I read some of the comments posted on this site, so I was a wit skeptical, and as usual, it's all about 'guts'. In those times and days every one feels he/she has the power of the internet.... Villa de l'O is a nice little guest house, ideally located a few steps from the beach, a great view, a REAL rooftop terrace, unlike the zillion of Ryads in town with a handkerchief size rooftop and no experience as such...Yes it could be better, but you get what you pay for.
The front office staff is always present and friendly with good recommendations. Yes a more visible Maitre/esse de Maison would be great to see, at the same time I have stayed in may guest houses and sometimes it is like that and you feel you just rented a home and see no one at all! The Villa was full but only met a few guests at breakfast, with a view and the bees and the seagulls trying to knick my croissant! All part of a charming experience with a colonial style that makes you travel in time in Mogador.I'll be back!

We stayed 3 nights in Essaouira at the Villa de l'O and it was good without anything extra. And this is the story of this B&B: all is there but there is no soul or spirit in the house! Although it has a lot to offer if there was that higher level of engagement of the owner/manager or... (that person who was invisible, although only 7 rooms). Eg: for 3 mornings the same ingredients for b/f were served, no change.
I have to say that the staff at reception are very friendly and helpfull: they advised a number of excellent restaurants: La Table de Magador, Les Allizes
If you look for smtg good, well located and with friendly reception staff, then it may be an option. Altough I'm sure you can find a lot of other Riad's in town with better value for money.

Some of the furniture (large leather drawer cabinet,...) and objects in our split level room were worthy of a wealthy merchant's house. The terrace breakfast was excellent and provided a magnificent view over the ocean (pity about the pesky, persistent flies). Excellent advice given by Meryam in reception on a place for dinner: atmospheric, tasty, and very cheap, and how to negotiate in the souk! We enjoyed sitting in the lovely quiet courtyard garden listening to the birds. Perfectly located just inside the Medina, boasting a very short walk to the beach, this Villa provided for all our needs.

We are just finishing a two & a half week trip to Morocco and have spent our last three nights in Essaouira staying at this B&B hotel. The Villa de l'O has much to recommend it, being close to the medina walls it makes arrivals and departures very easy and access to everything you could wish to visit, involves just a short, enjoyable stroll.
Beautiful views of the bay are available from many rooms (unfortunately not ours) and the terrace, where a lovely breakfast is served at your convenience, every morning.
All the staff seemed very pleasant. There was also some renovation work being carried out whilst we were visiting and it was a little noisy at times and a bit dusty too, which was a bit of a negative.
I was sharing a room with my 20+ daughter who was finishing a three month stay in Africa, we had a lot of luggage between us and our room was SMALL. Considering we were paying for 5-star Riad accommodation on our trip, we were a bit disappointed. Though, our beds were very comfortable and the shower was good by Moroccan standards, meaning it was hot and above your head, a huge bonus. My mother's room was extremely spacious, very comfortable too, and she did not have an overhead shower but the most enormous bath which suited her.
I would return happily and recommend Villa de l'O to friends too, but only if I could be choosier about my room.