M'Zab Ghardaia

I stayed here for two nights with a group. The hotel is located out of town near a surrounding oasis. You will need a car to get around. The hotel has a van and can help arrange transport and a guide. This could be a charming little place with a bit more care. The staff are kindly and try hard. Sadly, their cleaning skills are cursory so there is a lot of dust and built up grime in the bathroom. The towels and linen also smell stale. The rooms are functional though and if you can get a remote may feature a working air conditioner. I had a space heater (which I didn’t try) in mine but no remote. Fortunately, it only got chilly at around 4 AM (mid April) in my room and they had thick blankets. Lighting is good as are electrical charge points. I gave up on the WIFI and had to use data. The bathroom had a very small sink which I could barely use to wash my face due to a shelf placed awkwardly above it. There was plenty of hot water and shower pressure was good. But oh that grime! They have a variety of rooms with a differing number of beds configurations. There is a tent to relax in (not clean) and plenty of dusty plastic chairs to sit on outside in the courtyard. They also serve meals here if not too hot or cool. Otherwise meals are served in a lovely traditionally designed room on cushions (they have low stools too). With advance notice the food is very good, even for vegetarians. Just the breakfast is very meager: bread, butter, jam a piece of processed cheese (La Vache Qui Rit) and a yoghurt. Juice and coffee but no water or tea). The will hand wash laundry for you and hang it on the roof of the reception area to dry— where you pick it up from. (Small extra charge.)

This is a very large hotel, hundreds of rooms - almost all were empty during my stay with maybe 30 guests in residence. Kept thinking of the hotel in the Shining movie. Rooms are very clean, reasonable size, with large windows, blackout curtains, small fridge, good closet storage, desk, luggage storage table. Odd bathroom layout. - door couldn't be fully opened because it hit the toilet, making entry a challenge. Small sink and shower only - no bath tub. Bottled water is provided daily at no additional cost. Huge swimming pool that was unheated , so too cold to use in November. Small, well stocked shop in the lobby with local artisanal products. Front desk, restaurant and house cleaning staff were all personable and friendly, with varying proficiency with English. No problem with communication though. Breakfast was a small assortment of pastries, hard boiled eggs, cold cuts, yoghurt, juice and strong coffee. Not a major spread, which due to the small occupancy was understandable. The hotel was most likely built when there was a strong tourist presence in Algeria, now it is vastly oversized, making the place seem a bit forlorn. It is well maintained and in a good location, with close proximity to the cities in the M'Zab Valley.