Morocco - Fes - Arrival and Dar el Menia

FES IS FIRST CITY IN HISTORY OF MOROCCO -IT IS FIRST OF MOROCCO

Fes was our first taste of Morocco, and I am not sure I would recommend it as the first Moroccan city to visit. On our return after our trip to Marrakech it grew on me to the point where I don’t know which I preferred, but as first impressions go, Fes was much too hectic and difficult to explore for the first few days of a holiday. I always feel it takes a few days of a holiday to get into the stride of thigs, and Fes is not the place to do that.

We had arranged with our hotel, the Riad Dar el Menia, for a taxi to pick us up from the airport for 21EUR. Many costs in Morocco can be paid in either euro or dirham, with the exchange rate usually set at 10Dh to the euro. A grand taxi from the airport should be about 120Dh, but it was nice to have the pickup for the first time to ensure we ended up in the right place. Jemal from the hotel then met us at the carpark and guided us to the Riad as there are no cars inside the Medina where we were staying.

I doubt we would have found the Riad without a guide, as it is down a rather unassuming, unmarked alleyway approximately 5 minutes from the car park. Once we had been shown where it was however, we had no subsequent problems finding it.

The alley to get to Dar el Menia

Dar el Menia is a 250 year old courtyard house that has been restored beautifully. The rooms were decorated with a wealth of local crafts and fabrics and were very comfortable, though slightly small. The lack of outside windows, and the central courtyard meant the house stayed cool despite the outside temperature reaching the high 30s most days. It was equipped with a kitchen that guests could use, although we didn’t, and a roof terrace where breakfast was served each morning and which provided a quiet spot to read and relax in during the afternoons, when we tried to keep out of the sun.

The courtyard

Our room from the courtyard

 We had two different rooms, the first on the second floor and the second on the ground floor. Both looked onto the courtyard, with the ground floor room's doors opening onto the courtyard. The ground floor room was cheaper, but other than the accessibility there wasn't much difference in size or comfort.

The ground floor room

The hotel offers a dinner on arrival if you book in advance, but given the cost, and the many restaurants very near by we did not try this option. We did however avail of their breakfast which was served on the terrace and was very tasty with a range of bread, jams, omellette, cheese and a type of pancake called rghaif/msmen.

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