I recently stayed at Douar Noujoum with my wife and loved the beautiful, traditional setting. The hotel is quite charming. However, the breakfast was basic and could be improved. On the bright side, the owner, Bernard, was very friendly and helpful, making our stay more enjoyable. Overall, it's a nice place to stay .

the breakfast was basic and could be improved

Dour Noujoum is set outside Essaouira about 5-6 km. It is set out beautifully with a natural pool filtered by the reed beds and fountains. It is clean and was lovely to swim with dragon flies going overhead and to see turtles in the reeds. Rooms we stayed in were large with separate seating area. Breakfast was nice and enough to keep us going all day. Spa / massage available and the ladies in our party loved this. Staff were helpful.

Few more chairs or loungers around pool would have helped.

The staff are extremely attentive, friendly and make you feel part of their family. The swimming pool was beautiful, peaceful and completely natural, felt like swimming in paradise. The food was amazing and Bernard (the owner) makes you feel relaxed and calm.

The setiing and the pool

The property was beautifully designed and we immediately felt a peacefulness at Douar Noujam. Its a little, quiet getaway - away from all of the hustle and bustle usually experienced in Morocco. The staff was friendly and the gardens well maintained. The peacocks walking around on the property were also a beautiful find and on a clear day the nightsky is truly spectacular.

The property is far away from Essaouira. So far in fact, that most taxi companies will deny you the ride, suggesting the property lies too far away from the city. If you do not have your own car we would not recommend this accommodation! Unfortunately, the staff only spoke french and little english, and we somewhat even felt treated differently because of that. This also made communication very difficult. The rules and instructions pamphlet hanging by the door of our room mentioned that dinner was served at 8pm when we would hear the sound of a bell. We left for dinner around 19h when we were told we had to have a reservation (something we weren’t previously told) and were sent away to the city as there are no restaurants nearby (Essaouira is 13km away). Getting to and from this place is not easy without a car. Reserving a taxi is tricky (and near to impossible) if one does not speak french and taxis are also not the cheapest. Although the staff was always responsive and tried to be helpful when we asked questions, they seemed to not think for themselves. If we had left to go to the city for dinner and had returned without having previously asked for a key to the front door/ portal we would’ve probably been stuck outside the property late at night with nobody to contact (as the owners also do not frequently pick up the phone). Lastly, the place was a little dirty and worst of all were the cockroaches we discovered in the kitchen. During our last night, we had snuck into the kitchen (usually not open to guests) to heat some water for my hot water bottle as I had a very bad stomach ache. What we discovered was truly disgusting. The kitchen wasn’t exactly the cleanest and there were cockroaches and other bugs crawling around everywhere. Breakfast was just not the same the following morning…