Our trip to Wadi Rum had us wanting to take in a luxurious glass domed tent while exploring the desert mountains of Wadi Rum. With a vast number of different camps to choose from, we had our work cut out for us in selecting a camp. After extensive research, we ended up at Memories Aicha Luxury Tented Camp. Our experience was outstanding for a glass domed tented camp. Read on to see how our visit experience fared…

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This post is one chapter on our trip to Jordan, Israel and France during the end of the pandemic. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Memories Aicha Luxury Camp, Wadi Rum, Jordan

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“The Memories Aicha Luxury Tented Camp offered a convenient glass domed camp near the entrance to Wadi Rum. The camp was exceptionally clean, well located, and offered memorizing under stars viewing.”

Booking Memories Aicha Luxury Camp:

One of the goals of our trip to Jordan was a visit to the desert of Wadi Rum, Jordan. While there are a multitude of luxury tended camps, we ended up a the top rated Memories Aicha Luxury Camp.

We ended up at the Memories Aicha Luxury Tented camp based on it’s favourable reviews, its proximity to the Wadi Rum village (which meant a shorter commute time into the camp), and it’s access to activities and tours of Wadi Rum.

We had also initially considered the Wadi Rum UFO Camp. However, we had a change of heart when we discovered that the Wadi Rum UFO Camp was actually located outside of the Wadi Rum park. As the corresponding tours from Wadi Rum UFO Camp would likely take place outside of Wadi Rum proper, we ended up switching to the Memories Aicha Luxury Tended Camp.

There are three room categories at the Memories Aicha Luxury Camp.

• Junior Luxury Tent
• Executive Luxury Tent
• Panoramic Luxury Tent
• Panoramic Luxury Suite

The rooms had flat rate pricing, meaning that the prices were set and did not fluctuate according to supply and demand.

The Junior Luxury Tent sold for 140 JOD ($197 USD), the Executive Luxury Tent for 200 JOD ($282 USD), the Panoramic Luxury Tent sold for 250 JOD ($352 USD) and the Panoramic Luxury Suite for 320 JOD ($451 USD).

Rates were inclusive of a truck transfer to / from the Wadi Rum Village to / from Memories Aicha, and half board consisting of a full dinner and hot breakfast the next day.

Which Room Should I Book?

The rooms to get at Memories Aicha Luxury Camp are the glass domes of the Panoramic Luxury Tent and the Panoramic Luxury Suite categories. Each of these room categories offer its residents to sleep under a beautiful glass dome that allows for star gazing. It is for these reasons that you come to Wadi Rum; that and the beautiful surroundings that aren’t as easily captured in a Junior Luxury Tent and an Executive Luxury Tent.

Availability of the Panoramic Luxury Tents and Panoramic Luxury Suites glass domes went awfully quickly. Most of the rooms were sold out three months in advance, and we had to do a little schedule shuffling in order to get in here.

At the time of booking, we were given instructions on the location to park in the Wadi Rum village. We were also given information on the available tours operating from the camp so we could plan a little bit in advance.

Getting to Memories Aicha Luxury Camp:

We departed Al Manara – A Luxury Collection, Saraya Aqaba. We drove up from Aqaba, Jordan to Wadi Rum Village. It was about one hour drive through several military check points (2) and one military / customs checkpoint leaving the special Aqaba Special Economic Zone.

The scenery on the drive up was absolutely beautiful. The views of the mountains near Aqaba, Jordan were amazingly beautiful and desert like in appearance.

The turn off to Wadi Rum was very easy to find, and clearly marked. After another twenty minutes or so, we were finding ourselves near the scenery of Wadi Rum.

We arrived to the reception area of the Wadi Rum visitor’s Centre. We had our Jordan Pass stamped at the Wadi Rum Visitor’s Center. We were given directions up the road. With the assistance of our google offline maps gps, we easily located the Memories Aicha camp parking lot. The parking lot was a secure and fully fenced parking area.

We checked in at the parking lot office at our assigned 2 pm check in time. While our transportation “to camp” was being arranged, we had a brief sales pitch to book excursions departing from the camp. While we arranged a three hour 4×4 Wadi Rum day time tour for the day of our departure (at a time of our choosing), we decided against the camel or 4 x 4 sunset tours. We ended up going for a Wadi Rum walk from the camp for sunset.

