Auberge Kasbah Chez Amaliya

We arrived to discover our double junior suites had been double-booked and for our first night, of three, we were in a standard room. Although we were given a free dinner as compensation we were surprised that any serviceable, modern booking system could ever allow this to happen. No attempt had been made to tell our travel agent of the 'mistake' who could have alerted us. This hotel suffered by comparison with the others in which we stayed during our time in Morocco and was the only one that did not impress us. The staff were pleasantly mannered but, we felt, lacked supervision - our bed was not made on one day - and the hotel fixtures and fittings are tired and in need of refurbishment. That said, the setting is glorious, the views from the courtyard of the Lion Rock are great and it makes a perfectly adequate base for those on trekking holidays.

This was a return visit after a gap of 11 years and nothing has changed at Auberge Chez Amaliya this is because the manager and owner Liesbeth van Woerden maintains her Auberge beautifully set as it is in the prime site overlooking the famous lions face outline of the Atlas Mountains opposite. We were offered the same room we had been previously, a large room with sittee, sumptuous large double bed and a fabulous view down the valley with the mountains catching both the early morning and evening light. You also have the wonderful benefit for the early morning swimmer that it is precisely 20 seconds from bed to plunging into the swimming pool and back again to a hot shower, in February a little chilly, but still glorious !There are two dining rooms Moroccan and European and there is a reasonable menu of Moroccan food predominately targines. We ate in every evening of our five night stay and enjoyed every meal. The hotel is licensed so there’s beer, wine and spirits and we participated. But we were mainly here for the walking, repeating walks that we done before and new walks all starting directly from the hotel. Liesbeth has produced some excellent photographic walking guides, no text just photographs, you find your way by looking at the photograph and checking it against the landscape, sometimes you get a bit lost, you retrace your steps find your way, it’s no problem you get there in the end. This is a very clever way of providing a guide for visitors with all languages as there is no language, just a visual one. We highly recommend Auberge Chez Amaliya, just to say one detail Liesbeth is open for all comers and that includes dogs and a lot of French are bringing their dogs. When we stayed there were five dogs all well-behaved, no problem, but there could be a problem if the dogs aren’t well-behaved and don’t get on. I’m not sure what Liesbeth does in that situation but you should be aware of this. We shall certainly visit again hopefully sooner than 11 years.

An oasis in the midst of towering mountains, the hotel has a cooling swimming pool, nice restaurant, wrll stock bar with good prices, maps and guide books for hikes and outdoor activites, and friendly, helpful staff.