Kasbah Omar

I have to say, we were disappointed.

The Kasbah Omar lacked the quality, charm, and style of a historical riad. It has been open only since April 2007, which is when we stayed there. It feels like the construction was relatively cheap, though the design is quite traditional, with an open central courtyard and earthy colors. We came here partly because there was such a glowing post from the previous fall...rather suspicious, since we were told that the Kasbah had only just opened! (The manager told us that the only previous guests, also in April 2007, were a group of family and friends of the owner, who is a tour operator from New York.)

The highpoint of our stay was Karim, who told us he was the manager; he was wonderfully friendly and accommodating. The food was good.

As several posts note, you walk through the dusty/muddy track of a small, fairly poor Berber village to the front door. There isn't much to do here -- the walks through the village are interesting and, in our opinion, perhaps worth a couple of hours. Unless you speak Berber, you probably won't be able to communicate with the locals, which limits how much of the local culture you can absorb.

Of all the 5 or 6 places we stayed in 10 days in Morocco, this is the one we wouldn't return to. You are a bit over an hour, with a fair bit of traffic, from Marrakech itself, so it is not a reasonable base for visiting Marrakech. After leaving the Kasbah, we stayed in a wonderful riad in Marrakech, where the same price (or cheaper) gets you much more, in a great city.

Who might it be right for? When my family discussed that question after the trip, we thought it might be appropriate for someone who wants to spend a day or two in a genuine Berber village in the countryside, in decent accommodation, and is willing to pay a lot for it.