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My girlfriend and I spent 3 nights at Dar El Menia for a romantic break. We booked the whole house which worked out excellent value. The house is run by a local Moroccan family who are kind and the maid is an excellent cook.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this B&B to anyone we had a terrific time and hope to return.

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We've just got back home from a great trip of Morocco. It really is a fantastic country of extremes. My boyfriend and I stayed at Dar El Menia for three nights and had wonderful time. The house is very special and Fez is like nowhere I've ever been before straight out of the middle ages.

The dar is right in the center of the Medina and is very comfortable and the staff helpful and kind. The architectural detail of the house is outstanding echoing fez's imperial past.

We had a great stay and would love to go back!

Jenin

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Graham,

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My Dad and I stayed at the Dar El Menia for a week in Fes and absolutely loved it. The Dar is beautifully restored with the original mosaics, woodwork, and marble floors and the people are wonderful. The Dar El Menia is the ideal retreat from the bustling, winding medina. Graham and Gail were wonderful and Hicham and his family who run the Dar were really nice and great cooks. They arranged a guide for us who showed us around the medina and introduced us to all of the handicrafts of Fes. We ate breakfast with the other guests on the terrace, which gave us the opportunity to meet people and to compare travel notes. We had such a great time, we must come back!

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I recently stayed at the Dar El Menia and i just wanted to say what an
amazing place you have. I had a very great time there and Hicham and his
family were very amazing people. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful home!
Courtney, Greensboro

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Our Group consisted of a party of girlfriends. We spent two weeks in Morocco staying at Casablanca and Marrakesh. We spent four days in Fez staying at Dar El Menia and we had the best time!. We rented the house as a whole which worked out very reasonable. Hicham met us at the train station and help us sort out a couple of red taxis and we went to the Medina. Our luggage was carried for us and we arrived at the house in the heart of the Medina. Walking down the tiny narrow street we walked through a carved wooden door and entered the courtyard of this wonderful house. Our three night stay was so homely and the staff friendly and kind.
We were all a bit concerned that we might get hassled being a group of women but on the whole this was not the case. Fez is shopping heaven especially for leather bags, shoes and scarfs -haggling is a must and a Moroccan art form.
We ate at Dar El Menia on our last night and it was superb! Eating in the Medina was also great. Hicham took us to a traditional restaurant, deep in the Medina, on our first night which was great fun but very touristy. The cafés at Bab Boujloud were more our style and great for people watching. Hicham arranged a guide for us on our first day which was well worth the money and helped us get our bearings (a little) around the Medina.
We spent an evening at the bar in Hotel Batha, near Bab Boujloud, which made a welcome change. All in all Morocco was a great experience and for me Fez was the best place and Dar El Menia the best accommodation. Highly recommended!!

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Dear Graham: 
 
We had a really good time in Fes (where I was last nearly four decades ago!)and
especially in the Dar El Mania. You have done an incredible job in restoring
your magnificent house. We basically used one room only, as well as your
terrace, but it felt good to have all that unused space anyway.  I'll certainly
recommend your place to anyone I know who may be planning to travel to
Morocco.

We also enjoyed our occasional chats with Mostapha and his wife in our
rudimentary French, as well as with three of the girls from across the terrace.
We also had a home cooked meal, which was very good.

So thanks you very much for making possible a wonderful stay.

All the best, Volker (and Inge)
 
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Your house is such a beautiful place to stay, a real piece of Moroccan art. From the moment we arrived we have had a wonderful, magical time. The hospitality of your crew namely Hicham, Mustafa and Um Kalthoom is outstanding and this beautiful house made our visiting Fes a unique experience at the same time  we  instantly felt welcomed and at home. My children had great fun in the house and the Medina. They want to go again.

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Wow! What an amazing place to stay! Dar El Menia is simply stunning. We arranged with the house to be picked up at the airport and arrived at a car park by grand taxi to be met by Hicham, all went without a hitch. We arrived wandering through narrow, noisy, twisting streets, through an unassuming but beautifully carved door and into a quiet sunny courtyard, it was quite an experience. The house is awesome, alive with atmosphere and a sense of age, of time past. Whoever restored this house really put their all into it.
We hired the en-suite room for five nights which for the two of us was just perfect. We asked the maid to cook for us and she provided a feast enough for twice our number. It was delicious! The best food we ate in Morocco.
Breakfast was served on the roof-terrace and was just what you needed to keep you on your feet for a long day of exploring the maze that is Fes Medina.
When we began to pack for are onward journey we regretted that we had not stayed longer. We spent a month in Morocco and had a fantastic time. It still strikes me that a place so foreign, so far removed from our home, is only two and a half hours away by plane. Dar El Menia was the best place we stayed whilst in Morocco. We hope to return and would not hesitate to recommend it.

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Dar El Menia provided a stunning and tranquil reprieve from the wonderful chaos of Fes, and we loved the balance of meeting fellow travelers while also getting to know Hicham and his family a bit during our stay. We'd go back to in a heartbeat (and hope to)!

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A friend and I stayed for a few days in April 2007, and will certainly come again. The house is exquisitely restored, the people who run it warm and friendly (giving advice on restaurants and a local hammam). The owner was there at the time, and he and his guests treated us as friends, inviting us to eat with them on the roof.
Views from the roof great, good bedding, good company, and good bathrooms.

