The Serai will open March 2019

But we need your help to make that happen. Please watch this 3-minute video.

 

We’ve been building this eco-lodge with our own hands for 9 years now and have to finish it before we go completely mad. In addition to our own savings this year we need another €10k to get it all functioning properly. So we’re reaching out to you with this friend-funding campaign. Please consider booking a room or the whole lodge now, and then coming to stay any time after we’re finished in the spring.

 

It’s like a crowd-funding campaign but instead of a crowd coming to stay we get a house full of friends and other like-minds. Of course we’d prefer to invite you all to stay for free but we know you’ll understand.

The money raised will go towards finishing the kitchen, the hot water system, the sunset deck and a new cistern to increase our rainwater storage capacity.

If we have that money to spend this winter, you could come and stay anytime from march 2019.

Here’s The Deal

 

It’s simple: a bed with breakfast is €25 a night. Children <3 go free and from 3 – 15 years are half price.

If you want to take the whole lodge (15 beds) it’s €260 a night or €1500 for a week. That’s just €13 per person per night, bed and breakfast.

If you want to take all the guest rooms (10 beds) -leaving us in residence also- it’s €200 a night or €1000 for a week.

Lunch & dinner are set menu on demand @ €10 a head (€5 for children under 12).

Or you may self cater if you wish.

Once there you can:

  • do absolutely nothing (in a number of spectacular locations)
  • explore our beautiful coastline
  • enjoy nearby Essaouira
  • indulge in any number of entertaining activities, either hectic or sedentary
  • rent our uber-cool camper van and head off into the mountains or desert (some conditions apply)

Getting there (in summary)

There are flights direct to Essaouira from Luton & Paris (3-4hrs/€40-150 o/w).

Marrakech (a 2.5hr, €60 taxi ride away) is a 2-4hr flight away from European airports (€30+ o/w).

Rental cars are €20-25 a day.

Eco-lodge in detail

Please explore the rest of this website for more about the eco-lodge and what there is to see and do there.

To support us and get involved please just click here

Scroll down for some FAQs.

The 4 south bedrooms

What safeguards are in place for you?

What happens if you book a room but we don't make our goal and the lodge is not, in fact, fully functional when you want to come out?

We ARE opening on the 9th March 2019, yes or yes. That's when the first yoga group arrive. We're only asking that you take the plunge and book a room or more now, before it's completely finished and before this website is full of fabulous and enticing photos, so that we don't have to cleverly disguise the odd unfinished bit, or beg and borrow bed sheets or whatever!

The Citadel of Essaouira

What if you can't come for several or more years?


Your booking will still stand. However, by that stage the Serai will be rented out only in it's entirety, i.e. to groups and families. It will not be operating as a B&B or hotel. To avoid any major losses, therefore, at the beginning of each year we will get in touch with all those who have not yet redeemed their booking in order to establish some weeks in common that we can block off in the calendar. That way we'll hope to avoid the kind of situation where we have to refuse a valuable week's booking because one of the rooms is reserved for two nights only.

And Who are We?

Hello

If we don't yet know you, welcome to our site. We are Mark & Ayelen (Ash-e-len), a Scottish and Argentinian team living a slightly unconventional life with our two children Gaia (3) and Isaac (2). We have spent the last nine winters building this lodge, with whatever money we’ve managed to scrape together and save during summers spent in Ibiza. Ayelen paints houses and sells carpets while I'm a carpenter and boat skipper. We also run Bell Tent Ibiza.
We always knew our Moroccan project would take this long and we understood that the journey was more important than the end product. Building with natural materials, communicating only in Arabic, gardening without water: there's been so much to learn along the way. And now there's a charity too, and we are embarking on a fascinating mission to help rural communities transition away from destructive farming practices.
Despite it being a building site with tap-and-bucket plumbing for all these years, from the very start the Serai has been full of friends, family, volunteers and complete strangers; more and more every year. Azrou Issa is a special place, and many are generous enough to tell us that we've created something very inspiring and wonderful in its midst.
We very much hope to meet you there soon.
With best wishes
Mark, Ayelen, Gaia & Isaac