Adrere Amellal Ecolodge

Sitting on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, the lodge was built to be eco-friendly and weather the desert elements. The kershef-style walls absorb the heat of the day, leaving a cool interior by day yet storing warmth for the evenings. Electricity doesn't feature, rather plumping for oil lamps, beeswax candles and fireplaces in the dining room and courtyards. Ingredients from Berber markets and the organic garden are used to make traditional dishes, which are served somewhere different every day - perhaps by the lake, or in a candlelit grotto. Set in amongst the palm and olive trees, the spring-fed pool provides welcome refreshment.

Like structures rising from the desert itself, there are 40 rooms and suites, which all feature locally-crafted kilims (rugs) and rammed cotton mattresses on finely-designed olive beds. No two rooms are the same, but they are all wonderfully simple with zero clutter and instead highlighting the ancient craftsmanship used in their creation. There is no air-con or electricity, but the Berbers knew how to keep cool with strategically-placed windows. In some, the bathrooms are carved into the rockface, and many rooms enjoy views of Lake Siwa from the terrace.

Any time you're outside, the gargantuan dunes of the Great Sand Sea and the White Desert's startling chalk towers beckon - and there are plenty of opportunities to explore them thoroughly on a Jeep drive. Once you've picked your jaw from the floor, take a scenic horse ride through the palms, enjoy a picnic beside Cleopatra's Well, and enjoy a cooling dip in the saltwater lake. By evening, sip on cocktails as the sun turns the sky a burnished orange, and a sea of stars appears. Don't forget to look up!