Essaouira holiday bungalow

My boyfriend and I stayed at Jane's studio in August and simply can't emphasise enough how much we enjoyed our stay. The studio itself and the location was perfectly suited to our needs - a couple wanting to get away from the mania of London. The studio is clean and simple, with lots of helpful touches such as bread being delivered on our first morning, games to play, and information on the area etc. The kitchen was well enough equipped to make the odd meal at home though we mainly ate out. It was (thankfully!) not as windy at the Studio as Essouria itself and sitting by the pool all you can hear is the occasional donkey braying and the tortoises tentative footsteps around Jane's grounds! We will never forget playing chess outside in the evening waiting for the sun to go down - absolute bliss and we will return.
The village is very rural which perhaps we were not expecting, but this meant we got the peace we were looking for and really felt we'd experienced the real Morocco and not a tourists version. The locals were very friendly and we enjoyed purchasing our groceries from their stores - fresh eggs and they even had fairly luxery items such as Indian tonic water

It is very easy to get in to town by bus, which only takes 10 mins or so, but taxis were also cheap enough to use regularly. Jane's taxi contact Rachid was extremely helpful. The walk from the house to the end of the road where the bus stop is is about a 20 minute stroll, depending on the heat etc.We did not have a car&found it no prob

There are 2 good resturants at the end of the road-don't be fooled by their exterior, once inside it's a world apart. Many guests I have read like km8 and certainly the surroundings were beautiful. Whilst it was good we found the food a little inconsistant and prefered Oh Tagine next door - we paid just 100 dirham for a delicious 3 course meal and were made to feel very welcome.
Essouria itself is charming - plenty to explore and lots of shops. Chez Sam resturant by the harbour was good&the tapas bar La Casa provided great views over the square (and reasonably priced alocohol!).On Jane's recomendation I also tried my first kebab and am a convert! Just be careful of some of the smaller cafes-if the price looks to good to be true for steak then it probably is!
Jane's guardian Abselam was the most cheerful chap I've ever met, and last but not least Jane was a wonderful host-obliging but unobtrusive.
I would, and do, recomend anyone to this studio

Down a little track (turn left at the donkey water station and right by the pile of stones) lies an idyllic retreat - no fuss, no nonsense, just walled yard, swimming pool, comfy bed and tortoises roaming the grounds - ah bliss!
Debra and Carl

We had one of our most relaxing holidays ever during our stay in Jane's studio flat and can only recommend it.
The studio is a nice size for 2 people and is light and airy and very clean. The kitchen is small, but had everything we needed to prepare breakfast (and coffee - very important!) or a light meal. And the bed was really comfortable.
In a previous review it was mentioned that you don't neccessarily need a car and whilst it is true that there is adequat public transport, we enjoyed having the freedom to come and go as we wanted. After our breakfast on the sundrenched porch we would go for a swim in the pool (good size and 22C in March), check our emails on our laptop on the terrace (there's WIFI reception from the main house), go into Essaouira, come back in the afternoon for another swim and go out again in the evening for dinner. Jane was very helpful with recommendations, even phoning restaurants to see if they were open and taking cards (didn't have enough dirhams on our first night). We liked km8, Sirocco, Chez Sam and Taros (they also have a nice rooftop bar with live music at the weekends). We also took several trips during our week's stay: Paradise Valley and the Cascades at Imouzzer near Agadir, Sidi Kaouki and Moulay Bouzerktoun beaches and a really nice drive from Tidzi through the Amsitten foothills to Caid M'Barek's Kasbah and Neknafa to Khmiss Meskala. Lovely countryside and millions of wildflowers!
Jane's also got a lovely garden and I can imagine there is always something or other in bloom. I liked the lovely passion flowers.
Our thanks again to Jane who made our stay so much more enjoyable by sharing her local knowledge with us and being the perfect host, and to Abdeslam who was always ready to open the gate for us, no matter how late it was and always with a smile on his face.