Auberge Tangaro

As a frequent traveler to Morocco, Tangaro is always my first choice of place to stay when in Essaouira. Located a short drive from the town centre Tangaro is a peaceful hideaway and whenever I arrive I never want to leave! The style of the hotel is laidback and full of natural charm, simply but comfortably furnished with an easygoing boho vibe. There is plenty of space for relaxing, from the large courtyard where a delicious breakfast is served, to the pool with it's blue and white striped loungers. I am particularly fond of the little sitting room which has wood fires for cosiness during the winter months, lots of books, a record player (with quite the variety of LPs to choose from) and where Jimi Hendrix gazes down at you from a large painting and print on the walls. It is rumoured that Jimi Hendrix stayed in the small village of Diabat on the outskirts of Essaouira, where Tangaro is located, in 1969. I have travelled here solo and with family and friends and we all love it! The staff are welcoming and helpful, nothing is too much trouble. Dinners are delicious, and the menu includes both traditional Moroccan dishes as well some international options. Wine, beers and spirits are also available which isn't always the case when travelling in Morocco. The rooms are spread across the property in the style of a small Greek village, with white walls and aegean blue doors and wooden shutters. Ancient Eucalyptus trees offer shade and the sound of birdsong fills the air. In my mind Tangaro is a little piece of paradise, if all you need is a place to escape for a while to read a good book or to recover some peace of mind this could well be your answer.

Every photograph online I have seen bears absolutely no resemblance to what this ‘hotel’ is actually like. I would imagine they were all taken years ago. Overall the place is run down, half open and neglected. The pool bar is closed down and empty. The hotel bar is closed with no drinks other than one fridge and is a a ‘help yourself honesty bar’ with wine and beer but often runs out and is not re stocked. There is no wine or bar list, if you’re lucky you might find a g&t to make for yourself, you have to ask for some lemon and go to the shut down pool bar for the ice machine. There are no other cocktails or drinks on offer, so don’t expect an evening cocktail pre dinner. On Friday the fridge was empty with a member of staff saying you can’t buy alcohol on a Friday in Morocco to re stock it, to the disbelief of a couple who’d just arrive. So why didn’t they re stock the day before…??? We had to move our children and our friends children from their room due to the terrible smell of damp/drains that made everything smell. When ordering food it took anywhere from 2-3hrs to arrive, so we started ordering supper for our children at 5/6pm to eat at 9pm. Pool towels, used in the morning were still on the sun-beds in the afternoon, as with the tables, glasses, plates etc used earlier. Perhaps the reason for a lot of this is there are only 3 members of staff, one of whom is the only chef. Yes…there’s one cook for the entire hotel. The staff were charming and helpful and clearly tried to do their best under very difficult circumstances, luckily there were only ever about 3-4 families staying so the hotel was never full. God knows what would have happened if it was! There is a Spa, but as with the ‘pool bar’ it’s closed, empty and neglected. Even if there was an option to use it we weren’t told about it and no one was there to greet you/offer anything to you. As with much of this place it seems only half open, or half closed! When it came to paying the food and drinks bill, at the reception all the computers and printers were shut down and we were presented with a handful of pieces of paper with everything scribbled down in biro, impossible to read or check if correct. Who ever owns this hotel has completely lost interest in it, spent no money and clearly not visited it recently or if they have they just don’t care. It’s a real shame as it has a lot of potential and was perhaps once really good. However I would now strongly advise anyone thinking of going to consider a visit very, very carefully.

We loved this property; it’s not a big brand chain of hotels but a small boutique hotel full of charm and character. It’s perfect for rest and relaxation, the rooms are all individually decorated in typica Moroccan style and our room had a fireplace which we used. The staff lead by Rashid where all attentive and did all they could to please, even down to what we would like to eat in the evenings, nothing was a problem. The location is perfect, away from the hustle and bustle of the medina and although we liked going into Essaouira, coming back to the peace and tranquillity of the hotel was a blessing. The food was lovely, from great breakfasts down to the lovely tajines individually prepared by the cook which were faultless. We can’t wait to return and will do so with the rest of our family.