The site was pleasant enough although it did have the look of somewhere that was starting to show signs of, either a lack of care or, more likely, a lack of funds for maintenance.
The pool area was quite run down and the pool was filthy. Whether that was because the pool was closed for the winter or because they were not getting enough paying guests to finance the upkeep, I don't know.
The main draw here, of course, is Casbah Caid Ali. The owners, Moroccan and French, are renovating it, and it's possible to rent a room for the night in there.
You can pay a very modest fee, for a tour of the Casbah, which we did. The French lady, I didn't get her name, is as fascinating as the building.
It's worth booking the tour, even if you don't intend to stay for the night. I could have listened to her all day. As it was, the tour lasted for a good hour and a half and she left me a whole lot wiser where Moroccan culture and history is concerned.
The Moroccan owner speaks very good English which, for us at least, was wonderfully refreshing and went a long way to making us feel a whole lot better about being in Morocco, as well as giving us a better understanding regarding Moroccan attitudes towards the English.
The stay here gave us the confidence to start venturing out in to the villages and shops. Looking back, we had been a bit pathetic but, until you understand that the people staring at you, isn't aggressive or threatening but mere curiosity and, given the apparent state of relations between the Western and Muslim world, I think we can be forgiven.
We cycled in to the village to get some eggs and bread, and were greeted with warm smiles and a very polite manner. We were starting to feel a whole lot more relaxed, and that meant that we could get more enjoyment out of our visit to Morocco, instead of dashing round, looking at everything through the van windows!
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