Villas in Morocco

Booking a villa is always a risk. Are those pictures of a luxurious, gleaming pad anywhere close to reality? With 46 Jardins de Touhina, the answer is no. The reality is infinitely more impressive and the beautiful photos on the website simply do not do the place justice. We had high expectations, and they were surpassed in the first half hour of arrival – first impressions were breathtaking and we felt immediately relaxed and at home. We were only two, but the villa is more than adequately sized to accommodate six in comfort. There are enough independent living areas to ensure there would always be a quiet place to hide away. The villa lies in a beautifully maintained complex at the end of a 3km gravel track (when hiring a car, choose one with good ground clearance). The villa itself was beautifully appointed, spotlessly clean and the kitchen filled with all the gadgets needed for a week long stay (including a very welcome Nespresso machine). The wonderful Touria cooked for us on a couple of evenings, and taught us her authentic Moroccan recipes for tagine and (amazing) pastilla. Beds were dreamily large and comfortable and with beautiful bedlinen. Due to the architecture and use of local materials, the only time we needed to use the air con was at night in the bedroom – for the rest of the day the villa was ventilated with nothing more than a whole heap of open doors, even though we stayed in August with temperatures topping 37 degrees! With only the occasional sound from other villas in the complex, we were totally at peace for the whole week. The gardens and pool were just beautiful . Oh my, the pool. The cool water was blissful on hot days (and even hot evenings!) and we spent a lot of time splashing around. It might be a bit chilly in the colder months but was perfect in August! Charkie and Touria tended to the pool and gardens each day and one of the highlights of the stay was reading in the back courtyard, with the fountain tinkling, and watching the swallows playing in the garden. We hired a car for the week, which I would recommend to give you the freedom to come and go as you please. The drive into central Marrakech was simple, and getting to and from attractions in the new town was a piece of cake. There is a large Carrefour just 20 minutes away selling everything you could need including beer and wine (they do an excellent vin gris called La Perle Grise which we can highly recommend!). For an evening trip into the more hectic medina, Touria kindly arranged for a local driver to collect us and look after us for the evening, for which we were very grateful. We also drove up to the Atlas mountains to go to a saint’s day festival at the town of Setti Fatma – a couple of hours of mostly beautiful views and finished off with a lovely lunch by the river surrounded by lots of local families. Diane, who owns the villa, was great before we arrived, sending us all the information we needed to prepare our trip, and in contact during our stay to make sure that we were happy (we were!). To summarise, this place is a little piece of heaven. I’d recommend it to anyone – couples, families, friends. Just remember to leave a week free for our return trip!

We had superb five days at the Villa. The organisation before the trip was very effective and responsive as idle questions occurred randomly before we set off. The pick up at the airport was very easy and we had a very good in brief from Nwang. The two best aspects of a really fun five days were Jamal and Nadia. Jamal who was the universal fixer for our stay and provided a bespoke package of trips and taxi service - including a guild trip to the local Hammam. A nice touch was the local mobile that allowed us to be in touch 24/7 once we had tired of the souk or a palace and the aircon minibus would be ready to whisk us off to the next event. The trip to a non touristy village in the mountains on Berber market day and the mule ride and lunch were fantastic. Nadia cooked us two suppers (at our request) which were excellent and she provided breakfast and a hammam lesson too! The villa is brilliant because it allows you to leave the Medina and have time out in a lovely setting, with good non tagine food, and yet return to the fray and lovely tanginess and mint tea etc within minutes when the mood takes you. The pool is refreshing and has shaded seating for relaxing and there are lots of different sized sitting rooms and snug areas to enjoy along with the bedrooms which are spacious. A brilliant way to see Marrakech!

Me my family had excellent Holiday here at the Villa its a beautiful Villa with lovely Garden. I highly recommend it. My advice is contact owner get a pickup at the airport as we did, stop over at the supermarket get some grocery or amenities or hire a car at the airport to make it a easier enjoyable Holiday. Caretaker is there to help and was helpful but we niether spoke French or Berber so was difficult to communicate but otherwise is a lovely man and very helpful and is available 24/7

Fantastic break. great villa with beautiful gardens and the caretaker Aziz was extremely helpful. will try and go there again. Owner Khalid was very helpful too. Overall a great place to stay, the villa probably needs a bit of modernization, but was a great value for money. I will recommened to anyone who wants a relaxing place to enjoy a beautiful Marrakech