The family behind Dar Tafouyte
Dar Tafouyte is not a company that bought a hotel in the desert. It is a family house in Takoujte that grew into one, run by people who were born within sight of these dunes.
Brahim — the founder
Brahim started Dar Tafouyte because he wanted people to see the Sahara the way people from here see it — not as an empty backdrop for a photograph, but as somewhere with weather, history, families, music and an economy. He built the first rooms in the traditional way, with mud brick and palm beams, and refused to make it look like anywhere else.
Atman — who looks after your stay
Atman runs the day-to-day. If your room is ready early, if the kitchen has made something different because you are vegetarian, if the camel trek left ten minutes later because the light was going to be better — that is Atman. Guests write about him more than they write about the dunes, which we find funny and he finds embarrassing.
And the rest of us
Ibrahim, Osman, Hassan and Youssef are part of the daily running of the hotel and the camp — the kitchen, the camels, the 4×4s, the setting up of the bivouac before you arrive so that it looks like it has simply always been there. Guests name them in reviews constantly, which is the part we are proudest of.
Where we are, and why it matters
Takoujte is a small village a kilometre from Merzouga. We are at the point where the hard ground stops and Erg Chebbi begins — which means you walk to the dunes rather than driving to them, and it means the view from the terrace is the actual erg, not a picture of it.
The main building is divided in two. The communal side has the restaurant, the lounge and the terrace, and outside that the garden and the pool. The other side has eight en-suite rooms, and there are three separate apartments as well.
What we believe about this place
Erg Chebbi is roughly 28 km long, 5 to 10 km wide, and rises to about 150 metres at the highest ridge. Those are the numbers. What the numbers do not tell you is that the sand changes colour four or five times between sunrise and full daylight, that it is genuinely silent out there in a way most people have never experienced, and that it gets cold enough at night in January to see your breath.
We would rather tell you those things honestly than sell you a fantasy. If you come in August we will say it is going to be very hot. If you want to see the dunes without a camel, we will drive you. If you want to sit by the pool for three days and not go anywhere, that is a completely respectable way to spend time here and we will bring you tea.
Languages
Between us we speak Tamazight, Arabic, French, Spanish and English. Tamazight is our first language — the Berber language of this region.
Guest reviews
What guests write when they get home
“Ibrahim, Osman and their team were very helpful and friendly, I highly recommend it. We spent 2 nights at Bivouac Dar Tafouyte and Auberge. The rooms were comfortable and the food excellent.”
Abdellah Sadik · TripAdvisor“There are no words to describe the wonderful time we spent at your place. Thank you so much, Atman and the team, for being such a warm person and making our time unforgettable.”
Silvia Barber · TripAdvisor“Relaxed atmosphere with an exceptional breakfast. The path to the camel routes is quite close. The owner was very courteous. After the camel ride we were looked after properly.”
Alexander Neumann · TripAdvisor