Riad Fès Relais & Châteaux

The Hotel

Riad Fès sits in the Batha district of Fes el-Bali — the largest car-free urban area in the world (the Fes el-Bali medina is the original 9th-century Idrisid-dynasty city core, inscribed UNESCO World Heritage in 1981, with continuous inhabitation since the year 789). The property is the structural anchor of contemporary Fes luxury hospitality — Riad Fès joined Relais & Châteaux in the 2000s and remains the only Relais & Châteaux property in the Fes medina (the broader Moroccan Relais & Châteaux portfolio includes properties in Marrakech and on the Atlantic coast, but Riad Fès is the only Relais property in the imperial-and-religious capital). The 29-key footprint sits across multiple connected riad-buildings on the same Derb Ben Slimane medina alley.

The 29 keys are spread across the property's connected riad-cluster footprint. Categories are individually-decorated — every room is approximately 25-60 sqm with the structural distinction of original 19th-and-early-20th-century zellige-tile-walls, zouak-painted-cedar-wood ceilings, hand-carved-cedar-wood doors, and the property's signature Moroccan-fabric-and-cushion decorative register. The named Riad Fes Suite (the property's milestone unit at 80 sqm with private rooftop terrace overlooking the Bou Inania Madrasa minaret and the surrounding Fes el-Bali medina rooftops) is the most-photographed Riad Fès setup.

Operationally Riad Fès runs the medina-Relais-and-Châteaux register at the medium-footprint scale. L'Ambre — the property's contemporary-Moroccan fine-dining restaurant inside the central courtyard — runs an 8-course tasting register that builds against the Fes culinary heritage (the structural distinction is that Fes is the historical-imperial culinary capital of Morocco, with the most-considered traditional pastilla, lamb mechoui, and seven-vegetable couscous canon). The property's hammam programme — the structural Moroccan medina-hammam programme that the Fes hospitality cluster is built around — runs daily traditional-hammam programmes inside the property's restored period-Moroccan hammam. The Riad Fès Bar runs the property's evening cocktail-and-Moroccan-spirits register.

What gives Riad Fès the considered Fes position is the Relais-and-Châteaux register at the medium-footprint UNESCO-medina scale. Riad Fès is the only Relais & Châteaux property in the Fes medina; the multi-courtyard architectural register and the period-Moroccan decorative restoration give the property a heritage-credibility unmatched in the Fes contemporary luxury cluster; and the Batha district position structurally gives walking access to the Bou Inania Madrasa, the Karaouine Mosque (the world's oldest continuously-operating university, founded in 859), the Chouara Tannery, and the surrounding souk-and-medina cultural cluster. For a Fes anniversary, a literary or architectural solo retreat, or a multi-night Morocco circuit that pairs Riad Fès with a Marrakech La Mamounia or Royal Mansour second leg, Riad Fès is the most-considered choice.

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