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Guelmim – Accommodation and Eating

Accommodation is somewhat limited.

The Hotel Salam has the best meals, and there’s a newer, jazzier place, the Cafe Restaurant Arnassa, 139 Av Takana (daily 8am-11 pm; moderate priced), where food must be ordered at least an hour in advance. For cheaper eating, there’s a row of fried fish and tagine spots at the beginning of the Agadir road near the PTT, and Cafe Jour et Nuit just across the junction on the Route de Tan Tan (24hr; cheap). The Hotel Salam has a bar, but nearly all its customers are male.

Several of the hotels and cafes put on shows of Guedra dancing on Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday lunchtimes. Much has been written about this traditional, seductive womens dance of the desert – performed, from a kneeling position (developed for the low tents) to a slow, repetitive rhythm. The shows here, however, are a bit of a travesty.

Guelmim Hotels

Hotel Bahich 31 Av Abaynou 048 77 21 78, www.geocities.com/hotelbahich.
An excellent deal, with comfortable rooms, some with en suite showers, and 3-D paintings in the lobby by local artist, Hamid Kahlaoui.

Hotelliere Nouvelle 115 Bd Mohammed V 048 87 21 18.
Best of the ultra-cheapies, basic but clean, with friendly staff and hot showers (7dh) on request.

Hotel la Jeunesse 120 Bd Mohammed V 066 15 16 13.
A tolerable second choice if the Ere Nouvelle opposite is full. Located up a steep flight of steps.

Hotel el Oods off Route d’ Agadir CD 048 87 19 57.
Largish rooms with good beds and hot, shared showers – a good compromise between the most basic places and the pricier ones.

Rendez-Vous des Hommes Bleus 447 Av Hassan 11 CD 048 77 28 21 , 048 77 05 56.
Located 600m up Av Hassan 11, nearly at the oued, Guelmim’s priciest hotel has satellite TV in all its cozy, clean, rather small rooms, but it isn’t worth the price difference over the Bahich and the Salam. Despite the name, hommes bleus do not in fact tend to meet up here.

Hotel Salam Route de Tan Tan CD 048 87 20 57, 048 77 09 12.
Goulimine’s top hotel (though not its most expensive), with large en-suite rooms round an open patio, a decent restaurant and the only bar in town. Like the Bahich, it has paintings by Hamid Kahlaoui in the lobby.