72 Hours at Palais Amani in Fez, Morocco

Palais Amani is located in the heart of Fez’s UNESCO medina. The art deco riad was partly rebuilt in the 1930s and is home to a restaurant, hammam and the Fez Cooking School 

Independent hotels tend to showcase the very best of their destination by offering experiences with a local flavour. Palais Amani, located inside the Fez UNESCO listed medina believes that travel is more than discovering new places and is also about unearthing the stories that inspire visitors and enrich their vision during a holiday. Palais Amani sources local or Moroccan products and over a ten year period contributed over €1 million to the local community by buying local. Palais Amani employs over 50 members of local staff who know the city inside out and offer guests an authentic local perspective. 

Fez is Morocco’s second largest city and is growing in popularity as a short break cultural destination. Cross the walls of the famous medina of Fez and get lost inside Africa’s largest car free medina. Fez is an imperial city and home to Morocco’s oldest medina. This 13th-century city is today recognised by UNESCO. 

Jemima Mann-Baha who owns and runs Palais Amani with her husband and local team,  first visited Fez as a 15-year-old on a family holiday back in 1979. At this time, Morocco was far from a leading tourist destination and Fez was not on the tourist radar. 

Jemima returned again in 1987 and later with her husband Abdelali who was born in Fez. In 2006 Jemima and Abdelali bought the former home of one of Fez’s most prominent families (now Palais Amani), which had laid abandoned and deteriorating in the heart of the medina for over a quarter of a century. Four years of extensive renovation restored the property to its old splendour and revealed many stories about family, heritage and legacy. The renovation included the maintenance of art déco features dating back to the 1930s. 

Palais Amani offers 21 individually designed bedrooms and suites and is home to a restaurant with alfresco dining, a rooftop bar, library and underground hammam offering traditional hammam treatments lit by candle light only. The hotel is also home to the city’s leading cookery school – The Fez Cooking School.

A large garden of 600m2 is at the centre of the palace filled with citrus trees where birds, permanent residents here, provide daily birdsong in this tranquil haven.

For a truly authentic break and to understand a country’s culture you “need to eat it” says Palais Amani’s head chef Houssam Laasiri. He has not only been creating many diverse Moroccan dishes for Palais Amani’s restaurant but also running the Fez Cooking School which is open to all. 

Morocco is by far North Africa’s gastronomic star and the city of Fez combines flavours from across Morocco inside Africa’s largest car free medina. From small restaurants to food stalls, visitors can feast their way around the medina crossing souks filled with the aromas of many spices and of course the famous mint tea. But to really unearth what makes Morocco so delicious, visitors should embark on a unique foodie experience with the Fez Cooking School located on Palais Amani’s roof terrace. 

The Fez Cooking School offers visitors to Fez a unique insight into this magical city combining a guided foodie tour of the medina followed by a cookery class, all in a new purpose-built cookery school on Palais Amani’s roof terrace. Private and group workshops are available. The four hour experience includes a tour of the food souks, tasting food along a two-hour tour of the medina, a cooking class with the newly gathered ingredients and then lunch. Priced €165 per person.

Over 72 hours at Palais Amani guests can…
– Dine alfresco at Eden Restaurant to the sound of birdsong by a traditional fountain surrounded by mature citrus trees
– Visit the medina with a chef and buy produce before heading to the hotel’s rooftop cookery school to learn how to make a selection of Moroccan recipes
–  Unwind in the library with a glass of Moroccan wine, the variety and depth of which are surprising
– Enjoy a Hammam treatment at Palais Amani, a traditional restorative treatment with candlelight setting the relaxing ambiance
– Discover the Moroccan mint tea afternoon ritual accompanied by local cakes in the hotel’s courtyard
– Take in a 360’ view of Fez during sunset on Palais Amani’s rooftop
– Recharge in individually designed bedrooms with local furniture and room service menus. Several rooms have their own outdoor areas too

Under three hours flight time from London, Fez is like nowhere else and Palais Amani is helping to preserve the city’s heritage while also shaping its future.  
www.palaisamani.com 12 Derb el Miter, Oued Zhoune, Fes Medina, 30000, Morocco
B&B is priced from £165.00 per room per night