Where to Stay in Morocco: Riads, Hotels & Desert Camps

What is a riad and why is it the best way to stay in Fes?

A riad is a traditional Moroccan townhouse built around an interior courtyard — typically with a fountain, orange trees or a plunge pool at its centre, and rooms arranged on two or three gallery floors above. Fes el-Bali holds some of the finest surviving examples in the country: from the outside, a Fassi riad is completely anonymous, a plain medina wall and a studded cedar door that gives no hint of what lies within. From the inside, it is often extraordinarily beautiful — hand-cut Fassi zellige, carved stucco, painted cedarwood ceilings and a silence that the narrow lane outside cannot penetrate.

Fes riads range from family guesthouses with four rooms and a shared breakfast table (US$60–120 per night) to fully restored merchant palaces with in-house hammams, private chefs, roof terraces over the medina rooftops and plunge-pool suites (US$300–800+ per night). The experience of waking inside a centuries-old Fes courtyard, hearing the dawn call to prayer from the Kairaouine echo off the walls, and taking breakfast on a terrace looking across the medina is something no city hotel can replicate — and it is the reason a Fes riad is the defining way to stay in the city.

What to look for when booking a Fes riad

Location within Fes el-Bali matters enormously. Riads near a main gate such as Bab Bou Jeloud (the Blue Gate) or Bab Rcif are easiest for arrivals and departures, since no car can enter the medina and you will walk in with a porter; those buried deep towards the Kairaouine and Place Seffarine are wonderfully atmospheric but require a longer guided walk in, often with a riad staff member meeting you at a fixed point. Ask the riad for its nearest gate and a WhatsApp pin before you arrive.

For families, check pool depth and staircase configuration — traditional Fes riads often have steep, open spiral stairs unsuitable for young children. For couples, look for properties with no more than eight rooms and a private suite with its own terrace over the medina. Solo travellers should ask specifically about single-room rates rather than accepting a half-price double.

• Pool: a genuine selling point in spring and autumn; near-essential for summer stays.
• Breakfast: most riads include breakfast — confirm it is served on the terrace or roof.
• In-house hammam: offered by many mid-to-upper riads; one of the best Morocco experiences.
• Private chef: available on request at better riads; a private dinner in the courtyard is memorable.
• Noise: ask about proximity to mosques (the pre-dawn call to prayer carries far in quiet medinas).

What other accommodation types exist around a Fes trip?

Outside the medina, Fes has a Ville Nouvelle with modern hotels useful for an early flight from Fès–Saïss or a business stay, though they lack the riad magic. If your Fes trip extends to Marrakech, the Hivernage and Palmeraie districts there hold international luxury hotels (Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Selman) with resort facilities — pools, spas, multiple restaurants — that suit travellers who want five-star scale alongside their medina days.

On the day-trip and extension circuit from Fes, the accommodation changes character. In the Middle Atlas around Ifrane, alpine-style chalets and lodges sit among the cedar forests; in the High Atlas a riad's equivalent is the gîte, a simple Berber mountain lodge with a communal tagine dinner. North towards the Rif, Chefchaouen's equivalent of the riad is the dar — smaller, family-run guesthouses in the blue medina lanes. And on a Sahara extension south from Fes, the night is spent in a desert camp rather than under a roof at all.

What are luxury desert camps and how do they work?

The luxury Sahara camp is a category of accommodation unlike anything else in Morocco, and the natural overnight on a desert extension from Fes. At Erg Chebbi (Merzouga) — reached on the scenic drive south from Fes through Ifrane and the Ziz Valley — and at Erg Chigaga (near M'Hamid), a handful of genuinely high-quality camps offer permanent ensuite tents or geodesic domes with proper beds, hot showers, electricity and a private fire pit, positioned in the dunes far enough from the road to feel genuinely remote. Dinner is served under a canopy of stars; the breakfast is cooked fresh in the camp kitchen.

The gap between budget and luxury in the desert camp market is wide. Budget camps offer shared open-air 'bedouin tents' with thin mattresses and communal toilets; they fill with tour groups and lose any sense of solitude. Luxury camps — at US$150–350 per person per night, all meals included — typically host fewer than 30 guests and are positioned away from any neighbours. If the desert is a centrepiece of your trip, the upgrade from budget to luxury camp is the single best investment you can make.

• Luxury camp indicators: ensuite private bathrooms; permanent fixed tents or domes; no more than 20–30 tents; generator-off quiet hours.
• Merzouga camps: most accessible Sahara; best luxury camp infrastructure; some camps visible from the road.
• Chigaga camps: wilder and more remote; fewer neighbours; 4WD transfer from M'Hamid required.
• Book early: the best camps at Erg Chebbi sell out months ahead in autumn and winter.

How much should you budget for accommodation in Morocco?

Budget travellers can find clean, simple riad guesthouses in Fes el-Bali from US$40–70 per night including breakfast. A comfortable mid-range Fes riad with a pool and attentive service runs US$100–200 per night. Restored Fassi palace-riads with hammams, private chefs and pool suites start at US$250–400 per night and climb significantly in the top properties. Desert camps on a Sahara extension: US$80–150 (budget) to US$200–350 (luxury), per person per night, all meals included. Atlas gîtes: US$30–60 per person including dinner and breakfast.

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