Domaine de lArganeraie

It’s a really peaceful place, and the staff were friendly and helpful apart from two issues. I had a massage arranged through the hotel and afterwards my necklaces were gone. Management acted as though I must have misplaced them and said it couldn’t have been the masseuses. They even suggested one of my friends might have taken them. My friend also had some cash go missing, so be careful about leaving valuables or money in your room, and don’t bring valuables to a massage. The rooms and pool are lovely, but vegetarian food was another problem. There wasn’t much choice, and the dishes weren’t clearly labeled, so non-vegetarians kept taking the vegetarian food. I had to wait quite a while for more to be brought out.

The road in from the main road is rough, so drive slowly. Once there, there’s a big area to walk around, though it doesn’t look as lush as it does in the video, and the table tennis needs fixing. Our accommodation could have been cleaned better. The pool is a nice place for kids to play, and non-residents can use it too. Most of the meals were good, but the tagine on our first night was oily and came without vegetables or salad.

The owners and staff made us feel welcome from the start and were attentive throughout. We found it a calm spot to relax, or to use as a base for exploring, with Essaouira just a few kilometres away. The individual villas are light and spacious, set among mature Argan trees on wide grassy grounds. There’s a large walled pool beside the restaurant area, too.

The pool was large and clean, breakfast had plenty of choice, and the staff were some of the nicest I’ve encountered. Still, our room in Riad 4, upstairs, had a serious cockroach problem. We found ten over four days. I hadn’t seen any in Morocco before we got here. When we told the staff, they said cockroaches were common in the area and that another room wouldn’t help. Maybe other rooms are different, but I can’t say. I wouldn’t have stayed if I’d known I’d find them whenever I went into the room. It was cheaper than other places nearby, which now makes sense. If you’re assigned that room, you could put up with the roaches or ask to move.