UNESCO ksar · 8 minutes on foot

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Aït Ben Haddou · Kingdom of Morocco

Sleep where the movies
are made

a lantern-lit house at the foot of the ksar

A family-run hotel and Moroccan restaurant beneath Aït Ben Haddou — the mud-brick citadel that has played Rome, Westeros and Arabia. Dinner on the terrace, the ksar at sunrise, and a warm welcome in between.

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9.2 / 10 "Excellent location" · Booking.com

7.7 / 10 "Good" · 171 reviews

8.9 / 10 for our staff

Between the sunrise viewpoint and the gate of the old ksar

The House

A kasbah stage,
set for your stay

Our adobe house stands on the road into Aït Ben Haddou, its balconies painted Majorelle blue, its salons glowing with lanterns and hand-woven rugs. Eight minutes' walk and you are at the gate of the ksar itself — the most filmed village in Morocco.

We are a restaurant first and a hotel with it: mint tea and nibbles when you arrive, tagines from the family kitchen at night, and rooms upstairs with arched alcoves, spa baths and terraces over the valley. Park for free at the door; we'll take care of the rest.

11Rooms & family suites
8minWalk to the UNESCO ksar
30kmFrom Ouarzazate airport
9.2/10Location score on Booking.com
Lantern-lit lounge with carved adobe pillars and Berber rugs
Stained-glass skylight and pierced-metal lantern above the gallery

Amenities

Everything a good base camp needs

The essentials come with every stay — no surprises, no supplements.

Restaurant, all day

Moroccan cooking from breakfast to dinner — halal, with vegetarian and vegan tables too.

Sun terrace & garden

Breakfast in the morning sun, sunset tea with the ksar glowing across the valley.

Free parking at the door

Private on-site parking for cars, 4×4s and motorbikes — and bicycle parking too.

Free Wi-Fi

Connected in the rooms, the restaurant and out on the terrace.

24-hour front desk

Late arrival off the Marrakech road or a dawn start for the dunes — someone is here.

Family rooms

Triples and quadruples with spa baths, cribs on request — children over one are welcome.

Tour desk

Guides for the ksar, drivers for the gorges and the dunes — arranged at reception.

Air-conditioned rooms

Cool in the desert summer, warm blankets in the mountain winter.

Also at your service: room service · concierge · minimarket & grocery delivery · shared kitchen · lounge · pets stay free

Rooms

Eleven rooms under the lanterns

Arched alcoves, wrought-iron beds and hand-carved cedar — with balconies, terraces and spa baths where the desert dust washes off. Every room is air-conditioned, en suite and quiet.

Double room with wrought-iron bed, carved cedar headboard arch and green lantern

Double

200 MAD / person, per night

A full bed beneath a carved alcove, a balcony, and a bath to soak in after the ksar.

  • 2 guests
  • Balcony
  • Air conditioning
  • Bath
  • Ensuite
Request to book
Most popular
Triple room with three beds, arched niches and a red velvet curtain

Triple

200 MAD / person, per night

Twin and full beds in a lantern-lit room with a spa bath and a terrace over the garden.

  • 3 guests
  • Spa bath
  • Terrace
  • Garden view
  • Coffee & tea
Request to book
Family room with beds beneath carved arched niches and a blue lantern

Quadruple & Family

200 MAD / person, per night

Three beds for four guests, spa bath, terrace — and cribs free for the littlest travellers.

  • 4 guests
  • Spa bath
  • Terrace
  • Family friendly
Request to book

Every bed is 200 MAD a night, whoever you are travelling with — 200 on your own, 400 for two sharing, 600 for three, 800 for a family of four. Breakfast on the terrace from 27 MAD — omelettes off the pan, msemen, fruit and juice.

Chicken tagine with lemon and olives, Moroccan salads and fresh bread
Vegetable couscous with fruit plate and glasses of buttermilk

The Restaurant

The kitchen came first —
the hotel followed

Hollywood Africa began as a restaurant, and it still cooks like one. Tagines slow-cooked over charcoal, Friday couscous, salads and grills — served in the burgundy-velvet dining room, in the lounge among the rugs, or out on the terrace facing the ksar.

  • Breakfast worth waking for — omelettes, msemen, yoghurt, fruit and juice
  • Lunch and dinner daily, in a traditional or modern ambience
  • Halal kitchen with true vegetarian and vegan options
  • Mint tea and nibbles on arrival — on the house
Book a table

Set Menu

Three courses at the family table

120 MADper person

Starter

Choose one

  • Moroccan salad
  • Soup

Main course

Choose one

  • Chicken tagine with preserved lemon
  • Moroccan meatball tagine
  • Couscous
  • Turkey brochettes
  • Berber omelette
  • Cheese omelette
  • Vegetarian tagine
  • Crispy turkey
  • Spaghetti bolognese

Dessert

  • Seasonal fresh fruit

Served in the dining room, in the lounge or out on the terrace. The kitchen is halal, and the vegetarian tagine and the omelettes are meat-free. Mention it in your booking request and the table is ready when you are.

The dining room at night — burgundy velvet, lanterns and horseshoe arches
The dining room, lantern-lit
The terrace gallery at sunset, wicker pendants glowing over the valley
Sunset from the terrace gallery
Low tables, lanterns and cushions in the lounge
The lounge, made for tea

Aït Ben Haddou

A World Heritage ksar,
eight minutes from your bed

The fortified village of Aït Ben Haddou has stood over the Ounila river since the eleventh century — a stack of earthen towers UNESCO calls a masterpiece of southern Moroccan architecture, and Hollywood calls a set. Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia: they were all filmed on our doorstep.

