How to Spend a Weekend At Fez's Eclectic Hotel Sahrai

To ensure your comfort, you must look for the hotel that will make your stay even more magical, our personal pick being Hotel Sahrai.

It should be quite easy to take the train from any city in the Kingdom to Fez, from the largest city, Casablanca—it takes about 4 hours. Once you get there, you will be greeted by the friendly and professional staff who will escort you to your room, which will be absolutely cozy. You can start unpacking and relax, before heading downstairs to the Givenchy spa, the only one in the Middle East and Africa.

At the spa you can choose from the many services they offer, facials, or different types of massages. Of course, all the products they use are Givenchy and you will feel absolutely relaxed after this pampering session.

Before going back to your room, they will offer you chamomile tea, and you can have a look around the hotel, that has a jacuzzi, two restaurants, and a rooftop bar with an incredible view over Fez, an infinity pool, and a garden/pond area.

For dinner, you can opt for their famous French restaurant, Le Relais De Paris, for an exquisite dinner including a seafood salad, steak, and delicious desserts.

After having the most comfortable sleep in your cozy room, head over the plate-glass window to open the blinds and be stunned by the view right ahead. No matter where you are in the hotel you will get an incredible view, but if you prefer to have the pool in sight make sure to ask for that.

You can have a bath or a shower before getting ready to head down for the breakfast which finishes at 10 a.m.

The breakfast is a buffet and a mix of traditional and international foods, from fruit to croissants, brownies and much more, to enjoy with a background of relaxing music.

After your breakfast, you can go on a tour of the Medina that the hotel offers at a decent price with a guide and transportation included.

The guide will take you through the narrow streets of the oldest medina of the world, where you will see camel heads hanging from butcher’s shops, old men with their carts yelling “WATCH OUT!”, handcrafted metal, and much much more!

Although it might get a little overwhelming to walk through the Medina with so much noise and people, you can quickly go inside a carpet shop to find peace again and just enjoy the hand-made Moroccan rugs that many dream of on Pinterest. If you are lucky enough, some shops have a terrace in the last floor where you will be able to have a look at the University Al-Quaraouiyine, the oldest in the world, and also to take in the view of the stunning Medina.

After that, the guide will take you to a leather shop that has a balcony overlooking the most famous tanneries in the world, the Chouara Tannery, from the 13th century. Here, seeing exactly how they used to make leather eight centuries ago is truly mesmerizing, and they’ll give you some mint to cover the foul smell from the leather and the skin.

After all this walking, you should pick a spot to have lunch at the Medina, and the best place would be Riad Fes, a luxury riad that has one of the most beautiful traditional decorations and furniture, and also a delicious Moroccan lunch.

You will be greeted by the kind manager who will show you around, and then finally it will be time for lunch in a traditional Moroccan living room. They have a variety of Moroccan dishes, like pastilla, tagine, marinated aubergine, caramelized sweet potato, caramelized courgettes, and much more. Of course, all the dishes are accompanied with a glass of fresh mint tea, and for dessert, you can even enjoy a delicious iced nougat and raspberry terrine.

Spending the whole morning at the Medina is exhausting, so finally the minibus will take you back to the hotel to have some pampering time again and relax before dinner. During this time, you can take a nap, have a dip in the jacuzzi or pool, or take a bath.

By 9 p.m., it will be time for dinner, which you can have at the restaurant or The Rooftop bar, where they sometimes do a form of cocktail dinner that is absolutely delicious, as they bring different small plates out, while the live band plays some jams in the background and you drink a martini to finish the night.

Sunday would be the last day, and at Hotel Sahrai, they truly do some of the most amazing Sunday brunches ever! The list of dishes is endless, and everything can be enjoyed by the pool while the same band from the previous night plays relaxing music.

If you are hungry you can opt for the tagines, the barbecue, or veggies, and if you are in the mood for breakfast, you can have croissants, cheesecakes, meringues, and other sweets.

When you finish the enormous buffet brunch, you can finally say goodbye to this magnificent experience, and thank the staff for their kindness, before you finally go back home.