Review of Adrere Amellal Ecolodge, by Nick Maes

Unlike a more traditional hotel, Adrère Amellal Ecolodge doesn't have a reception or obviously fixed public areas. This flexible environment takes a moment to get used to. Some spaces are used in winter, others in summer. Dinner and lunch are moveable feasts and could be anywhere around the grounds.

The simple local building materials here have remained unchanged for centuries: it's just mud and salt. But the traditional techniques of construction, kershef, rock salt plastered with mud were nearly lost forever before Adrère Amellal revived them. The results are spectacular. Perched on the side of Lake Siwa, an immense shimmering salt lake, the buildings are all but invisible from a distance and merge perfectly into the environment - an inverted mirage if you like.

Doors and furniture are made from olivewood and electricity has been banned - hence the beeswax candles. Using them to light the cell-like loo at night feels like an orthodox experience.

I sought sanctuary in the simple luxury of a spring-fed Roman pool - as you do. There aren't many hotels on the planet that can lay claim to one of these, let alone two. Extraordinary turquoise blue waters bubble up from the seemingly bottomless wells then trickles into a series of stone cisterns and on into the palm shaded gardens. It's magical.

A late afternoon trip into the shallows of the Great Sand Sea should be compulsory. As the sun begins to dip the dunes become luminous, looking laser-cut, cruel and perfect. We stopped briefly for tea, sandwiched between a roiling sunset and the endless desert.

Dinner was in one of the fabulous cubby holes dotted around the hotel grounds away from other guests. They create the fantasy that this might be a private house or dinner party.

Adrère Amellal has 39 rooms and suites, with simple furniture, palm roofing and walls made of rock salt. Each boasts a private bathroom and a breathtaking open view of Siwa Lake and the Sahara.