I'm having a Berber moment. My menu, offering “Berber salad” and “Berber burgers”, is served with views of Berber tented suites and a “warm Berber welcome”. It's just another Berber day at Kasbah Tamadot - Richard Branson's Moroccan pad.

But despite its local staff and sweeping panorama of High Atlas peaks, it's not an experience that many Berbers would recognise. Infinity pools, tennis courts and rooms sporting Arabic and Asian antiques are exotic rarities in this corner of North Africa. This is Berber with bells, whistles and a luxury price tag starting at £324 a night.

If that seems a heavy hit for a Moroccan break and you're prepared to trade five-star perks for authenticity and small-scale charm, stay in your taxi.

Ask your driver to head ten miles deeper into the mountains towards the petite, yet perfectly formed, guesthouse of Douar Samra. You'll save £254 a night, and that includes excellent local suppers - although possibly not Berber burgers.

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BACKGROUND

• Will Morocco be a bargain in 2009?

• How to haggle in Marrakesh

• Can we get currency before we get to Morocco?

• Can we take a toddler to Morocco?

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It helps to be slightly adventurous. After Tamadot, the road climbs along the Mizane valley until Imlil, where I swapped four wheels for four hooves, and clopped up the steep Tamartet valley, passing men in pointy-hood djellabas, and orchards of cherry and apple.

When the path became more precarious, four hooves became two feet, with the mule's young owner, Abdul, protectively clutching my hand. Finally, as the imam's cry reverberated around the valley, I reached a cluster of mud-walled houses.

Douar Samra is worth the effort. A warren of terraces, stairs and passages with eucalyptus-beamed ceilings, it blazes with colour from cushions, curtains and throws. Floors are covered with vibrant Berber rugs; walls feature local art and crafts.

Only three of the seven rooms have electricity, but all have fireplaces that are lit at dusk. It inhabits a less luxurious planet than Kasbah Tamadot, but Douar Samra is the snuggest guesthouse I've seen.

“It's boho Berber,” said Harriet Clark, a 20-year-old student visiting with her family. “I imagined a Nepalese teahouse, only warmer. But this is so quirky and stylish.”

Central to the unique atmosphere is the charismatic owner, Jacqueline Brandt. Having quit France for a Marrakesh riad, she expanded into the mountains in 2004, with the whole village pitching in to build the traditional house.

Along with her Shih Tzus, Chanel, Cashew and Tosca, she is more warm-hearted matriarch than landlady. “Welcome to a different world, Ian,” she announced poetically on my first night. “Have you seen the stars? They're perfect.” Harriet and her sister were introduced as “my wonderful girls - I'm their adopted grandmother”. They're not her first.

She has already adopted Tamartet village. “It's a simple Berber life. I feel like a free bird. I want to share it.” It's a successful offer. The mix of guests tucking in to nightly communal tagines and fresh Moroccan vegetables included hospital consultants, surfers and a yoga teacher. Interesting conversation trumps dining privacy.

A lot of chat covered people's daily hikes. Douar Samra, with a mesmerising outlook to the Toubkal Massif, is a superb trekking base. Eschewing local guides, I headed deep into the Mizane valley towards the fertility shrine at Sidi Chamarouch and several encounters with Moroccan entrepreneurs.

“How far to Sidi?” I asked a teenager with several mules. “Six hours,” he replied, “want to hire a mule?” Ten minutes later, around the next corner, there it was.

I came away with an £8 fossil rather than greater potency, but it drove home the popularity of my host. She is as famous locally as Branson is globally. Every time I asked directions to Samra, faces would light up: “Ah, Jacqueline.”

That night, after treating aching muscles to the guesthouse hammam, I chatted to Bertran Tezenas, a Marrakesh architect who had also stayed at Kasbah Tamadot. “It's a true kasbah,” he said. “But guests have such high expectations of comfort that it felt like Berber Disneyland. I'd always choose Douar Samra. It's the real thing.”

NEED TO KNOW

A double room with half board at Douar Samra costs from £70 a night booked through www.i-escape.com (children under 9 free). A taxi from Marrakesh airport is £49 one way.

A return flight to Marrakesh on Royal Air Maroc is from £105 with www.lastminute.com

B&B at Kasbah Tamadot for one night costs the same as 4.6 nights at Douar Samra on half board.

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