Hotel Adrère Amellal Ecolodge Siwa Egypt

Hotel Adrère Amellal Ecolodge Siwa Egypt

The aura around Adrère Amellal is spectacular

A step into another world. A world that is not dependent on electricity, air conditioning, or room service but instead on preserving the natural beauty of the surrounding area. Adrère Amellal provides a breathtaking view of the salt lake or of the surrounding oasis every where you look. Doors and furniture are made from olivewood and at night, the only source of light are the numerous beeswax candles, lanterns and the desert sky.

The ancient Egyptians called Siwa the ‘Field of Trees’. Today this most isolated settlement is home to a small population of Berbers and one of the world’s most interesting hotels. You won’t find marble sinks and black-suited staff here and you can’t use the wifi because there is no electricity. In London, this sort of thing would be called ‘rough luxe’.

Your room is luxurious but in the sense that you are free from the demands of digital existence. A traditional mud hut is where you sleep on a bed made of rammed cotton. Here is a rare chance to enjoy the simple things, dinner under the palm trees, horseback riding through desert dunes, your guide silhouetted against a blood orange sunset.

Adrere Amellal A Place Out Of Time

This is a place with a very special, luxurious sense of the primitive, surrounded by the kind of magic that only ancient tribes, majestic mountains and ruthless desert climates can conjure.

Adrère Amellal desert eco lodge is a paradox in process, mingling the asceticism of a Cistercian monastery, the luxuries of a Turkish seraglio, and the whimsy of a Cape Cod sandcastle.

The thick, earthen walls absorb the heat of the sun during day, maintaining a cool interior at the 40-suite hotel. At night, when the temperature drops, the walls radiate the heat captured from the scorching sun. Torches, beeswax candles and stars help illuminate the completely electricity-free 40-room resort.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have both been guests at Adrère Amellal hotel near Siwa, staying in the £1,420-a-night Royal Desert Romm, which boasts the only bathtub at the property - installed especially for the couple.

Traditional dishes cooked in honey glazed pots with all the herbs and vegetables hand picked from the local organic garden.

The building is all done with local materials: with kershef – a traditional mixture of sun-dried rock salt, clay and straw –  for the walls, with sandstone for the bath­rooms, palm trunks and fronds for chairs and hand-woven fabrics for coverings. Everything is minimalist and harmonious

A labyrinthine fortress-village, a miracle of harmonious balance between nature, spontaneous architecture and local traditions.

A shelter of sand and salt modeled in the earth like a mineral labyrinth to better get lost between the celestial vault and the waves of the dunes.