Morocco’s Kasbah Omar is a luxurious B&B
Rooftop dining room offers a view that could bring tears to eyes of even most cynical
Listen to a muezzin’s call wafting from a Berber village perched on the next hill over.
As twilight descends, gaze at the twinkling lights of Marrakech far below the deck of Kasbah Omar, a luxury B&B in the foothills of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains.
Price: Weekly rates are from $894 for a double room to $1,738 for a suite. Breakfast is included.
Location: Kasbah Omar is in central Morocco, about 40 minutes from Marrakech, high on a hillside that overlooks the Ourika River Valley. The property is situated in an actual Berber village.
Dining: The rooftop dining room and lounge area offer views that could bring tears to the eyes of even the most cynical.
The menu is traditional Berber and Moroccan fare. If you discover a delicacy here you just have to bring home (think fish tajine or chicken and almond pastille), you can learn to prepare it yourself at an on-site cooking class.
Comfort and Design: Though designed by one of Morocco’s premier architects, Kasbah Omar’s inspiration is traditional. Arched openings decorate open-air corridors, ringing a central courtyard.
Rooms feature vivid handmade Berber fabrics, stone sinks and intricately carved bedsteads.
The dining room on the top floor boasts a Berber tent for a roof and seating on cushioned stools and couches.
Service: Kasbar Omar sends out intriguing mixed messages. It calls itself both a luxury inn and a B&B. Both are true.
The staff and property are small, so you get that personal service you’d expect from a B&B (after a couple of days here, you feel like part of the family).
But the quality is worthy of a fivestar metropolitan hotel.
Downside: The property is not wheelchair friendly — you have to climb a short but steep path to get to the entrance and the hotel is multistoried without elevators. Kasbah Omar’s host village is small and off the beaten path — it’s tough to get here without help.
But you will be guaranteed an authentic culinary and cultural experience — and you could visit it as part of an excellent week-long culinary tour offered by accesstrips.com, an excursion that includes in its itinerary many of Morocco’s landmarks and highlights.