Five-star Bab Ziat, edge of the medina, Fes
Palais Faraj Suites & Spa
A nineteenth-century merchant's palace on the hill at Bab Ziat, turned into thirty-one suites, with a roof garden restaurant that looks down over the whole medina.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Selected hotel
- Suites
- 31
- Opened
- 2012, in a 19th-century palace
- From the airport
- About 25 to 35 minutes from FEZ, our estimate
The hotel
The Bensouda Palace.
The house was built in the nineteenth century, when Fes was the capital of Morocco, by Si Mohamed Bensouda of a large Fassi merchant family. The Bensouda Palace was the head of a cluster of riads the family owned around Bab Ziat, on the slope at the top of the old city. From there the palace looks down over the medina, and a car can still reach the gate.
Evelyne and Driss Faceh restored it and opened it as Palais Faraj in 2012. The decoration follows a Moroccan palace of the nineteenth century, and the pool sits in the Grand Patio at the centre of the house. Up on the roof, the restaurant garden looks down over the whole medina, spread across the valley below. Today the house holds 31 suites, the Essencia Spa and a new sports room.
- L'Amandier and the roof garden Moroccan and Mediterranean cooking on a terrace with the medina below.
- Essencia Spa A traditional hammam with steam bath and massage, recently renovated.
- The Grand Patio A tea room beside the pool in the central court of the palace.
Rooms & suites
Thirty-one suites, from junior to royal.
Every room in the palace is a suite, dressed in the style of a nineteenth-century Moroccan house. Several look straight down over the roofs of the medina.
- Entry level Junior Suite A larger bedroom with a sitting area.
- Larger suites Ambassador and Grand Vizir suites Two of the grander categories, between the junior suites and the top of the house.
- The top suite Royale Suite The top suite of the palace.
Dining
A roof garden over the old city.
Venues as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- L'Amandier & Roof Top Garden Moroccan and Mediterranean Views over the medina
- Private Fine Dining Private dinners In the palace
- The Golden Bar Bar Looking over the medina
- Tea Room Grand Patio & Pool Tea and light meals Beside the pool
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival The hotel is at Bab Ziat, on the upper edge of the medina, where a car can drop you.
- Rooms All 31 rooms are suites. Room sizes are not published.
Getting there
Flying to Fes.
Fès Saïss airport, about 13 kilometres south of the city, takes scheduled flights and private jets. The drive to Bab Ziat is about 25 to 35 minutes, our estimate, depending on traffic around the medina.
- Madrid 1 h 20
- Geneva 2 h 30
- Paris 2 h 40
- London 2 h 55
- Dubai 8 h 00 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Is Palais Faraj inside the medina?
- It is at Bab Ziat, on the hill at the upper edge of the medina, looking down over the old city.
- Does Palais Faraj have a MICHELIN Key?
- No. The hotel is in the MICHELIN Guide selection for Fes without a Key.
- Is there a pool and a spa?
- Yes. The pool is in the Grand Patio, and the Essencia Spa has a traditional hammam and steam bath.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Fes?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Fes, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Fes
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Riad Fès A Relais & Châteaux house with a MICHELIN Key, owned by a Moroccan architect, with a pool, a hammam and a restaurant across three dining rooms.
- Hotel Sahrai Fifty rooms and a suite designed by Christophe Pillet, on a hill between the old and new towns, with an infinity pool and a Givenchy spa.
- Karawan Riad Seven suites in a seventeenth-century harem palace that took a decade to restore, with a French-Fassi kitchen and a MICHELIN Key.
- Riad Laaroussa Thirteen rooms around a courtyard of citrus trees and a fountain, each suite with its own wood fire; one MICHELIN Key.
Staying at Palais Faraj Suites & Spa?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Fes, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.