Ksar Massa

An isolated, colourful oceanside hideaway next to miles of deserted beach and the extraordinary Massa Nature Reserve

This is an arrival you’ll never forget. Cutting in from the road that runs south from Agadir parallel to the Atlantic, you follow a sandy track for several kilometres past waving children, flocks of goats and the occasional donkey. Eventually the track loops steeply down a cliffside then arrives at Ksar Massa, a terracotta-coloured low building that nudges up to the ocean’s edge.

The hotel has the warmest of embraces. Stepping through its heavy, carved entrance door you emerge in a sheltered, sub-tropical garden awash in greenery and colour. Low buildings with traditional crenellated ksar rooftops wrap round three of its sides and look out across a central pool to the mighty ocean. The decorative style of the hotel is an ode to the colours and handicrafts of the Maghreb; the food is a match for the setting; you have miles of deserted beach all to yourself, as well as the unique Massa Nature Reserve. Romantic and remote, there can be few better places to reacquaint yourself with sun, sea, sand and sky.

Highs

• The isolated position of the hotel, right beside the ocean, is simply amazing
• All 16 rooms are romantic and colourful with a real Thousand and One Nights feel, plus they have sea views
• The mature gardens are an oasis in this area of sandy, oceanside scrubland
• Food is one of Ksar Massa’s most memorable features: traditional Moroccan cuisine with a high fish and salad quotient
• There are several different spaces to chill dotted about the gardens, plus you have your own private terrace
• If the weather gets cooler you can pamper yourself in the spa which offers a variety of treatments, a jacuzzi and a heated pool.

Lows

• Service can be patchy, especially for non-French speakers, and general feedback from our guests has been mixed
• The wind can blow hard, for days on end, and you may find rubbish strewn along the beach
• The track leading to the hotel is deeply rutted and in winter you may need a 4x4 (or arrange a hotel transfer)
• Dark colours and small windows make some bedrooms feel gloomy - but they're a good foil for the long, hot, Moroccan summer
• During the day you’re pretty much left to your own devices; at times we found it difficult to track down a member of staff
• Guests staying at the hotel's year-round tented encampment also use the facilities