Set amid 200 acres of orange groves a couple of miles outside Taroudant and a 45-minute drive from Agadir airport, La Gazelle d’Or is a sea of tranquility.
La Gazelle d’Or was always almost synonymous with Morocco but such has been the boom in boutique riads that competitors crowd the pitch. However it is without doubt the most luxurious and stylish place to stay in Taroudant and one of a handful in this category in Southern Morocco.
Thirty bouganvillea covered stone cottages and suites are spread around the broad, manicured gardens fringed with palm and date trees with views to the Atlas mountains in the distance. There is space, calm, birdsong and attentive yet discreet service. The cottages are all recently enlarged and start with the Junior Suites and end with the beautiful 145 square metre 'Maison'.
The rooms all have sweeping views across the gardens and are intensely stylish with classical Moorish arches, motifs and tiles, antique furniture, log fireplaces, marble bathrooms and dressing rooms. To sit out on your private verandah under cascading bougainvillea is a good way both to start and finish the day.
La Gazelle d’Or offers considerable opulence, with the tented dining room the apogee of this. Jacket and tie are de rigour in the dining room but one can eat on the terraces in the summer for a less formal atmosphere. The cuisine is superb. The farm is now certified 100% organic and biodynamic: it produces fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, lamb, chickens, eggs, milk, yoghurt, cheese - even duck and guinea-fowl! Adam has been managing this privately owned hotel faultlessly for years and is an extremely accomplished pianist – playing most evenings.
Gazelle d’Or is primarily a place to relax and do little, but riding through the encircling farm, visiting the souks of Taroudant or a game of croquet are some of the options. Facilities at the hotel include a hamman, beauty centre, attractive heated swimming pool, around which lunch is served, and tennis courts.
In June 2010 the new motorway between Marrakech and Agadir is due to open which will bring the journey time from Marrakech down to about two hours.
Taroudant is a charming town enclosed by fortified walls, with a traditional souk and tannery and huge character associated with its ancient origins. Taroudant was an independent town for centuries and the centre of the date growing area. The town prospered in the sixteenth century with cotton and sugar production until the bulk of this trade moved the West Indies. Read more?
Morocco is a country of immense and diverse physical beauty, with some of the most inspiring areas of pristine wilderness in Africa. It's also superb value and just a few short hours flight from the UK. From the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas to its wave-strafed Atlantic coastline and on south to the billowing, seemingly endless sand dunes that run away into the Sahara Desert. For a country so close to Europe it’s exhilarating to find such an intact culture and epic North African landscape with real contrast to anything European at almost every turn. Leave Marrakesh and head south and in less than an hour you’re climbing into the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains. This is magnificent trekking country where you can thread your way among small Berber villages, supported by mule trains, either on foot or on horseback, supported with a light tented camp. Read more?
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Vanessa's 16 years in travel has seen her knowledge develop from sub-Saharan Africa into North Africa, Central and Southern America and the Galapagos. Consequently, she’s a veritable encyclopaedia of travel information and exceptionally cool, calm and collected in the face of the greatest planning demands.
At Natural High, we've had long experience putting together trips in Africa that really work. Whether it's intimate bushcamps in out of the way places, or a private lodge in one of Africa's top-billing wildlife areas, light mobile camping or remote island escapes, we know there is a lot to choose from. We're absolutely confident that we can recommend the right places for you.
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