L’Oasis d’Essaouira (Riad de charme)

Three rooms, or the whole house

The house has three units over two floors, each with its own bathroom. The Chambre Luxe, on the first floor, has a double bed and a shower. The Suite Luxe, on the same floor, adds a sitting room with a single bed and sleeps three. The Chambre Luxe en terrasse, on the second and top floor, has a bathtub and opens straight onto the shared sun terrace.

The riad says it occupies an 18th-century house, Dar Essaidi, restored between December 2019 and March 2020. The planted patio, the sitting room and the dining room are shared. Every room has heating, double glazing, blackout curtains, a safe, a mini-fridge and Wi-Fi of about 210 Mbit/s. There is no air conditioning.

Prices start at €39 a night for each of the two rooms and €59 for the suite, Moroccan breakfast included (rates checked on 25 October 2026, varying with the dates). You pay for the booking by card online, and only the euro amount is guaranteed. Anything settled on site in dirhams is converted at 11 MAD to €1, the riad’s rate. Our advice: at the same starting price, ask for the terrace room, which has the house’s only bathtub and opens straight onto the sun terrace.

Where it is and how to get there

The riad is at 1 rue Annasser, on the north side of the medina. No car goes inside the walls: the taxi drops you at the Bab Doukkala gate, which leaves 300 m, 4 minutes on foot. The main bus station is 1.1 km away, 16 minutes on foot.

The house has no parking. The guarded car park at Bab Marrakech is 600 m and 9 minutes away on foot: 20 MAD for the day, 80 MAD for the night from 19:00 to 8:00 (the riad’s indicative rates). It also arranges paid transfers, from €25 from Essaouira airport, €115 from Marrakech airport and €135 from Agadir airport. On those transfers, a member of staff walks the last stretch through the medina with you and takes care of the bags.

Who it suits, and what to know before booking

The whole riad, from €150 a night for up to seven people, works out at about €21 per person before tourist tax (our calculation). It has three double beds and a single. That is the option to look at for a family or a group of friends who want the house to themselves.

Settle your arrival time first. Check-in runs from 16:00 to 20:00. After 20:00 you must warn the riad and pay €20 for someone to come and let you in, and without that arrangement no one is guaranteed to be there. If your coach or flight lands in the evening, book that option with the room. A room from 14:00 costs €10, as does keeping it until 13:00, each subject to the riad’s confirmation. Dropping your bags early is free by appointment.

Every room is reached by the stairs. Pets are not allowed, there is no smoking indoors, and quiet is asked for from 22:00 to 8:00. In exceptional cases the riad may ask for a security deposit on arrival: €150 for a room, €300 for the whole house, returned at check-out after an inspection.

To compare, look at Riad Baladin or Riad Lyon Mogador, two other medina houses. Our page on Essaouira’s riads explains which room to pick and what a night costs elsewhere inside the walls.