Ksar Ben Youssef

Slotted into the palm groves three kilometres along the Zagora road, Ksar Ben Youssef occupies a rammed-earth kasbah compound in Tarmigt, across the Draa valley from Ouarzazate's studio district and Taourirt Kasbah. The setting suits travellers breaking a desert-route drive rather than those wanting a walkable old-town base.

Rooms keep thick clay walls and small deep-set windows against the daytime heat, arranged around a courtyard garden irrigated by the traditional khettara channel system still active on site.

Ouarzazate's airport and film studios sit a short drive north, making this a quiet stopover before the Draa valley or Sahara routes east.