Douar Samra

Douar Samra is not a Marrakech address: it is a mountain house, set above Imlil, in the Tamatert hamlet, where the road gives way to trails. You reach it in one and a half to two hours by car from town, up a long switchback climb from the plain into the High Atlas. Tamatert sits at 1,800 metres, at the core of the Toubkal national park, in a valley of terraced fields, walnut trees and pisé villages. The house, in raw earth, clings to the douar’s side. The car stays at the village, and you finish on foot or by mule, a few minutes of path. That says how far you are from everything, and it is precisely what you come to find.

Only seven rooms, and each with its own logic. The four in the main house are the most singular: no electricity, you light them with candles and oil lamps, under wood beams, with country rugs and an open fireplace. Three larger suites take the garden, powered up. And most of all, two wooden cabins perched on eight-metre stilts, steps from the house, with a running balcony and a view of the summits: shaded by leaves in summer, wood-stove heated in winter. That is the signature strength, and the reason you remember the address among the other unique stays around. The table follows the same family-house register: tagines, couscous and salads made on site, served in common around the fire, half-board in most packages. You dine here because there is nothing else for miles, and it is quite fine that way. A hammam rounds out the picture, and the eco approach holds first in the place and the way of life: a house embedded in the village, that lives on the mountain rhythm rather than the air conditioning.

That leaves the trade-off of altitude and the stance, and it is real. At 65 kilometres and nearly two hours from Marrakech, this is not a base to visit town: you pick Tamatert for the mountain and the walking - valley loop, waterfalls, two-day Toubkal ascent, guide and mule arranged from the house - or you do not pick it. The road climbs hard and turns a lot, arrival is on a last stretch of trail, and comfort owns its rusticity: plain rooms, hammam but no pool, weak Wi-Fi restricted to common areas. The four candle-lit rooms are an experience of their own, but the permanent dim light will not please everyone. Better ask for a suite or a garden cabin if you want light and a socket. Travellers praise the welcome and cleanliness most of all, on a solid review count (8.9 on Booking). For anyone after calm, sharp air and a night in the trees, it is a right and marking base, from around £77 a night half-board. For anyone wanting a heated pool and hotel comfort, this is not the address.