Kasbah Tamadot

From an antique dealer's home to Richard Branson

Tamadot means "soft breeze" in Berber. The kasbah overlooks a valley near Asni, a small market town in the foothills of the High Atlas, with Toubkal in view.

Before it was a hotel, it was the home of the antique dealer and designer Luciano Tempo, part of whose collection still furnishes the rooms. Richard Branson found it through his mother: while he was preparing a round-the-world hot-air balloon flight from Marrakesh, the departure was delayed, and Eve Branson used the wait to go up into the Atlas. She came across the kasbah and persuaded her son to buy it, on one condition: that she would devote herself to the Berber families of the surrounding villages.

After refurbishment and staff training, the hotel opened in 2005, with 98% of its team from nearby villages. It now belongs to Virgin Limited Edition, the Virgin group's hotel collection.

Closed for a year after the earthquake

The earthquake of 8 September 2023 hit the Asni valley hard. The hotel was largely closed for about a year; the Berber tents stayed open to host travellers and relief work, and all staff were kept on. The kasbah reopened in October 2024, with the main building restored, a second restaurant, Asayss, and six riads built on newly landscaped ground facing the Atlas.

The Eve Branson Foundation, the hotel's charitable association, launched an emergency fund for the valley. Founded in 2005, it opened its first craft training centre in Tansghart in 2008; today it trains people in weaving, embroidery and woodwork, and sells what the workshops make in a shop in Asni. The soft furnishings of the new riads were made by artisans it supports. The hotel runs a two-hour visit to the Tansghart and Tamgounssi workshops, over mint tea.

Room, tent or riad

The hotel has 37 units, in three very different families. The rooms and suites in the main building, around tiled courtyards and gardens, suit a couple, and some suites take a child. The Berber tents, on the hillside facing the valley, are the most distinctive choice; for a honeymoon, the version with a private hot tub is worth the step up. The riads, opened in 2024, each have their own pool and can be booked by the room or whole, for a family or group.

Two restaurants and a spa

Kanoun, at the heart of the house, is the more refined table: Moroccan tagines, international dishes with a local twist and a list of Moroccan and international wines, with the mountains opposite. Asayss, more relaxed, sits behind Berber tents at the edge of the garden: sofas, communal tables, fireplaces, a pool table and a bar. Vegetables come partly from the hotel's organic kitchen garden. A Berber lunch is served by the pool; dinner can be taken in a private tent or on a rooftop. Mohammed, the tea master, leads the mint tea ceremony.

The Asounfou spa ("relaxation" in Berber) offers three hammam rituals of 60 to 90 minutes, and massages with black soap, argan or rose. The outdoor infinity pool faces the Atlas; a heated indoor pool, an open-air hot tub, two floodlit tennis courts, a ping-pong table and a small gym complete the picture.

Out in the valley

The hotel publishes a range of guided outings, from gentle to long: four hours' walking in the Ouirgane valley with lunch with a Berber family; lunch on a rooftop in Aremd facing Toubkal, starting from Imlil; seven hours over the Aguersioual pass to Imlil for strong walkers. By mountain bike, the Ouirgane valley takes a half or full day, with or without electric assistance. By car, the Tinmel mosque and the Tizi n'Test pass fill a day.

For children, the Kasbah Kids programme (ages 4 to 12) tailors activities to each child: crafts, walks, village outings. The one-hour mule trek is open from age 10. The cooking class lasts three hours, for six people at most, and must be booked 24 hours ahead; you eat what you cooked for dinner.

Sabaro's view

For whom: honeymooners, couples and families who want the mountains with pools, a spa and the service of a grand hotel, at the end of a trip after Marrakesh.

Strengths: the Berber tents facing the valley; two restaurants with different moods; real roots in the valley through the foundation; three Michelin Keys (the Michelin Guide's hotel distinction) in 2025 and 2026.

Good to know: spa treatments and outings are charged extra, in dirhams; the minimum stay varies by dates and room; the hotel has no helipad. Outside the hotel, modest dress is expected in the villages.

Our advice: two or three nights are enough; book a tent for a couple, a riad for a family or two couples.