ingredients for our healthy seasonal vegetarian dishes showcase traditional farming methods.

We buy pomegranate vinegar, date caramel, tall herb grass honey and amlou, a luscious spread made from crushed almonds and argan oil, from our neighbors and purchase whatever can be harvested regionally from local producers in the souks.

Whenever possible our dishes incorporate what we purchase from women’s associations in nearby villages, such as goat cheese and argan oil.

We have also developed a micro-credit system to involve local breeders in the implementation of a high quality, environmentally responsible animal rearing process, to raise awareness and help promote the quality of animal produce such as chicken and lamb at Dar Ahlam.

Among the bountiful gardens at Dar Ahlam we grow seasonal organic produce as well as elements that are difficult to source such as certain tomato varieties, beetroots and carrots. To appreciate the connection between our terroir and what we serve at our tables, wander through our aromatic herb garden.

Thierry Teyssier (founder)

“I do not put any limits when I dream for my guests because these are the most important moments of their lives.”

A French actor setting up his own theater company, followed by an events management agency called, unsurprisingly, Lever de Rideau (‘the Curtain Raiser’), Thierry Teyssier really does see the world as a stage.

“I found my talent is for mis en scène,” says the former producer of his progression from theater to real life in 1991. “People were willing to pay me to create exceptional moments for them.”

Clients wanted this in-demand events mastermind to plan their holidays too. So in 1997 Teyssier set up Lever de Rideau Voyage to organize every last detail of his perfectly choreographed jaunts, often by private jet. Only one person was left feeling disappointed.

“Even at the highest rated hotels in the world, I found staff totally focused on their brand.” After hearing ‘no’ too many times, Teyssier set out to create his own hotel, “where I could practice my philosophy of thinking about my clients first.”

Fifteen years after opening, Dar Ahlam remains irrefutably radical. It has been recognized as “the world’s most glamorous hotel hideaway” by Harper’s Bazaar, listed among the “Top 100 hotels that will change your life” in the pages of Town and Country, ranked n°25 out of the 100 best hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler on its annual Gold List and bestowed the title of Best Value Luxury Hotel in the World by the Sunday Times Travel Magazine.

The secret to this success? “There are no keys, no bar and no restaurant,” Teyssier points out. “But also no limits. You are free to change your mind in the moment, because my team revolves around you. To all of this we add elements of surprise.”

Teyssier’s unique ability to elicit the unbridled awe of childhood is by no means limited to Morocco. A second property, Romaneira, operated in Portugal’s Douro Valley between 2007 and 2012, and a third popped up in Paraty, Brazil for the year 2014.

Around ten years after Dar Ahlam opened, a Moroccan friend’s invitation to explore the country’s southern reaches motivated him to share this journey of sun dried valleys and palm dense oases.

However there was nowhere suitable for Dar Ahlam guests to stay. Undaunted, he got out maps and methodically stitched together an itinerary, then built the three houses that each fit contextually into their diverse surroundings – a Berber village, a Saharan oasis and a hidden vale carved by time into the sun-streaked stone.

“I want to bring people to places as I have discovered them,” reflects the peripatetic Frenchman. “Equally important is that we do so with the care I would show my own loved ones.” Typically, guests do not reach out to him immediately upon returning home.

They do so after their next holiday, when they better grasp the extent of Teyssier’s outlier approach. “I am not interested in travel just for pleasure or entertainment. These are addictive but fleeting,” he observes. “We are about helping our guests to find their own happiness.”

“I want to bring people to places as I have discovered them, with the care I would show my own loved ones,” reflects the peripatetic Frenchman. “I am not interested in travel just for pleasure or entertainment. These are addictive but fleeting,” he observes. “We are about helping our guests to find their own happiness.”

Website: www.darahlam.com

Rooms: 14

Price: from 549 EUR per night