Day three of our "no carb left behind" tour of Morocco found us at the Hotel Atlas Kasha in Agadir. I'm not gonna lie, I thought this eco-friendly hotel was going to be the most outside my comfort zone but I ended up loving it. When we arrived, it was only 6:30pm but completely pitch black and cold so we couldn't see anything. We spent the first evening getting settled before a wonderful dinner and later a demonstration on how to serve Moroccan tea, an education on Berber beauty products, and a dress up in Berber wedding clothes.
The next morning, I was awoken by the roosters and birds to find a magical landscape and bright blue sky outside my window. Since we had nixed a three hour each way drive to see the saffron fields, we had the whole day to do as we wished. After a Berber cooking lesson, which I'll talk about in another post, we luxuriated by the pool until it was time for a hammam. Since we had little to no WiFi, it meant a day that was unplugged and truly relaxing. It felt like were in a villa in Tuscany but yet just a short drive to another popular surfing destination, Agadir.
Better than the weather and the location, was the hospitality of the owners Helene and Hassan. Ten years ago, Helene, who is French, wanted to visit America on her holiday but her mother made her travel to Morocco with her instead. Three days into the trip, she met Hassan and has pretty much never left. In 2009, they opened the Hotel Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge which was granted the prestigious Responsible Tourism Award from the Ministry of Tourism of Morocco and the International Green Key Ecolabel from King Mohamed VI Foundation for the Environment. Even though we were only there two days, we definitely felt like part of the family and can't wait to return. We all agreed that it would be the perfect place for a destination wedding. Too bad I didn't meet anyone in Morocco like Helene!
One of the two Kasbah cats with whom we became fast friends.
View out the front door.
The regions famous Argon tree.
Our only group photo of the trip. Back row: Jamal our tour guide and Jordan Markowski of Trend Hunter. Standing: Hassan, Helene, me, Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt, and Yuli Ziv. Seated: Amber Katz of Beauty Blogging Junkie, Dina Fiero of HL Group, and Fiona Byrne of NAAG.
The Salon
Welcome snacks.
This riad can be covered in the rain.
Two people in our group stayed in the turret rooms on the roof.
Photos by Heather Clawson for Habitually Chic
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