A member of Relais & Châteaux, Riad Fès has four different wings, beautifully catering to the decor tastes of a wide variety of guests.

Utmost care has been taken in designing and furnishing both the public and private rooms. The Moroccan style is typical of what you see elsewhere in Fès, with zelige mosaic floors and carved plasterwork, but much more finely done. The Oriental and Baraco-Andalous wings are more subdued, the former featuring gorgeous dark wood.

My room was in the contemporary wing, overlooking the spa and lap pool. It had warm neutral colours and clean modern lines. The glass door, protected by curtains, kept sound and light out of the bedroom, giving me a very refreshing sleep. Open to the spa courtyard, my separate area with couch and table, desk and Nespresso machine was more susceptible to noise and was outside of the wifi zone. Rooms are well equipped with comforts, including a big bathtub with separate shower, heated towel bars, lots of bathroom amenities, a flat screen tv (8 channels, mostly news), and a Bose 30 pin music player.

Riad Fès provides a complimentary breakfast buffet from 7 to 10 am in the restaurant, but don’t arrive late because they start to put everything away at 10:02. There’s a selection of eggs and crèpes to order, and a variety of pastries, fruits, yogurt, cheese and charcuterie on the buffet. The juices — carrot/orange, beet/orange and plain orange — were vivid and delicious.

Evenings should be spent in the rooftop terrace bar which overlooks the medina and the hills beyond. The smiling server who manages the bar goes out of his way to make sure every guest has exactly what they want and will even snap photos of you in front of the beautiful view.

There are many choices of places to relax throughout the hotel, including several patios and courtyards. Several are even accessible by elevator, as are some of the rooms. I enjoyed complimentary mint tea and coconut cookies in the sumptuous lobby. L’Ambre restaurant seats 70 for lunch or dinner. L’Alcazar bar hosts cocktails indoors overlooking the pool or on the Andalusian patio. There’s also a wine bar.

Riad Fès has a spa with hammam by Cinq Mondes, also open to outside guests. Several treatment rooms have a lovely view of the pool. There’s a fitness centre above the spa and the pool is great for cooling off and for laps.

 
It was surprisingly quiet at Riad Tizwa, a small boutique hotel in the Batha region of Fès’ medina. Riads and medina living can be a bit noisy, but not so at Riad Tizwa.

Before I went to sleep in my large room I closed the glass windows and wooden shutters, and through the night and morning I heard no call to prayer and no kitchen noises. If a good sleep is important to you (and isn’t it important for everyone?!), Riad Tizwa is a great choice.

I took tea in the courtyard with its beautiful ceiling decorations (covered for the rain), and poked my head in the salon with fireplace. Riad Tizwa has seven bedrooms, all different, and all but one with ensuite bath. Two rooms are on the small side, with a lower ceiling — pick what suits your price range and preferences. The entire house can sleep up to 16 people.

My room had a fireplace as well as two heaters, but I didn’t need them inside my curtained king size bed. There was A/C too, for when the weather turns hot. I had a day bed near the fireplace as well as a couch to stretch out on. My bathroom with copper sink and a shower was up a flight of stairs, next to a room which acted as a giant closet. There was a small toilet room too, just a few steps up from the door.

Though the staircases are steep (like in most riads), Riad Tizwa unusually has handrails to help you get up and down safely. Be sure to climb the staircase to the roof and you’ll be rewarded with a multi-tiered terrace complete with lemon trees, on which I had a fabulous breakfast.

Riad Tizwa puts a lot of effort into their delicious breakfasts, and you can eat them anywhere you’d like in the riad and at any time you’d like too. How luxurious! The staff put a lot of effort into service too. They are extremely kind and professional, and work hard to make your stay completely enjoyable.

To the front door of Riad Tizwa, you only need to walk 50 meters from where a taxi can drop you off. It is easy to find, though there are many neighbourhood boys who politely insist on walking you there (no need to pay them if you’ve been clear you don’t want their help).

There’s a sister Riad Tizwa in Marrakech too.

