"Sir Richard Branson’s property sits atop a bluff in the High Atlas Mountains, and so thrilling is the 45-minute drive from Marrakech—on a narrowing road which switchbacks into the clouds—that your arrival is both a disappointment and a relief. The 24-room Kasbah was once the property of an antiquarian and artist, and items from his collections decorate the rooms, most of which have their own terrace or patio but no television. The hotel promotes itself as a home base for adventurers, but its DNA is closer to that of an old-fashioned European sanatorium, the kind in which days are whiled away wandering the gardens and inhaling the fresh air. Credit must be given for its graceful integration into the surrounding landscape and culture: The sweet staff are largely drawn from two Berber villages that bracket the property, and management seems genuinely proud of the employees and their heritage."