Travelling light, I packed an overnight bag for the camp, leaving my larger checked bag locked in the trunk of the rental. There were many car rentals in the parking lot. spot.

After our transfer was arranged, we headed out to a bedouin pick up truck. We loaded ourselves into the back of the bedouin pickup truck.

We hopped in to the back of a Toyota Diesel pickup truck and were led 10 minutes into the Wadi Rum. It was a 15 km/h journey, although our driver took a lot of care so that we weren’t tossed around in the back of the open air pick up truck.

After a short fifteen minutes drive, we found ourselves in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert immediately underneath towering mountains. As a result of it’s great location, we found ourselves arriving to Memories Aicha Luxury Camp located quite close to the Wadi Rum entrance.

Checking into Memories Aicha Luxury Camp:

Our Bedouin Truck transfer pulled into the Memories Aicha Luxury Camp. The camp is located in the nook of a canyon mountain and looks impressive with it’s glass domes and Executive Luxury Tents.

After a quick check in at the main camp office simply to collect the room key, we were assigned Panoramic Luxury Tent Number 1. In the Special Requests section of the reservation, I had requested an unobstructed view, but we ended up in the centre ring surrounded by other units a short distance away. I didn’t bother to change given the one night stay. Despite the placement, MrsWT73 was super happy with the set up and I didn’t bother further pursing a better room assignment.

The Tent: A Panoramic Luxury Tent

Getting assistance with our bags, we entered the Panoramic Luxury Tent. Our initial impressions were excellent. On arrival, we were completely taken with the view of the geodesic dome, with an impressive outward view of the Wadi Rum mountains.

We were really impressed with the room. It was a quaint room that was very clean and not at all hot despite the sun being out all day. On arrival, the room was air conditioned to twenty degrees Celcius.

The room featured two occasional chairs under the dome. While it was nice to have somewhere to sit in the room, the chairs ended up being mostly storage space. Despite their unique look, they weren’t all that comfortable to sit on.

While there was a camping feel to the room, it still felt clean and comfortable. Mostly, the view of the mountains and area were super aspirational and set a great back drop and view from our glass dome.

In terms of room amenities, the room also featured an in room espresso coffee maker. Two bottles of Aquafina water were also provided.

The room also featured an attached bathroom. The bathroom included a stand up shower. While the bath room was a little dated, it was exceptionally clean. The bathroom features were much more advanced than our experience in Morocco at the Erg Chigaga Luxury Tented Camp with Memories Aicha Luxury Camp featuring a full running water hook up and a full shower with hot running water.

It’s worth noting that there is no television or wifi internet access in the room. This is a welcomed absence since this leaves you only the midnight stars to entertain you during your stay.

The room was quiet and comfortable. There wasn’t a lot of noise from the resort and we had a very strong and deep sleep during our time on the resort property.

The room also featured an outside deck. While our deck wasn’t very private, it was a great spot to watch the stars from at night. I spent quite a bit of time out there after the sun went down.

Around the Hotel Property:

Resort Area:

After settling in, I took a walk around the resort. With most guests out on excursions, it was pretty deserted at the camp in the early afternoon at 3 PM. The mixture of Panoramic Luxury Tents and Suites blue domes had a great contrast against the Wadi Rum mountains.

The rooms were generally quite well spaced out between each other. As a result, you had a decent amount of personal space between each room. There was enough space that you didn’t run into your neighbouring domed guests.

Despite the beauty of the Wadi Rum desert, its worth also mentioning that there isn’t any pool or other recreational facility at the Memories Aicha Luxury Camp. In this sense, it was much more like a camp than a resort with a lot of attractions. If you find yourself here throughout the afternoon, you should bring a book or a sturdy set of walking shoes to entertain yourself with a desert walk from the camp.

Food and Beverage:

The Memories Aicha Luxury Camp operates on a half board basis with breakfast and dinner included. Additional meals and beverages are also available throughout the property in an additional cost basis.

Makki Cafe Shop:

The Memories Aicha Luxury Camp operates a small coffee shop for all day dining when the main Aicha Restaurant is not open. The Makki Cafe Shop features a small shady deck area, which is perfect for lounging away the time.

The Makki Cafe Shop features a unique cave like atmosphere, with tables set right into the mountain rock. With colourful cushions, the long room had a bright and vibrant feel.

The Makki Cafe Shop menus were pretty simple. Although I wasn’t expecting a deluxe lunch space in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert, it was nice that the resort had something available for those like us who happened to find ourselves here before supper hour.