 
Down the Street of Seven Turns is Dar Seffarine, a great value boutique hotel in the Fès medina. The six-room hotel is in a real Moroccan neighbourhood — the oldest in the medina — and here you can get a taste of the communal life that makes Morocco what it is.

At Dar Seffarine you will, of course, have your own room and ensuite (they’re of various sizes, some are lovely and some are spectacular). And you’ll get the feeling of living in a house with others.

Breakfasts (included in rates) are communal and served in an enclosed rooftop breakfast room, in the garden or the dining room. I was introduced to a fruit I’d never met before — mzah, also called loquat or Japanese plum — delicious! Dinners (200 dirham or $20 U.S.) are also served communal style, so you can meet your fellow guests and share stories of good restaurants, phone numbers for the best guides, and the tidbit not to miss a visit to Moulay Indriss, about an hour away.

There’s a spectacular multi-tiered terrace with views of Fès’ soon-to-be-completed canal-side walkways and shops (think little Venice). If it gets too hot, Dar Seffarine has a shady garden on the ground floor, a rarity in Fès.

The building is gorgeous. You won’t be able to take your eyes off the painted woodwork. The restoration was beautifully done, exceptionally so in a city with a large number of beautiful restorations, and is architecturally accurate. The only thing added were bathrooms, and they were done with minimal changes to the original structure.

Rooms have all the necessities, but this is more home-style than hotel-style. You’ll not have a fridge or a safe in your room, nor will there be a room key. You can store valuables in the hotel safe if you wish. There is wifi in the common areas, and it stretches into some of the bedrooms. No need to worry about temperature — each room has both heat and air conditioning, with remote control.

My room had a desk near the huge windows overlooking the central courtyard, a sitting area with a divan and a gorgeous carved chair. The bedroom area was partially closed off by a beautiful wooden arch (with curtains). The floor was mosaic with several throw rugs.

 
A restaurant where you can spend the night!

Riad Número 9 is a micro hotel attached to a phenomenal restaurant, Restaurant Número 7. Dine at No. 7 and you won’t worry about getting lost in Fès’ confusing medina on your way back to your room (no matter how much you imbibe!). Just cross through the kitchen, and thank the chefs on your way home.

If you’re interested in food, Stephen di Renza’s place is a great base in Fès. His Restaurant No. 7 hosts chefs-in-residence who come to Fès to perfect their experience in the business side of running a kitchen while they dazzle you with their cooking skills. During my stay, Canadians Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Phoebe Oviedo, who have extensive experience in Canada, Australia and the US, just started their three month stint. A taste of Canada and Morocco together (with a little Philippines and Australia thrown in for good measure)! No. 7’s lead, Tara Stevens, is an expert in Morocco’s food scene and always has something interesting cooking, including culinary classes.

On the other side of No. 7’s kitchen is Riad No. 9, a micro hotel with just three rooms. It is meant to give you the feeling of staying at a friend’s house in the Fès medina. It is ideally rented out in its entirety — it can sleep up to a dozen people, depending on the combination of adults and children (also using the two main floor salons).

Of the three main bedrooms in the riad, mine is the largest. The suite, really two rooms, is both sides of the top floor of the widest part of the riad. My bedroom’s furniture is all wood and the sheets are a lovely orange colour. Traditional rugs cover the mosaic floors, and, unusually, it has windows on both sides, open to both the courtyard and to the medina. Across a “bridge” over the courtyard is my bathroom and another sitting area. Towels are stacked high on two old barbershop chairs.

The room below mine has a bathroom just seven steps down the hall. And the room across from it has an ensuite. Showers at No. 9 are wet rooms, with both shower and toilet in the same area, and sinks in a separate place. Each is decorated differently and reflects the travels and the design taste of the owner, who is also the creative director for retail operations at Jardin Majorelle (the Yves Saint Laurent garden) in Marrakech.

Classical music plays from the riad’s central area where Ruby the cat holds court at the low table with sunken footwell. Bird cages — some empty, some occupied — provide both visual and auditory decor. Riad Número 9 is one of the tallest buildings in the neighbourhood and its location on the slope of the medina means the views from the rooftop terrace are great.