Adrère Amellal

A village of salt and clay

Adrère Amellal means "the white mountain" in the Berber language: it is the name of the sandstone spur at whose foot the eco-lodge was built, facing Siwa's salt lake. It opened in 2000, designed by its owner, Mounir Neamatalla, who says of it: "I started a new life at the foot of this mountain."

The whole place looks like a small fortified village of the oasis, with its passages and terraces. It is built of kershef, Siwa's traditional material: a mixture of sun-dried rock salt, clay and straw. Bathrooms are in sandstone, doors and furniture in olive wood, chairs in palm trunks and fronds, rugs hand-woven by oasis craftsmen. In the rooms, the bed rests on a block of salt, and even the bedside tables are carved from salt.

There is no electricity. Rooms are lit by a dozen beeswax candles, paths by oil lamps, and fireplaces warm the winter nights. There is no telephone, no reception and no room key.

The rooms

The 40 rooms, all built by hand, are all different. The website groups them into four families: Single Desert Rooms, Double Desert Rooms, Special Desert Rooms and Salt Suites. Rooms are allocated according to the number of guests staying, and only one has a bathtub.

For a family, i-escape recommends the Royal Desert Room or one of the two Special Desert Rooms: these are three of the largest rooms, the only ones where extra beds can be added.

Our advice: bring a head torch or a flashlight, and charge your phone before you arrive, since no room has a socket.

The table

Fruit and vegetables come from the eco-lodge's own gardens, grown without pesticides; meat and poultry are bought from oasis farmers, and bread and cakes are baked on site. There is no menu to choose from: one set meal, which takes into account dislikes notified in advance. The chef, Arafa Mahmoud, cooks a light Egyptian and European cuisine served in clay dishes: stuffed beet leaves, hibiscus risotto, date cigars, grilled pigeon, date soufflé. Siwa's dates also end up as jam at breakfast, with local cheese.

Lunch is usually taken in the palm grove near the pool. At sunset, drinks are served with the oasis's olives. Dinner moves every evening depending on the wind, to a room of the house, a patio or a grotto, lit by hundreds of candles. Meals and drinks, alcohol included, are part of the rate: unusual in Siwa, where alcohol is not drunk in public.

A day at the lodge

The day follows two excursions included in the rate. In the morning, an outing to the town and its sites; in the afternoon, a 4x4 trip into the desert, ending with mint tea in the dunes at sunset. The Bir Wahed outing, 12 km south-west of town, heads into the first dunes of the Great Sand Sea to a sulphurous hot spring the size of a large whirlpool bath, where you can bathe.

In between, you stay at the lodge. The pool, shaded by a large palm grove, is fed by a natural spring. You can climb to the top of the white mountain in about twenty minutes, ride a horse in winter, or ask for a massage in your room.

The lodge's website also suggests the sand bath at Jebel Dakrour, a traditional Siwan treatment for rheumatism: you are buried up to the neck in hot sand, your face shaded by a small tent, then cool down slowly over a herbal tea.

Seasons and access

The best season runs from November to March. From June to August the heat is intense and the lodge limits occupancy to ten rooms. Ramadan is best avoided, as part of the oasis closes; holidays such as Eid al-Adha are in high demand.

For the road, see our page on the oasis: most guests arrive via Cairo, about 800 km away, a 7- to 10-hour drive.

Sabaro's view

Who it's for: couples and families who want a few days of silence and desert, and accept candlelight, no choice at table and a long drive.

Strengths: salt-and-clay architecture that blends into the landscape; full board with drinks and two excursions a day; a spring-fed pool in the palm grove; a 4.7/5 rating on Tripadvisor from 86 reviews.

Good to know: no electricity, so no air conditioning and no sockets; a single menu; no nightlife; the price is high, to be weighed against everything included.