Dar al Bahar

Essaouira - and for us that means back to Dar al Bahar again. There’s a warm welcome from the staff, a friendly team led by Mrs Rachma (the manager) and her keen young assistant Amine. (Amine has completed a university course in hospitality and is furthering his work experience with expert training from Mrs Rachma.) Dar al Bahar is a delightfully quirky building made from 2 separate houses joined to form 1 riad. The floors are tiled with the true Moroccan tiles, cut mosaically rather than printed all in one. As a clever twist, here the central tile is baked but not glazed, the glazed tiles are between these. Attractive and, even better, non slip. Despite the welcome nonslip tiles everywhere, because of the stairs sadly this is not a building for anyone with mobility issues. The riad is built into the sea walls so no one will be building to block its view. The rooms are all serene; simply but tastefully decorated. This is ‘simple’ as in the discerning eye eliminating the superfluous, not as in the ‘basic because we don’t care’. They are kept scrupulously clean and all have an ensuite. We stayed in the 1st floor Abla suite. When we were first shown it, we asked “Which bit is ours?” “All of it,” came the answer. So if you are looking for a suite - with a wonderful view over rocks and a narrow strip of sand straight to the Atlantic Ocean - this is for you. As you enter Abla on the left there is a well equipped small kitchen (not open plan with any other of the rooms). Past that is a 2 level sitting room, sofas in both parts. A TV & small library are in a carved floor-to-ceiling corner cupboard. Through a (lockable) doorway is the main bedroom with a supremely comfortable double bed and a single bed. Through the bedroom is the ensuite shower room (with that welcome nonslip floor which is also in the shower). Back to the kitchen, just past it on the right is a short flight of stairs leading up to another double bedroom with its own ensuite shower. This bedroom has a (music) CD player and a small library of CDs. We had our breakfasts in the small courtyard with the view upwards of blue sky and gulls wheeling with the sun on their wings. (There is the option to eat in the adjacent dining room.) The generous breakfasts are individually served and the food is so fresh. If you want dinner, you need to notify the staff at breakfast time. This is so they can go out and buy whatever is best on the day (especially if you want fish) and serve you a delicious 3 course meal of wonderfully fresh food in the evening. We are so happy to have returned to Dar al Bahar.