Marrakech & Atlas
The plain outside the city and the valleys beyond.
Marrakech is a city you take in stages: into the medina in the morning, somewhere shady at midday, back out in the evening. You can do that without staying in the medina. Berber Lodge offers a base in Oumnass, south of the city; Olinto takes you further, into the Ouirgane Valley.
South of the city the Haouz plain opens out, with olive groves, villages of earth-built houses and the High Atlas on the horizon, its peaks often white with snow in winter. Berber Lodge is about 30 minutes from Marrakech by car. Olinto is about an hour from Marrakech, where the road has climbed into the foothills of the High Atlas.
Neither hotel is a riad. Both stand in old olive groves, with gardens and pools between the trees.
Berber Lodge, at the edge of the village of Oumnass, has 12 rooms with adobe walls and ceilings of eucalyptus, cedar and pine. Each has a terrace and a fireplace or stove, and the 20-metre pool lies among old olive trees. Some rooms take children from five. Olinto, in the Ouirgane Valley, has nine pavilions for two: six with a garden of their own, three with a heated private pool. There is a hammam, and the kitchen cooks Moroccan and Mediterranean dishes with herbs and vegetables from the garden. Guests must be 14 or over. October to May is the most comfortable time to come. From June to September the plain around Marrakech is hot: plan the medina and outings for the early morning or evening and keep the middle of the day for shade and the pool. Berber Lodge’s rooms have air conditioning. In winter the days are often mild but evenings turn cold, and Ouirgane, higher up in the mountains, is cooler than the city. That is when the fireplaces come into their own: every room at Berber Lodge has one or a stove, every pavilion at Olinto a fireplace.
Places to stay in Marrakech & Atlas
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