What's the difference between a standard and luxury desert camp?

Having placed a lot of couples and families in desert camps, I can tell you the single biggest difference is the bathroom — everything else flows from there. At a standard camp you're using shared facilities: a basic seated or squat toilet in a separate tent, and washing that ranges from a cold tap to a bucket of warm water if you ask. At a luxury camp each tent has its own en-suite, with a flushing toilet, a sink and a hot shower. For honeymooners and anyone travelling with children, that private bathroom is usually what justifies the upgrade on its own.

Then there's the tent itself. Standard camps use the traditional nomad-style wool or canvas tents — you sleep on mattresses laid over rugs, with thick blankets, and it's perfectly comfortable in a rustic, romantic way. Luxury or 'deluxe' camps give you a proper bed frame and mattress, furniture, rugs underfoot, lanterns and lighting, sometimes a small seating area and, in the better ones, heating for winter nights. The footprint is bigger and there are far fewer tents in the camp, so it feels private rather than communal.

Food and service step up too, though both tiers feed you well. At a standard camp you'll get a shared dinner — harira soup, a tagine, fruit, mint tea — and Berber drumming round the fire, which is genuinely lovely. Luxury adds table service, a more elaborate multi-course dinner, sometimes wine, a better breakfast spread at sunrise, and staff attentive to a smaller group. The drumming and the stargazing, happily, are the same for everyone.

I'll be honest about the ceiling, because I don't want anyone disappointed: even the most luxurious desert camp is still a tent on sand in a remote place. Power is solar or generator and limited, the wind blows, and you can't expect a city hotel. What you're buying with luxury is privacy, a real bed, your own bathroom and a softer landing after a long drive. For a couple marking something special, or a family who'll thank you for the en-suite at 3am, it's money well spent. For a hardy traveller chasing the authentic nomad night, standard is more than enough — and the sky overhead costs nothing either way.