Illustrative photo of the region — the property's own gallery is on the booking page.

18th-century kasbah in the Skoura palm grove — pisé walls, palm-beam ceilings, storks on the towers.

Kasbah Aït Ben Moro is the real thing: an 18th-century fortress house on the edge of the Skoura palm grove, restored with pisé earth walls and palm-beam ceilings intact. Rooms are cool, dim and atmospheric in the way only real earth buildings are, and storks clatter on the towers at dusk.

Skoura's oasis is made for slow exploring — palm-shaded paths lead to the famous Kasbah Amerhidil ten minutes away — and the Dadès and Ouarzazate sit within easy reach. For the price of a chain hotel you sleep inside three centuries of southern Moroccan history.

Why we picked it

• A genuine 18th-century kasbah, restored not rebuilt
• Set in the Skoura oasis palm grove, near Kasbah Amerhidil
• Storks nesting on the towers and Atlas views from the roof