Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas

At the edge of the Sahara Desert in the oasis town of Tozeur, southwestern Tunisia, Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas occupies a landscape where the sand sea of the Chott el-Djerid salt lake meets the palm grove of one of North Africa’s most historically significant oasis towns. The resort’s architecture draws on the traditional blind-brick geometry of Tozeur’s medina, whose honeycomb facades are one of the most distinctive vernacular styles in North Africa, and the accommodation ranges from rooms and suites within the main building to private pool villas arranged through a date palm garden. The Sahara extends into the desert beyond the resort, with sand dunes accessible within an hour’s drive and the legendary troglodyte cave settlements of Matmata and the gorges of the Chebika and Tamerza oases within day-trip range.

The resort’s spa programme incorporates hammam treatments and natural ingredient preparations drawn from the Berber wellness traditions of the Tunisian south, including rhassoul clay, camel milk, and the various botanical preparations associated with the desert edge’s medicinal plant traditions. Dining draws on Tunisian cuisine of the south — harissa in its most complex forms, slow-cooked merguez and lamb, the brik pastries and couscous preparations that define the culinary heritage of this region — in a setting that looks out over the date palms towards the Saharan horizon. Quad bike excursions, camel treks, and night stargazing in the desert are among the most consistently requested activities.

Anantara Sahara Tozeur’s position in one of the Sahara’s most accessible and culturally rich oasis towns gives it an authenticity of location that purpose-built desert resorts in more remote settings cannot always provide, with the medieval medina, the traditional brick-weaving workshops, and the functioning date palm agriculture of the oasis providing cultural context for a landscape whose beauty is inseparable from its agricultural and social history.