Channelling a Different Era in Essaouira's Villa de lÔ

Essaouira, Morocco - When Marrakech sizzles in the desert heat, its habitués scramble out of the city into a cooler, kinder place where the Atlantic trade winds blow all year long. This place is Essaouira, 180 kilometers west of Marrakech. Once a prosperous trading post where caravans from Timbuktu to Mediterranean Europe brought gold, ivory, and salt; today, Essaouira is a beach town with a laid-back vibe, scarcely supported by a working fishermen’s port.

Inspite of Essaouira’s sea-battered ramparts and crumbling medina, busloads of holidaymakers still make it into this coastal town. The beach is still the biggest draw, but right on its tail are the lively souk, meandering streets, and intimate plazas that give way to arcane passages and elegant inner courtyards.

Tucked away in a lonely alley a few meters from the sea, the 12-room Villa de l’Ô lies just beneath Essaouira’s outer ramparts. A brass sign stenciled with a simple “O” announces the guesthouse while a massive, traditional Moroccan wooden door with rusted metal studs marks the entrance to the hotel.

Owner Celine Colliere met us at the reception hall. She had a wrist full of silver bracelets that clanked when extended for a handshake. Her blonde hair was slightly disheveled but in a summery, wind blown kind of way. We learned that she had just returned from a round of windsurfing, a popular Essaouira activity that had drawn her to this part of Morocco in the first place.

We were politely deferred to one of the guesthouse’s hostesses for a tour of the villa. A mild-mannered young woman by the name of Sophia led us across an open-air courtyard—the glass roof above retracted to expose a clear sky—into a formal sitting room. A distressed leather couch sat against one wall of the room, while a Sprinbok ottoman sat atop a Zebra rug. Old canvas photographs and antique books filled the chamber, embroiling the visitor in a Victorian time warp. In the next room—a reading salon—there was a collection of leather bound French classics that guests could borrow. In a corner, the soft glow of a cascading crystal chandelier counterpoints the satin-and-velvet brocade drapes and the heavily carved wooden panels.

While we waited for our room, mint tea was served at the open stone courtyard amidst Colonial style woven armchairs and chirruping little creatures in a giant antique birdcage. When our hostess announced that our room was ready, we shuffled off to the second floor in wide-eyed excitement. As we climbed up the stairs, we were handed a keychain carved from the local Thuya wood and engraved with the name of our suite, L’Ôxalis.

Upon entering the room, the heady scent of amber gris stirred to life and revealed a room preened in precious vintage pieces. Nothing was spared in the execution of the room’s grand voyages theme: a tented canvas ceiling, tripod lamps, ornate candelabras, cow leather chests, and woven trunks all lend an exotic touch to the King-sized bed swathed in monogrammed white Egyptian cotton linen. Plush black velvet pillows and a matching throw provide a luxurious touch that can only be a testament of the owner’s exquisite attention to detail.

Around the guesthouse, gossamer drapes hanging on stone pillars quivered while tropical palm fronds rustled with the slight gust of the wind. Travel paraphernalia are scattered throughout Villa de l’Ô’s wood-beamed halls: leather director’s chairs, neatly bundled books, handsome animal pelts, ornately carved wall mirrors, old-fashioned glass bottles, antique caddies, and even an authentic wooden telescope.

On the villa’s rooftop, a glass balcony shelters a wooden deck filled with contemporary loungers. The view looks out to Essaouira’s rooftops to the north and the expansive, windswept shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Breakfast is served on this very spot, where plates of fresh fruits, local yoghurt, omelette, assorted baked bread, and Moroccan pancake are served with the requisite holy triumvirate of butter, jam, and honey, alongside glasses of traditional mint tea.

There is no doubt that any of Villa de l’Ô’s twelve themed suites will sweep you off your feet. From the golf-inspired L’Ôbe chamber to the Moroccan arabesques of L’Ôrizon, and to the chic safari theme of L’Ôctane and L’Ôccident suites, the hardest decision you would have to make here is choosing which room suits your time-travel fantasy best.

Villa de l’Ô
3, rue Mohamed Ben Messaoud
44100 Essaouira – Morocco
Tel: +212 (0)5 24 47 63 75

Email: info@villadelo.com
Contacts: Céline & Caroline Colliere
Email: villadelo.cc@gmail.com

Cell: +212 (0)6 72 84 77 91
http://www.villadelo.com/