Dar Azawad

The end of the road, the start of the Sahara: a chic kasbah with shady palms, infinity pool and Landrovers for desert adventures

South of Zagora, the newly-asphalted road crosses vast lunar landscapes to end at the dusty desert town of M’hamid, where it yields to palm-studded sand dunes stretching into Algeria and beyond. This is the start of the Sahara proper; beyond here, it’s jeeps and dromedaries only.

Vincent Jacquet made a brave lifestyle change when, in 2002 - shortly after the area opened to foreign travellers - he swopped his Biarritz restaurant for a mud hut in the date-growing hamlet of Ouled Driss. But within 2 years he had created a mini-village of smartly sculpted pisé houses and tented rooms, set among young gardens of palm and acacia trees, with a rimless pool and refined cuisine that would not be out of place in France. Tribal-chic interiors combine nomadic themes (colourful rugs, sparkling saris, carved woods) with European comforts (air-con, stylish shower pods). Outside, Landrovers offer overnight expeditions across salt lakes to Morocco’s largest dunefields at Erg Chigaga; camels plod through the palmeraie to smaller dunes nearby; or you can explore crumbling ksour and lively souks in the local village.

Highs

• This desert is the real thing compared to the busy playgrounds of Merzouga: vast, elemental, awe-inspiring, it empties your crowded mind (Vincent calls it his ‘spiritual washing machine’)
• The Chigaga dunes are Morocco’s biggest, a veritable mountain range of sand
• It’s a real treat having a big pool for daytime lazing and waterside dining
• The 10 rooms and, in particular, the 5 suites, are showpieces of exotic style
• Tireless Gallic hospitality from Vincent and his business partner Christian creates a highly convivial atmosphere; and their staff are unfailingly polite
• They also have a tented camp in the desert, which looks lovely, and set in the heart of the dunes

Lows

• M’hamid is 4 hours’ drive from the nearest international airport at Ouarzazate (though plans are afoot to expand the airstrip in nearby Zagora), and 8 hours’ drive from Marrakech - but come for 3+ nights and it's amply worth it
• Unlike Merzouga, you don’t have stunning dunes on your doorstep – the best are a two hour jeep ride away
• The tented rooms can get very hot in summer
• Breakfast is a bit meagre by Azawad’s otherwise high standards, but yoghurts are promised