The earthen towers of the ksar of Aït Ben Haddou rising above the palm groves
Sunlit kasbah walls and decorated towers inside the UNESCO village
  • 01

    Cross before the crowds

    Walk down at first light, cross the river and climb the ksar while the tour buses are still in Marrakech. The granary at the top has the valley to itself at 8 a.m.

  • 02

    Sunrise from our side

    The famous viewpoint over the ksar is a short walk from our door — guests plan their whole stay around it. We'll wake you with coffee.

  • 03

    Walk it with a guide

    Ask the tour desk for a local guide: the film locations, the last families still living inside the walls, and the artisans painting with saffron and fire.

Stay beside the ksar

Excursions

One circuit, airport to airport

We meet your flight at Marrakech and hand you back to it two days later — with the Tizi n'Tichka, the Glaoui kasbah at Telouet, Aït Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate in between, and a night in our own house at the foot of the ksar.

Two days · one night

  • Day one — we collect you at Marrakech airport, climb the Tizi n'Tichka and drop down the old salt road to the painted salons of the Glaoui kasbah at Telouet, arriving at Aït Ben Haddou in time for the ksar in the afternoon light. Dinner and the night are with us.
  • Day two — the valleys around the ksar while the air is still cool, then on to Ouarzazate and its film studios before the road back over the Atlas to Marrakech.
  • Included — a private vehicle and driver for both days, every airport transfer, your night at Hollywood Africa with dinner and breakfast, and a licensed guide inside the ksar.
  • Private circuit — 2 days / 1 night Marrakech airport · Telouet · Aït Ben Haddou · Ouarzazate · Marrakech
    from 2,400 MAD / person
The full itinerary & booking
The earthen kasbah at Telouet above its river and palm gardens
Red-earth villages of the Ounila Valley beneath the snow-capped High Atlas

Rates are indicative — the tour desk confirms every quote before you pay a dirham.

Activities

Earn your dinner

Around the ksar and out on the sand — book any of these at the front desk, from an hour's camel ride to a full desert night.

Riders on camelback crossing the dunes in single file

Camel treks

An hour at sunset or a full caravan day — the classic way to meet the desert.

Quad bike kicking up sand on a desert track

Quad biking

Tracks through the palm groves and out over the hammada — helmets and guides included.

Sandboarder carving down the face of a dune

Sandboarding

Snowboarding's warmer cousin. Climb the dune, point the board down, repeat until sunset.

Desert camp beneath the dunes of Erg Chebbi at dusk

A night in a desert camp

Drums by the fire, dinner in the big tent and dawn from the top of the erg.

Guest Words

The welcome gets top billing

"Sarim was a great host to us and made sure we had everything we needed, from a hot shower to hot tea in the evening, a delicious breakfast — he made us feel at home in Aït Ben Haddou."

Jacquo · Canada · Booking.com

"Very good location between the spot for sunrise and the entrance to old Aït Benhaddou, both in walking distance. Very helpful staff — we got extra blankets."

Justina · Lithuania · Booking.com

"Being given tea and nibbles on arrival was nice, and the room was very nicely furnished and spacious, with good air conditioning."

Scott · New Zealand · Booking.com

"Breakfast was amazing with fresh cooked omelette, bread, yoghurt and lots of other food too. I enjoyed my stay and was made very welcome by the lovely staff."

Book Direct

Skip the middlemen,
keep the welcome

Write to us directly — the family answers, in English or French, usually within the hour.

  • Best rate, no fees — direct bookings skip the commissions
  • Pay at the hotel — no prepayment to reserve
  • Dinner sorted — reserve your table when you book your bed
  • Families welcome — cribs free, pets stay free too
WhatsApp, fastest reply+212 661 988 107

Request to book

No prepayment — we confirm by WhatsApp or email, and you pay at the hotel.

Good to Know

Before you set out

Check-in and check-out

Check-in from 13:00 to 23:00, check-out between 07:00 and 11:00. Leaving at dawn for the dunes or the sunrise viewpoint? Tell us the night before — the desk is open around the clock and we'll keep your luggage.

Getting here

We are on the P1506, the road into Aït Ben Haddou — about 30 km from Ouarzazate and its airport, and 4 hours over the Tizi n'Tichka from Marrakech. Free private parking at the door for cars, 4×4s and motorbikes.

Meals at the restaurant

Breakfast is served on the terrace from 27 MAD — omelettes, msemen, yoghurt, fruit and juice. There is also a three-course set menu at 120 MAD per person: a starter, your pick of nine main courses, and fresh fruit to finish. The kitchen is halal, with vegetarian and vegan options. Reserve your table when you book your room.

Travelling with children

Children over one are welcome, and triples and quadruples suit families well. Cribs are free on request for ages one to five.

Pets

Pets are welcome and stay free — just mention them in your request so we choose the right room.

Excursions and guides

The tour desk arranges licensed guides for the ksar and drivers for the gorges, valleys, dunes and the film studios of Ouarzazate — from a two-hour walk to a two-day Sahara circuit. Ask at reception or add it to your booking request.