Fez Eating and Sleeping

Like much of "traditional" Morocco, the city was "saved" and then re-created by the French - under the auspices of General Lyautey, the Protectorate's first Resident-General. Lyautey took the philanthropic and startling move of declaring the city a historical monument; philanthropic because he was certainly saving Fes El Bali from destruction (albeit from less benevolent Frenchmen), and startling because until then many Moroccans were under the impression that Fes was still a living city - the Imperial Capital of the Moroccan empire rather than a preservable part of the nation's heritage.

By building a new European city nearby - the Ville Nouvelle - and then transferring Fes's economic and political functions to Rabat and the west coast, Lyautey ensured the city's eclipse along with its preservation. The basic layout of Fez is simple enough, with a Moroccan Medina and French-built Ville Nouvelle, but here the Medina comprises two separate cities: Fes El Bali (Old Fes), down in the pear-shaped bowl of the Sebou valley, and Fes El Djedid (New Fes), established on the edge of the valley during the thirteenth century.

By day at least, there's little to keep you in the Ville Nouvelle, the new city established by Lyautey at the beginning of the Protectorate. Unlike Casa or Rabat, where the French adapted Moroccan forms to create their own showplaces, this is a pretty lacklustre European grid. The Ville Nouvelle is, however, home to most of the faculties of the city's university, and is very much the city's business and commercial centre. The quarter is also the centre for most of the city's restaurants and cafes, bars, bookshops and other facilities.

Restaurants
Ville Nouvelle is the center for most of the cities restaurants, bars, and cafes. Fes el Bali and Fes el Djedid have no bars and a few Palace-Restaurants that are very basic and many only open for lunch. They mainly cater for tourists. In the Ville Nouvelle there are dozens of restaurants to explore and enjoy. We ate at Al Moussafir Restaurant and had a great meal. Later we found other places that ranged from the luxury to the basic. These can all be recommended:

Cafés & Bars
Cafes and bars are scattered throughout the streets of Ville Nouvelle and are very popular with locals and tourists. The bars in Fez range from non-alcoholic to serious Morocco-drinking style, with pool tables and a huge crowd of regulars. The hotel bars are safe and suited for the tourist who just wants to sit and have a quiet drink. There are plenty of small cafes all over the Ville Nouvelle. The cafes here are very clean and friendly and sell fabulous breakfasts, lunches and light dinners.

Riad Maison Bleue occupies a 19th Century house previously belonging to Moulay Bel Arbi El Alaoui, eminent judge and professor of theology. The famous Moroccan philosopher, Aziz Lahbabi was also born and raised in this house. Riad La Maison Bleue is located in one of the most historic quarters of the Fès Medina.


Today, Riad Maison Bleue, the second guest house restored and run by the El Abbadi family, consists of three interconnecting courtyards where guests feel as though they are negotiating the laneways of the ancient Medina of Fès.

Renovated from ruins, the Riad Maison Bleue Fez, the annexe to La Maison Bleue, has stylish architectural and interiors but there is evidence that it is lacking in tender loving care. Three smaller houses have been interlinked to create an intimate and romantic atmosphere. The maze of stairs and passageways gave the whole place an air of mystery but the rooms are dark and the towels rather poor.

The 13 unique rooms and suites, small-scale restaurant, a so-called "spa and gym", and sexy smoking salon exude an air of luxury but it is somehow lacking. There's an Andalucian patio with a pool where you're greeted on arrival with dates stuffed with almonds and a bowl of fragrant milk. The pool area is usually heavily shaded so unfortunately, the temperature of the water is quite cold.

The House of the Astrolobes (named after five antique astrolobes that adorn the patio) is a contemplative space with creamy stucco offset by galleries of carved moucharabieh (lattice-work grilles). The furniture is an eclectic mix of antiques, retro and specially designed modern pieces.

The main courtyard, with its swimming pool and garden is surrounded by three deluxe rooms The eleven deluxe rooms and two standard rooms of the Riad are each equipped with an ensuite bathroom, reverse-cycle airconditioning, telephone, television, internet access, mini bar and room safe.


We were not as impressed with this place as we had imagined. While we appreciated the little touches in the room such as a fruit basket and trays of delicious Morrocan pastries we were less impressed by the standard of cleaning. Breakfast was good with vegetable soup and breads and pastries but the generally friendly staff was unable to answer many of our questions about the city.

The medina is the heart of Fez and you will find yourself spending much of your time here. That means you will be looking for food and at times it can be quite confusing. Because the whole area is so old and crowded, restaurants and cafes don’t stand out except in a few areas. Just near the Bab Bou Jeloud entrance you'll be greeted by multiple touts offering you menus and enticing you into the variety of restaurants that line the square. We eat in one of these but recommend two other places in different areas.

Cafe Clock
This is a very nice restaurant/café with an excellent view of Fez. I believe that it is run by people from NewZzealand. The Café got it's name from the medieval waterclock, which you'll find right next door. Unfortunately, this historic feature was not working when we were there.
The restaurant has a variety of Moroccan, English and continental food all at reasonable prices. It's a good place for a breakfast or a dinner, or for just having a rest during the day. They also offer some cultural events at times, like fashion shows, live music and Arabic courses and amazingly there are Wi-Fi facilities.

