Rock the Kasbah

We leave the excitement of the Medina to experience Kasbah Agafay, on the edge of the edge of the dessert with a view over the Atlas Mountains. It is usually costly being one of the ‘small luxury hotels of the world’ and voted as ‘the best private club in the world’ by Wallpaper magazine. On the internet we book a couple of nights at a good rate with an upgrade to a luxury tent.

I imagine cushion clad caves with lush velvet curtains, exotic feasts, belly dancers and partying till late (Oh that’s right we have kids). The castle like Kasbah is about twenty minutes’ drive from Marrakesh; the driver who collects us informs us that we are the only guests…and we are; we have great accommodation, a gorgeous view and Wallpaper was right it is a very private club – so private we appear to be the only members and do we really want to members of a club we are allowed to join...

So here we are in our own private Kasbah in the middle of nowhere…

the boys have swum in the pool (which was cold so they then swam in our bath – the largest I’ve ever seen in a tent), I’ve skim read a few magazines, Frank has googled stuff. We are missing a few friends to come in and help rock the Kasbah, or just some other tourists to talk to. We are far from home and Rocco, in particular, is feeling a little home sick.

The bustle of the medina is in stark contrast to the solitude of the Kasbah (I should have brought a book). It is gorgeous and Frank and I question why there are not more people here. We decide to take a Kasbah organised excursion to Imlil at the foot of snow capped Atlas Mountains. The drive there is well worth it, despite being quite scary with rocky mountains on one side of the road and sheer cliffs on the other.

On the way to Imlil we spot a lot of places for lunch, it is too early to eat but then we see an amazing Kasbar and decide to make a reservation for lunch. It turns out to be Richard Branson's Kasmar Tamadot and we make a lunch reservation for the way back from Imlil.Imlil is a cute little village and we met a few nomads who had made it their temporary home. This lovely man sold us a few necklaces and then happily posed for photos.

After Imlil we head back to Kasbah Tamadot for lunch and the setting is spectacular.

The food is actually not that good but the setting is too magic for us to really notice.After lunch we ask to see a tent room. It has it's own plunge pool and claw foot bath.

The tent is about 600 Euros a night (with 'free' minibar). I have to ask if within this extravagence there is any giving back to the community.

It is pleasing to hear that Richard Branson's mum, Eve, is a genuine philanthropist within the local community.After lunch we take a different route back to the hotel, equally spectacular.

On the second night we have dinner at the Kasbah and the owner Kasbah, Abel, turns up with a couple of his friends. He is a charming guy and decorated the Kasbah himself. I compliment him on his choice of fabrics and he tells me how he keeps fabrics over time before making furniture etc. so that no one can copy his designs. He gets asked to decorate many houses but isn't interested. As for guests - five is optimum at the Kasbah (is that five guests or five couples? Had we bought a dog maybe we could have filled the place no?) The Kasbah has over twenty rooms and Frank and I debate uses for it - health retreat (no KFC for miles), corporate team building weekend, yadda, yadda...The Kasbah grows on us; the boys can play soccer and make as much noise as they like. On day three we decide to catch local transport to Marrakesh rather then go with the Kasbah driver. This turned out to be an adventure but not a good idea...