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Wow, what an incredible experience it has been to stay at Dar El Menia in Fes. It is right in the midst of the medina and its amazing decor gave us a great taste of the grandeur this imperial city once enjoyed. The house had everything we needed to relax in after days spent adventuring the mysteries of the medieval streets of Fes. It felt like being on a film set and returning at night to the luxury a film star would expect!!! The family who are employed to look after you do just that and more. We were made to feel very at home whilst at the same time allowed to enjoy the privacy that a whole house rental like this allows. Highly recommended! I will definitely be back in the Spring.

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We arrived at Fes train station and we were pick up by two taxis and a smiling and welcoming Hicham, He organised our arrival having our luggage transported by caruso. The house is breathtaking we all walked in and did a 360 our jaws on the floor. It is such a beautiful house! The tile work and the plaster work are incredabily intercate. All the ceilings, window frames, and doors - including the two pairs of salon doors one set standing at over 12ft high - are all made of solid cedar. The cedar aroma fills the house and adds to the ambience of serenity and magisty.
The staff were very friendly and welcoming. They went out of their way to be helpful, the maid took one of our female traveling companions to a hamma and Hicham showed us around the Medina
Every morning we were cooked a fresh breakfast and in the evening we were treat to a feast of traditional moroccan fair of huge proportions.
Sat in the main salon with its four meter high ceiling, it is hard to believe that you are slap bang in the middle of the world's largest and most populated medinas. The contrast between the insane hussle and bussle and the calm tranquility of the house is most welcome and after a day spent running up and down the medina's labryth like streets it is needed!!
I have travel a lot in the Middle East and I will most certainly return to Dar El Menia and in fact I have already booked.
Pete

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We stayed at Dar El Menia recently for a few days and had a great experience. I'm a furniture maker, so I really loved the craftsmanship throughout the house....from the hammered copper sink to the huge, carved cedar doors.

I think there are many beautiful medina homes to choose from in Fes, but for us, the best part about the house was the family that take care of it. Hicham, the son, speaks good English, is very helpful, and has a great sense of humor. Mustapha, the father, helps with the details of the home and is quite proud of the work he has put into the restoration. One of my buddies was sick one day, and Mustapha helped us track down some natural herbs/medicine as soon as he heard--he has a heart of gold and will go out of his way to help you if you need something. Um Klthum is a fabulous cook. One day, we hiked around the medina all day and we're too tired to trek out again for a meal. We arranged with her ahead of time to have a home-cooked Moroccan meal that night and it was the best meal we had in Fes. Her harira (Moroccan soup) was outstanding. We ate on the rooftop balcony and enjoyed the sunset and stars at night....great experience. The breakfasts were great too.

I lived in Tunisia for 2 1/2 years and there were no riads there at the time. I got to know the people and culture, but it took a bit of time. This is a great way to experience the culture of Fes by staying in the heart of the city, being able to learn a bit of Arabic from the caretaker family (if you want to), and literally walking out your door into all the great sounds, sights, and smells of Fes!

David

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We stayed at Dar El Menia for 9 days - and it was just perfect! The owner gave us a lot of information before arriving in Fes which was extremely helpful and transportation was arranged and was very prompt. Fortunately, we had the whole house to ourself and it was the perfect escape after exploring the chaotic medina. The riad is beautifully restored and the zellij and stucco works are of the highest standard. We ate every night on the terrace with Umm Khoultoum cooking traditional Morroccan cuisine of huge proportions - (delicious & better than any of the restaurants in the medina - and just what you need after a busy day) The location of the riad is just perfect, it is off one of the main roads (making it very easy not to get lost) and five minute walk from the car park so hailing a taxi is not difficult. By the end of our stay we felt like family - Communicating through a medley of english, french and arabic - Moustapha, Umm Khoulthoum and Hicham treated us so well, going out of their way to help us - we'll definitely come back again and again and again!

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Dar El Menia is a magical place and provided us with peace and relaxation far removed from the magnificent chaos of the Medina. We are a large family and rented the whole house which proved to be great value for money. Hicham organised or transport from the airport with out a hitch, helped us with our bags. He took us to Dar El Menia and made us all feel very welcome. The rooms are all double bedrooms some two sleep three. They are kept immaculate and change and tidied every day. Breakfast was served fresh every morning by the maid using freshly purchased produce bought from the Medina and was delicious! We asked the maid to cook us an evening meal on a number of occasions and were treat to a traditional Moroccan feast as though we were her long lost family. The service was excellent.
We all agreed that we would return in a wink of an eye and plan to do so. Thoroughly recommended!!

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We stayed when the house had only just been finished, probably one of the first few guests but everything went well. A great base to explore the Medina (just off one of the signed walking routes so if you get a bit lost - the Medina is a warren and it's easy to do - you can find your way back ok). The breakfast was good and the maid / guardian cooked us a meal one evening! Access to the house is on foot only (the car park is a couple of minutes walk away) but Mostapha helped us with the bags so wasn't a problem. I'd recommend it if you want to see what the Medina's got to offer. Plus a taxi ride (these can be fun!) gets you to the Ville Nouvelle in about 10 minutes and gives a whole lot more to see.