The only contemporary five-star in Fez — 50 rooms designed by Christophe Pillet on a hilltop between the Medina and the Ville Nouvelle, with a Givenchy Spa, rooftop infinity pool, and the city's only properly modern view of the old town.
"The riad alternative. You sleep above the Medina rather than inside it — Christophe Pillet rooms, a Givenchy Spa, and a rooftop pool with the only contemporary view of the old city in Fez."
Hotel Sahrai opened in 2013 on the Dhar El Mehraz hill — the residential ridge that separates the Fes Medina from the French-built Ville Nouvelle. The site occupies 6,800 square metres of garden and is built into the hillside on four levels, so that almost every room looks east across the Medina rooftops to the Karaouine and the Saadian tombs of the Marinid necropolis above. The owner is the Mansour Group; the architect of record is the Lebanese practice Naga; the interior design is by Christophe Pillet, who treated the building as a contemporary Moroccan house rather than a riad — long horizontal volumes, cedar lattice, bronze, slate, hand-loomed wool — with virtually no zellige and no Moorish arch in the entire hotel. It is the most decisive design statement made in Fez since the colonial Palais Jamai of 1879.
The 50 accommodations break down as ten Superior Rooms, twenty-six Deluxe Rooms, thirteen Junior Suites and the Sahrai Suite. Superior Rooms run 35 square metres; Deluxe Rooms 45; Junior Suites 65; the Sahrai Suite 200. Every room has the Medina view — there is no street-facing inferior category — and all are finished in Pillet's restrained palette of cream, bronze and walnut. Bathrooms have rain showers, separate tubs in the suites, and Givenchy-brand amenities (the only Givenchy-branded hotel programme in Africa). The Sahrai Suite has a private rooftop terrace with the most photographed contemporary view of the Medina in Fez.
There are three restaurants. Restaurant Amaranthe is the rooftop fine-dining room with a French-Moroccan menu and the panoramic Medina view; Kaina is the Italian poolside venue (Fez's best pizza); the Sky Lounge serves cocktails and a tapas menu in the evening. The Givenchy Spa — opened in partnership with the Paris maison and the largest single hotel spa in Fez — has six treatment rooms, a heated indoor pool, a hammam, a hair salon and a gym. The rooftop infinity pool is the only proper hotel pool in Fez (the Medina riads have plunge pools at best) and is the city's strongest argument for staying on the hill rather than inside the walls.
The position is the open question. Dhar El Mehraz is a four-minute taxi from Bab Boujloud and the Karaouine — close enough that the Medina is a five-minute drive at any hour, far enough that the hotel has gardens, parking, a tennis court, a pool, and silence at night. For travellers on a second or third Fez visit who have done the inside-the-walls riad and want air, view and a real spa, Sahrai is the obvious answer. For first-time Fez travellers determined to wake up inside the Medina, Riad Fes or Palais Faraj are the better calls.
For a Fez honeymoon where one partner wants the riad experience and the other wants air and a pool, Sahrai is the compromise that satisfies both. The Sahrai Suite or a Junior Suite with terrace; dinner at Amaranthe under the stars with the Karaouine lit in the distance; the Givenchy hammam couples ritual; the rooftop pool at sunset. The Medina is a four-minute drive when you want it.
The Givenchy Spa is the only properly equipped luxury spa in northern Morocco — six treatment rooms, the only heated indoor pool in Fez, the only proper gym, a serious hammam. For a wellness-led week in Morocco (yoga at sunrise on the lawn, hammam by mid-morning, Medina walking in the cool afternoon, pool by sunset) this is the address. Palais Faraj has the heritage hammam; Sahrai has the modern spa.
For the small Fez business stay — a regional development meeting, an artisanal-supply visit, a film recce — Sahrai is the only practical choice. Reliable WiFi, the only proper hotel business centre in Fez, the only set of conference rooms outside the Hyatt, easy taxis, parking, and the only address where a colleague visiting from Casablanca will recognise the standard. Amaranthe at lunch is the city's best working table.
Bab Lghoul, Dhar El Mehraz
30000 Fez, Morocco
Bab Boujloud Medina gate 4 minutes by car; Fes-Sais Airport 18 minutes; Ville Nouvelle 5 minutes
50 rooms (10 Superior, 26 Deluxe, 13 Jr Suites, 1 Sahrai Suite)
Superior Rooms from EUR 198/night
Deluxe Rooms from EUR 260/night
Sahrai Suite from EUR 1,200/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened 2013; interior by Christophe Pillet; Givenchy Spa partnership
Givenchy Spa, hammam, indoor pool
Rooftop infinity pool
Three restaurants (Amaranthe, Kaina, Sky Lounge)
Tennis court, gym
Free WiFi, free parking
Free Medina shuttle
From EUR 198/night. Pool-facing rooms and the Sahrai Suite book six weeks ahead for spring and autumn; the Fes Festival of Sacred Music in June is the only date the hotel fully sells out.
Book This Hotel →The Relais & Châteaux palace-riad in the heart of the Medina — the heritage answer to Sahrai's modern statement.
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The natural Fez pairing — La Mamounia, Royal Mansour, El Fenn. Most Morocco itineraries combine them.