A perfect 3-night stay at Jardin des Douars in Essaouira, Morocco

It's the second day of our 3 night trip to Morocco staying at the stunning Le Jardin des Douars and I'm laying on a sunlounger in 25 degree heat next to a blissful swimming pool whilst writing this. 

We knew we were in for a treat when upon arriving at Essaouira airport, the passport control officer, after asking where we were staying, nods in approval and says its a very nice place to stay. 

Despite it being Mid-November, the sun is shining and warm. We've swum in the outdoor heated pool both yesterday and today and our room, one of the Pacha rooms, is just a stone's throw away from the adult-only pool. There are two pools here - the other is family-friendly and situated away from the adult-only pool. 

We had an early start yesterday with a 6.20am flight. Ryanair flies direct from Stansted Airport to Essaouira and despite the early start (staying overnight close to the airport, getting up at 2am to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight), everything ran smoothly and to schedule.

Sunrise view from the airplane

Le Jardin des Douars had arranged an airport transfer for us at this end so there was a driver waiting who brought us to the hotel.

I don't think hotel is the right word - it's more than that. Our room is set away from the main building and they have other suites sleeping up to 6 people and villas that sleep up to 14 guests. 

Our perfect 'Pacha' room for 2 people

And it is so beautiful.  Every corner of the place is just stunning - definitely the most instagrammable place I've ever stayed. 

Every corner of this place is stunningly beautiful

We are welcomed with smiles by every staff member and it's one of those unique places where nothing is too much trouble. The staff just ooze a genuine friendliness, kindness and warmth.

Our welcome drink: freshly squeezed orange juice with a view

Our stay began with a welcome drink of freshly squeezed orange juice overlooking the exquisite view. We were brought some sweet treats to accompany our drinks until our room was ready.  Check-in isn't officially until 3pm but after a spot of lunch - outdoors in the restaurant (I chose a polenta and vegetable dish and Richard had prawn salad- both delicious and very ample portion sizes) - our room was ready so we were able to check-in earlier than 3pm. 

My delicious polenta dish for lunch

We couldn't wait to go to the pool so that was our number one priority on day one. 

A stunning heated outdoor pool - we couldn't wait to get in it for a swim

We headed to reception and booked our shuttle to Essaouira for the next day (i.e. this morning) - they run regularly from Le Jardin des Douars at a favourable price compared to local taxis. Just book ahead with reception.

Then after a swim and some leisurely reading in the sunshine it was time for a shower in the fantastic big bathroom in our room followed by dinner.  

The beautiful big bathroom in our Pacha room

There are two restaurants but both serve the same menu. One seems to be more lively and family-friendly and the other, which we opted for, was much quieter though it quickly filled up through the evening. 

We opted for the quieter restaurant for dinner

Courgette Veloute for starter 

Vegetable tagine

Service was incredibly speedy both at lunchtime and dinnertime. 

Shallot, stracciatella and balsamic tart tatin was one of my favourite starters! Being vegetarian, I chose to have it as my main meal on 2 of the evenings

Beetroot salad, Meskala goat cheese, beetroot chips and dust was another of the delicious starter options

With such generously-sized meal portions, it was hard to make room for dessert - but we did manage to!

We managed to get our favourite table at the restaurant by the window every evening for dinner

This morning we chose to do a trip to Essaouira. We had been told how beautiful it is and that it is a very safe place to visit.

Essaouira boasts a very long beach and though the waves looked gentle today, it is supposed to be a great place for surfing. 

A sea of blue boats at the port

We visited the medina and souk which is packed with locals selling fabric items like scarves, clothing, and cushion covers. There were lots of shops and market sellers selling everything argan oil as this is apparently where all the argan oil in the world comes from. Argan trees which used to grow in several places in Africa, now only grow in Morocco and Mexico. Thanks to their deep roots they can survive the drought conditions that the area has been experiencing in recent years. There were also places selling artwork, wooden ornaments and items, and fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs.  

And cats - they were not for sale - but there were stray cats everywhere we looked. We took photos of the first few we saw but then couldn't keep up with how many there were. Some seemed to be looked after with some of the sellers putting out food and water for the cats. One even had a litter tray. 

But they didn't seem to cause a problem and even the couple of stray dogs that passed us were just minding their own business and didn't seem to bother anyone.

One of the other notable things was a very relaxed approach to sales - no-one trying to persuade you to buy anything. Even those couple of people walking the beach selling sunglasses would walk by when we said a simple no thanks. 

We grabbed a quick lunch at "m beach" restaurant along the seafront overlooking the beach before being picked up by the shuttle car to head back to the hotel.

Lunch at M beach restaurant in Essaouira overlooking the beautiful beach

We found restaurant food prices to be very reasonable in comparison to UK restaurant prices

Once back at Le Jardin des Douars, we headed straight to the pool enjoying the cool water and then sitting in the sun reading.

Pool with a view

Tomorrow we have our hammam black soap exfoliation and massage booked and sadly that will be our final day here before heading back to the UK early Sunday morning. [edit: the hammam is a great experience not to be missed - something totally unique and different to anything I've experienced before].

It already feels like 3 nights is definitely not long enough. But still a very welcome short break from our busy hectic lives. 

We'll be back- I'm sure.

I was the incredibly lucky winner of a 3-night stay at Le Jardin des Douars via Garden's Illustrated magazine and organised via Peter Da Silva Communications. We are incredibly grateful to Le Jardin des Douars for this amazing stay and many thanks to all involved in organising and providing our wonderful prize. We hope to visit this warm and welcoming place again soon - This visit has definitely put Morocco on the map for us and Le Jardin des Douars is firmly in our hearts too.   

Photo album continued... We took hundreds of photos as everywhere we looked was another stunning site. So here are a few more memories captured in photos...

Those beautiful beaches: view from the airplane

It is strange seeing a landscape so different to the one we are used to

Arriving at the airport in Essaouira

Beautiful doorways and arches everywhere

Our wonderful room also had it's own fireplace! We didn't need to use it as the weather was warm compared to November in the UK

We loved this feature of our domed ceiling: beautiful star shaped glass in different colours letting in the light like tiny stained glass windows

Attention to detail: Even the fresh flower in the bathroom was changed daily along with a very thorough housekeeping clean of our room.

Our room (as with most or maybe all of the rooms) had it's own little terrace

Sunny skies

Stunning views

Exploring the medina

Another "sea of blue" was the fleet of taxis in the city. We didn't need to use them as Jardin des Douars could arrange transport in one of their shuttle cars

the obligatory 'hot dog legs' holiday photo - this one shows the issue with my leg length discrepancy from having Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis since the age of 10. The warm weather definitely helped. 

Our favourite kitten - we saw this one with mum several times taking wobbly steps as he learnt to walk and jump

Sunset

Some of the local wildlife

More stunning archways

A cosy seating area indoors by the fire

Patterns of Morocco

Textures of Morocco

Colours of Morocco

Textures of Morocco

Colours of Morocco

More of the local wildlife!

There were plenty of sunhats to borrow and soft towels for use at the pool

Afternoon snacks on the terrace

Though our phone cameras weren't up to the job of getting decent photos - the night sky was stunning. With little light pollution, the sky was a dark inky blue and the planets, stars and moon shone more brightly.

Waking up to a roaring fire at breakfast each day

On our final morning, we decided to try some items from the cooked breakfast menu - This is a Moroccan pancake and Richard had french toast.

More doorways and arches

The pool bar. There was a pool bar by each pool and another main bar too.

We didn't want to come home! We had a 1.5hour delay to our return journey and with Essaouira airport being so tiny that could get boring so luckily we had taken plenty of books with us to read.