The Makki Cafe Shop operated on an additional cost basis.

Aicha Restaurant:

Both of the included half board meals are served at the Aicha Restaurant. The Aicha Restaurant was located at the rear of the property along with the Makki Cafe Shop restaurant. The Aicha Restaurant is located in a giant oval dome with a buffet servery located in the middle.

The meal hours during our visit were 6:30 PM – 10 PM for dinner and the same 6:30 AM – 10 AM breakfast hours.

The space actually has a nice elegant look to it with chandeliers and ornate seating. Like many other locations, there was a photo of the king of Jordan in the middle of the room.

During supper hour, we had a solid camp meal. While the meal was focused on quantity, it was pretty tasty overall with enough food to keep everyone satisfied. The dinner time meal had a large mix of salads and the usual tomatoes and hummus that could be expected within dining in Jordan.

There was also a massive serving of roast lamb and chicken with some tasty rice pilaf. The meat dish was self service, so I was able to help myself several times.

Walking into Wadi Rum for Sunset:

We didn’t book any evening activities, despite the earlier push for sunset bookings at check in. Instead of an organized evening activity, we walked into the Wadi Rum desert. We set out for a fifteen minute walk within the first valley immediately from the camp.

During our sunset walk, we were fortunate to be able to see some wild camels circulating around the Wadi Rum desert transiting their way across the canyon.

It was a pretty neat special experience seeing a dad and family camel convoy as they wandered through the Wadi.

As the sun set for the day, we had some pretty spectacular sunsets. The clouds were just right tonight across the mountain ranges. It was pretty special being able to take in the sunsets all on our own and at your own pace.

The sand dunes allowed us to get some great photographs across the ridges as the sun closed down for another day.

As the sun dipped down, we wandered back to the camp. We watched the convoy of sunset 4 X 4 tour caravans headed back to various tented camps. The sights of dozens of pick up trucks made us happy we didn’t take a sunset excursion and were able to enjoy the peacefulness of the desert on our own.

The caravan of truck convoys may have been a less special experience than heading out on the walk. I would probably go for a camel ride at sunset next time as the amount of people going for camel rides seemed far less and a lot more special by the looks of it.

Watching the Stars:

After dinner, we got back to the Panoramic Luxury Tent room. While the sun reclined behind the mountains, we settled in for the evening.

The resort glowed to dark.

Relaxing in our warm bed, we were able to enjoy watching the starts through our glass dome. Eventually, the resort turned off all the generator lights at around 10 PM. When they did, the resort was plunged into complete and utter darkness.

Once the resort was in full darkness, the viewing of the stars was magnificent. Without any artificial light around, the stars were glowing throughout the valley.

The full darkness and star gazing was what you likely came to Wadi Rum. Anytime you get the opportunity to see stars in complete darkness, it’a a pretty special star gazing viewing experience.

Checking Out of Memories Aicha Luxury Camp:

We woke up the next morning. We had a leisurely breakfast at the restaurant. As we returned to the dome at around 9:20 AM after breakfast, staff were covering up the glass domes with an opaque silver cover to prevent from heat and dust on the glass. If you were planning on spending the morning laying in bed looking through your glass domes, this probably isn’t the resort to do it.

We had booked ourselves a Wadi Rum 4 X 4 tour through the hotel. We departed on that tour around 10 AM; which appeared to be among the last tours of the day to depart. After the tour, we were dropped off at our car and we drove up to The St Regis Amman for a two night stay.

We headed to the front desk area and checked out of the hotel. We paid for our tour direct to the camp front desk and set out on our way.

Bottom Line: The Memories Aicha Luxury Tented Camp

The Memories Aicha Luxury Tented Camp was fantastic and wonderful experience. The fit and finishings of the Panoramic Tents were top notch. The camp itself was in really great shape and everything was very well maintained.

While ther were not many activities available at the camp itself, we were happy we took a walk into Wadi Rum at sunset and got some really great photographs. Staying up to watch the stars at night, was also a really special experience.

The only area that cold have been a little stronger was the food. I appreciate that the resort has to serve almost one hundred people. Given their location, the buffet is probably among the best methods to do it.

I can’t wait to return one day.

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If you have stayed at Memories Aicha Luxury Camp, did you spend extra for the glass domed Panoramic Luxury Tent ?

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