Dar Azawad by Joanna Monkhouse

Many visitors to Morocco have a passionate desire to see the desert and there are two major choices where to see it – both are a long day’s drive from Marrakech. The best known is Merzouga, with the admittedly magnificent Erg Chebbi dunes rising from the dusty landscape. But, and it’s a big but, Merzouga is overrun with tourists. You need to trek by camel for at least an hour to find some peace and quiet and escape the streams of other desert seekers pouring like ants from the auberges. The second option is M’hamid, a former military base that has opened up to tourism only recently and is therefore still relatively uncommercial. It really is the end of the (tarred) road – from here you’d need a camel to complete the famous ‘52 days to Timbuktu’ that begins in Zagora. It is also the closest habitation to the dunes of Erg Chigaga – at 300m, the largest in Morocco.

There are several places to stay that have sprung up recently in this far-flung outpost – but the clear leader is Dar Azawad, a stylish encampment of Kasbah bungalows and tents surrounding a swimming pool and restaurant. Vincent, the young and enthusiastic Frenchman with the creative vision to build such a place continues to borrow from his 15 years in high class restaurants of his homeland and has combined his knowledge with that of his able Moroccan chef to create a surprisingly good restaurant so far from resources.

The original 10 rooms, tents, restaurant and swimming pool are already completed and the reception, salon and bar should be ready by late 2005.

The pisé (traditional mud and straw construction) Kasbah rooms are air-conditioned, each is individually decorated at a level more often associated with Marrakech riads than desert camps, with bright silks, open plan tadelakt shower rooms, imaginatively using urns and couscous platters as basins. The suite is the only room on the first floor and its private terrace has views across to the dunes.

The tents have pisé walls and floor with a traditional berber tent roof. Whilst far from a true desert camp, they benefit from electricity, comfortable beds and a small salon area. Each has its own private shower room in the communal block, which is as stylish as the rest of the accommodation.

Desert excursions by 4x4, camel or quad bike including camping can be arranged through Dar Azawad. The plan is to introduce high luxury desert trips complete with imaginative cuisine soon.

Dar Azawad is a address well worth the trip down there, a stylish base with a restaurant earning an enviable reputation, from which to explore an area offering the desert experience most of us dream of – far from the madding crowd.