Dar Liouba

A former Imam's home re-designed into a sophisticated guesthouse filled with plants and carved cedar wood

Dar means house in Arabic and Liouba is a Russian endearment for love - a great deal of which went into creating this airy, stylish abode. It was a Russian furniture designer who first created and ran this guesthouse with her Chinese-French jewellery-making partner, and whose brilliant hospitality brought rave reviews. Their inspiration to add another storey to this former Imam's home created a wonderful, almost gazebo-like interior.

Now under the equally charming French management of Patricia and Jean-Jacques, it continues to delight. Bedrooms are arrayed around the sides of a wooden-carved pergola that rises three levels, narrowing to a octagon-shaped skylight. It’s the focal point of the house, but doesn’t detract from the elegant furniture in the ground-floor lounge or indeed the down-to-earth staff who keep Dar Liouba in tip-top condition.

Highs

• The sense of staying in a beautiful wooden pergola, spiralling to the sky
• Sophisticated space, away from the bustling bits of Essaouira
• Neither over-priced nor overly pretentious
• Fresh, clean, stylish rooms without the damp problem that can be prevalent in Essaouira

Lows

• With the exception of the apartment at the top, the rooms are quite small
• No baths, just showers with seat
• Like all medina guesthouses, there is no parking directly outside but there is open parking 5 minutes away
• Not the typical riad-with-courtyard style, more of a French Colonial house (but a lovely one!)