Discover Fez, Morocco’s Fascinating Second City with Palais Amani Hotel, Hammam and Cookery School
Avoid the obvious travel choice and explore magical Fez, Morocco’s second largest city which now has direct UK flights. Morocco has finally reopened to tourists and what better way to immerse in this unique country than a stay in a typical Moroccan luxury palace. Palais Amani is Fez’s leading independent hotel, owned by wife and husband team Jemima and Abdelali Mann-Baha and managed by their local team. Palais Amani is located inside the UNESCO Heritage medina, Africa’s largest with over 10,000 car free alleys and streets. Getting lost is part of the charm of this city!
Palais Amani provides the perfect environment for a relaxing holiday fusing food, wine, hammam treatments and plenty of culture on the hotel’s doorstep. This luxury riad hotel grows around guests with a 600m2 garden at the centre, filled with orange trees and birdsong. Guests look up to a level of bedrooms and after on the third floor a terrace where guests are invited to unwind, enjoy the bar or learn a new culinary skill at the rooftop, celebrated Fez Cookery School, the city’s leading cookery school.
Palais Amani offers guests 18 individually designed bedrooms and suites, each with the hotel’s orange signature scent. Each bedroom has its own design and layout with a discreet view of either the hotel’s garden or the famous Medina and each room is equipped with a mini bar, waters and Moroccan wines. Room service is also available.
A perfect spot to enjoy the almost year-round sunshine or read a book or enjoy a cocktail before dinner is on the rooftop. The roof terrace area offers wonderful views of Fez and has many quiet corners with sun loungers and larger seating areas and plenty of private spots. The rooftop bar is open throughout the day and in the evening there are cocktails to enjoy and on selected occasions live local music.
One of the best ways to explore Fez is with a local and Palais Amani offer a unique way to head out and explore the medina with a local, in this case a local chef. The Fez Cooking School (based on Palais Amani’s roof terrace) offers visitors to Fez an insight into this magical city combining a foodie tour of the medina followed by a cookery class, all in a purpose-built cookery school. Private and group workshops are available and offer a wonderful hands-on experience including time in the medina and then cooking. The guest selects their desired recipes, or the Fez Cooking School suggest a selection of Fassi, Moroccan or Sephardic dishes. The 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 followed by the lunch prepared. Priced from €97 per person for four hours.
The hammam at Palais Amani is designed in true Moroccan style complete with a hot room, an exfoliation room, separate showers and a luxury relaxation chamber. The ‘Royal Hammam’ treatment lasts 1 hour 15 minutes and transports guests into the ritual of purification not found outside of this fascinating country. The experience begins with a hand and footpath, then hand and foot scrub using natural rose water and scrub. After a hair mask using white clay ghassoul guests are then accompanied into the hot room for a black soap application and vigorous body scrub. A body mask and wrap is then followed by a gentle shampoo and body rinse.
Possibly one of the finest breakfast experiences of any hotel takes place either alfresco or indoors at Palais Amani. Breakfast is a three-course experience and includes a daily changing course of traditional Moroccan dishes. Aside from the wide selection of fruit, pastries, breads, eggs and warm and cold drinks, the Moroccan specials include Harira and Meloui, M’hammer or Bghrir. For both lunch and dinner both hotel guests and non guests can select an indoor or outdoor gastronomic dining experience. Eden Restaurant at Palais Amani offers ‘Market Moroccan’ local produce. Here diners can enjoy Moroccan signature dishes from an a la carte menu along with a weekly changing three-course bistro menu. A diverse tapas menu is also available daily and celebrates the 13th-century Arabo-Andalusian cuisine of this area. Diners have the option to dine in the outdoor hidden paradise under the majestic citrus trees for a truly unforgettable culinary adventure.
Fez is also a shopper’s paradise and each district in the medina specialises in a certain craft. With Palais Amani being set on the edge of the oldest part of the medina it is the most convenient location for the crafts district. The hotel provides visitors with an invaluable little black book of contacts for those wanting to come and source beauty for their homes. The hotel is also home to a small shop with local products.
www.palaisamani.com
B&B is priced from €160.00 per room per night
Ryanair serve Fez from London Stansted. Or fly to Marrakech and take the internal flight or train to Fez
