sd122
Google
I stayed at this hotel for eight nights as I wanted to thoroughly explore Fès and the surrounding areas. This hotel is luxurious but it’s also interesting. Those who seek the conventionally deluxe establishments shouldn’t come here. But if you are interested in something special, this is the place.||Location: Inside the old Medina, off of a big plaza called Place Rcif, but cars cannot get to the hotel. One gets off near Place Rcif and walks up into a hidden neighborhood. I’m not sure if Google Maps would work, I simply memorized the path. Frankly, the first time walking to the hotel, through that local neighborhood, I wondered if I had made a mistake. But then the small entrance door opened and behold, a world of luxury opened up in front of me!||Physical plant: The building’s architecture and layout is classic Arab / Islamic. A great inner courtyard, opened to the sky, and surrounded by the rooms and the restaurant and several lounges. My room was a Royal Suite with three private balconies, two bathrooms, a lounge, a sitting area, and direct access to the terrace where Fès can be admired at sunrise and sunset. I heard that it took many years to renovate the building. I think the owners did a great job doing it.||Service: This is where the Riad really shines. The entire staff, from the front desk lady who made the restaurant recommendations, to the general manager who recommended the excursions, to the kitchen and food service staff, to the cleaning staff, everyone did a great job making my long stay as pleasant and as comfortable as possible. I took two super pleasant excursions as suggested by the general manager. I would like especially to commend Nourdine, the driver who took me on these excursions. In theory, he is not a tour guide. In practice, he did a much better job than tour guides. The information, tips, and assistance he provided were stellar. So, a great thanks to Nourdine.||Food: In these luxury hotels in Morocco, breakfast is not a buffet but is served at the table like a regular meal. At this Riad each breakfast varied slightly, but was always very good. I also had two dinners and both were tasty.||So what’s interesting about this place? For me, it was the location. The surrounding neighborhood is a “real” neighborhood where local people live and work. Right outside the Riad’s door there’s a leather workshop where they actually make leather goods. I talked to those guys a bit. Local kids played soccer in the plaza. It’s certainly not the typically exclusive neighborhood that surrounds 5-star hotels and some people might not appreciate this. But for those who do, this is definitely the right place