If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (MAD6,818.18), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Earth-kind La Sultana Oualidia is bringing a breezier attitude to life in the sleepy surfing village of Oualidia. Set along the Atlantic coast, this Moorish mansion blends tadelakt plaster and sand-toned stones with laid-back, beachy interiors that match its lagoonside setting. At the sprawling spa, lofty domed ceilings welcome in beams of the beating Moroccan sun and masseurs knead with home-infused essential oils. You’ll find a curvaceous infinity pool resting above the village’s saltwater lagoon; and if all that relaxing inspires your adventurous spirit, staff are more than happy to set up beachfront horseback riding, kayak trips through the reserve, and fishing and surf sessions.
Noon; check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £593.09 (MAD7,500), including tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of MAD3.10 per person per night on check-out.
More details
Rates don’t usually include breakfast, but it’s available for MAD250 each.
Also
Unfortunately, La Sultana Oualidia isn’t suitable for those with limited mobility.
Hotel closed
The hotel closes its door annually between 11 January and 7 February.
At the hotel
Public beach nearby, gym, activity hub, plant nursery, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, and Clarins bath products.
Our favourite rooms
All rooms have their own private terraces and outdoor Jacuzzis, but we’d suggest securing the top-floor Ocean Suite for its lagoon panoramas. The Treehouse Suite’s setting amid the treetops gives it a novel edge and has its own beachfront entrance, if you’re seeking a little privacy.
Poolside
The outdoor heated infinity pool – open daily from 10am till 6pm – sits on a palm-lined deck that gazes over Oualidia’s lagoon. There’s a second indoor pool at the spa that's open between 9am and 7pm.
Spa
The quiet stone spa replicates a traditional hammam, with grand domed ceilings, marbled columns and dimly lit Moroccan lanterns. In addition to its four treatment rooms – where masseurs employ ancient healing methods and essential oils for meditative massages – you’ll also find a sauna, Jacuzzi and heated pool. The gym is set just beyond the spa, and there are private trainers on call for personalised workouts, as well as a deck for yoga and pilates sessions.
Packing tips
In terms of suitcase space, wetsuits should take priority, and if you’re an avid surfer be sure to bring your favourite wax so boards are gripped and geared.
Welcome; there’s no kids’ club or crèche, but staff can arrange babysitting for MAD100 an hour and there’s plenty for little Smiths to explore around the hotel grounds.
Sustainability efforts
An Earth-kind ethos guides La Sultana’s every move – even the hotel itself was built with repurposed, locally sourced materials. Fifty per cent of carbon offsets are allocated to a positive impact fund, that’s used to finance eco-friendly projects and donate to charities that support local communities and protect Morocco’s landscape. Staff dedicate time to cleaning the nearby lagoon and nature reserve to preserve its ecosystem; energy and water conservation are prioritised with irrigation and recycling systems; food is sustainably and responsibly sourced to ensure local farmers and fishermen are supported and food miles are limited – a lot of the vegetables are also grown on the hotel’s grounds in its plant nursery. An onsite bottling unit is in the works, which will supply glass-bottled water, cutting unnecessary transportation and plastic usage.
Secure a beachfront seat during summer and a fireside spot come the colder months.
Dress Code
As dressed up or down as you please – all restaurants are relaxed here.
Hotel restaurant
Take your pick: La Table de La Plage barbecues freshly caught fish and homegrown vegetables on the beachfront for flavourful lunches. Dinner is dished up at the hotel’s main restaurant, La Table de La Sultana, where chefs put a French twist on traditional Moroccan farm-to-fork fare (spiced calamari, chargrilled sea bream, beef braised in a tagine and pan-fried duck are a few standouts). If you’d rather dine à deux, ask staff to set up dinner under the candlelit Berber tent or a picnic on the beachfront.
Hotel bar
Set on the hotel’s jetty, the O Bar’s mixologists shake up classic cocktails and pour Moroccan wines that make for scenic apéritifs.
Last orders
Breakfast is served from 7.30am to 11am; lunch is between noon and 4pm, and dinner is 7pm to 11pm. The O Bar pours till 11pm.
Room service
Dishes can be delivered to your room between 7am and 11pm.
La Sultana Oualidia is on Morocco’s west coast, in the surfing village of Oualidia – formerly home to the Moroccan royal family – which sits south-west of Casablanca and north of Marrakech.
Planes
Casablanca Airport – a two-hour drive away – is the hotel’s closest and has flights to and from most international hubs. Six-person private transfers can be arranged for MAD2,000 each way. If you’re flying into Marrakech Menara Airport, it’ll take just over three hours to reach the hotel.
Automobiles
Leaving the cities can prove tough, but once you’re on the roads to Oualidia, driving shouldn’t be too challenging and can be useful if you’re planning on exploring further afield. There are plenty of rental booths at both airports, and the hotel has free private parking.
Worth getting out of bed for
La Sultana Oualidia is set between two bodies of water (the Atlantic to one side and a vast saltwater lagoon to the other), so it’s safe to say the aquaphiles will be feeling right at home, and we’d suggest jumping straight in with a surfing session. Staff can arrange private lessons, otherwise the Oudani Surf School is great for beginners and Surfland – run by Quicksilver – has a renowned reputation when it comes to teaching little Smiths how to ride the waves. Stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and horse-riding lessons are also on offer and great ways to explore the lagoon. If you’d rather stick with something a little calmer, set sail into the wetlands for a spot of bird-watching (you’re most likely to spy them in salt marshes during spring and autumn, when over 400 species come to nest).
Oualidia is famed for being Morocco’s oyster capital, so harvesting (and fishing) are popular pastimes; otherwise, ditch the waders and tour one of the surrounding oyster farms. For traditional souks and ceramics markets, schedule in a day trip to Safi – around an hour's drive away – which brims with brightly painted pottery. Embrace the slow pace of this sleepy village and spend your days at the hammam-style spa (where masseurs work their restorative magic), saluting the sun with a morning yoga flow, and cooking in traditional tagines with the hotel’s chef.
Local restaurants
There are plenty of grab-and-go seafood stands on the beach; but if it’s something more formal you’re after, options can be a little sparse in this small village. For dinner, we’d suggest stopping by locally loved L’Hippocampe, where just-caught fish is grilled to perfection and oysters are (of course) the main event.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this palatial pad in Oualidia and unpacked their swimwear and surfboards, a full account of their beachside break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside La Sultana Oualidia in Morocco…
If your vision of Morocco is filled with tourist-swarmed souks and manic medinas, then let La Sultana Oualidia shuck your assumptions with its sleepy Atlantic coast setting. Set in the small fishing village of Oualidia (pronounced wa-lid-ya), this honey-hued castle has plenty to boast about: a hammam-inspired spa dressed in pastel marble and Moroccan stone graces the ground floor, a curved infinity pool perches over the village’s lulling lagoon, rooms impress with private hot tubs and maritime interiors, and a lengthy dock is primed for dreamy oceanside dinners. Dry land may be fairly limited once you step beyond the hotel’s palatial gates – locals prefer the water and you’ll find most people out at sea (surfing, paddleboarding, fishing, bird-watching from boats; take your pick). Oh, and oysters are worth their weight in gold here, so get the Tasbasco ready.