You'll the find the restaurant by walking down the Talaa Kbira from Bab Bou Jeloud for about 150 meters. You then take the dark, narrow alley to your left for about 40 meters.

Le Kasbah - Just after Bab Bou Jeloud on the corner on the left.
You can certainly find cheaper places to eat in the Medina than Le Kasbah but with excellent food, good service and a rooftop terrace, it's well worth a visit. Located at the entrance to the medina just inside Bab-Bou Jeloud, Le Kasbah is hard to miss and there are waiters outside ready to pounce on any tourist who walks by. While this is predominantly a tourist place, there were also some locals eating too. Make your way straight to the top of the building for the best views.

You may be tempted by the three course menu for 70Dh but as they give you so much bread, dips and side-dishes the single main course for 40 Dh could be a better choice. Naturally you can have lamb targine, couscous with chicken, chicken brochettes and vegetable targine. Our meal cost 99Dh for two including water & mint-tea.

On leaving, you pay downstairs on your way out and you will be made aware that a tip is expected.

Place an-Neijjarine Cafe
The rooftop cafe of the museum at Place an-Nejjarine is a nice place to stop for a mint-tea or coffee, after you have braved the medina for some hours. It gets you temporarily away from the noise and chaos of the streets. The cafe itself is indoors though you can wander out on to the roof to have a look out across the medina.

We arrived in Fez late afternoon and decided that we needed a genuine Moroccan meal on our first night in the country. I had done some research on restaurants and had the name of two that I wanted to try, so we set out from the hotel into the Ville Nouvelle. After 30 minutes of wandering we couldn’t find either of them. Walking around a new city in the dark when you can’t read the road signs certainly presented some problems.

We were still wandering when my wife spotted an open door and stepped inside. She was very impressed by what she saw so we decided to stop. We had found a beautifully decorated restaurant but I was worried that there were no other customers.

Undeterred, my wife found a table and we sat down. A waiter appeared and our potential problems began. We spoke no Moroccan and only pitiful French and Spanish. Our luck was with us, however, because we had found someone who, although he spoke no English, was prepared to battle on with us. By pointing to the menu, using universal sign language and putting all our language skills together we ordered our food and something to drink.

While we had been talking, the restaurant had slowly been filling. Before we realised it we were surrounded by local diners and the place was abuzz. Clearly we had arrived just in time. When the food arrived we knew why. It was delicious. Great surroundings, excellent food and buzzing atmosphere melded together to create a magical dinner. We loved it.

We started with a generous plate of Moroccan delicacies – olives, dates, small fingers of bread and fresh orange and slithers of chicken. This was followed by a cold salad and a wonderful lamb tagine. The aroma when the tagine lid was removed still sticks in my mind today. This was followed by couscous topped with vegetables, an old delicacy probably of Berber origin. We ended with "gazelle's horns", which is a pastry stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar and a honey cake, which is essentially pretzel-shaped pieces of dough deep-fried and dipped into a hot pot of honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds. All this was served with the sweet mint tea we came to love. The price was decidedly attractive.

Note that alcoholic beverages are served here.

This is a rather nondescript modern eight-storey complex in the Ville Nouvelle part of the city. It is quite close to the train station and three kilometres from the old town. Equally important is its proximity to several interesting restaurants, cafes and open spaces. Complementary transport is provided from the airport.

The 133 guestrooms are decorated in creams and rich, dark woods. All include air conditioning, minibars, complimentary bottled water, satellite television, high-speed Internet connections, iron and ironing board, refrigerator, pay movies, and safes. You can open the room windows (a rare occurrence these days). Bathrooms come with bathrobes, slippers, hair dryers, and complimentary designer toiletries.

The onsite fitness and beauty centre boasts a sauna, steam room, hot tub, and gym, and offers a range of hair and beauty treatments and massages. Souvenir-hunters will find much to choose from at the onsite shop, including spices, perfumes and local handicrafts, as well as holiday essentials. There is a library, outdoor pool and ATM facilities.

Currency exchange is available at the 24-hour front desk, where multilingual staff can also provide information on local sightseeing opportunities, and complimentary newspapers can be found in the lobby area. Business guests benefit from fully-equipped conference rooms and a computer rental service, and guests arriving by car will appreciate the onsite garage.

The hotel's main restaurant features Arabian decor and serves French and Mediterranean influenced dishes, or guests can sample the buffet of Moroccan and international specialities at Le Fontana restaurant. Belly dancers and music provide the entertainment at the Arabian Nights restaurant with its intricately carved features, where traditional Moroccan cuisine is offered. The hotel's nightclub is open for late dancing, drinks and light snacks


All this sounds excellent and this officially 5-star hotel was probably fancy some time ago. However, we found that it was poorly run, service was bad and the maintenance left much to be desired. Our room shower didn’t work properly and the safe was broken but management showed little interest in fixing them. As this was our first stop in Morocco, we were unsure if the sloppy service was normal but we later found this was not the case elsewhere. The hotel promised much but delivered little more than a reasonable night’s sleep.