Hotels of morocco

Hands down the best Ritz Carlton I've ever been to and I've been to a lot. Situated in Dar Es Salam, an affluent neighborhood in Rabat, Morocco—This isn't just a hotel, it's a literal palace. Adorned with marble, gold, emerald green, and black trim, it's a sight to behold.

I took a cab from the train station and got to the hotel in the evening. Arriving at the gated entrance, the guard swept the car with a mirror underneath and checked the trunk like I was a presumed drug lord. No issues with the search though, I'm smarter than that. We proceeded up the long driveway to the porte cochere where the valet and bellmen were. 

I stepped out and was welcomed in broken English and they collected my bags and showed me to the main entrance—I was blown away at the sheer size of the place and the amount of white marble used, it was beautiful. Walking down the pathway with symmetrical garden pools on both sides with tree islands in the middle, I knew this place was exceptional. There was a gentleman at the extremely tall glass doors wearing traditional moroccan dress and he opened  the door and showed me to the check in. Immediately upon walking inside, the grand chandelier draws your attention right away, along with the beautiful flowers adorned in many vases (as is typical Ritz Carlton fashion) below it on a long table. The place was immaculate with staff everywhere attending to every concern or task imaginable. 

At reception, I was welcomed with hospitality like you wouldn't believe. They made it a point to warm welcome an American. The manager of the hotel came out to personally introduce himself and shake my hand and welcome me for my stay which was to be a long one of about a week and a half. I had booked a regular king room months prior to arrival but when I checked in, I was upgraded to one of their large suites that overlooked the gardens and golf course—This is a perk of being a Marriott Ambassador. The whole staff was excellent, I got checked in and proceeded with a staff member to my room.

The property is more so laid out to the sides vs built up, so it took one elevator ride up to the next floor and about a 10 minute walk to get to the left side of the property where my room was. The room was at the end of the hallway and to the right down a separate corridor so it was very private. Upon walking in, I was immediately blown away. The suite was massive with its own bar, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and large terrace with automatic canopies—I stepped into some money haha. The bathroom was really exceptional, very large and had a shower the size of a small room, all marble of course. The terrace was really nice, I spent most nights here with fresh moroccan tea and cigars overlooking the gardens in the back and the night skies. I posted a video of the room tour below.

The hotel had numerous restaurants and a cigar lounge called The Blind Tiger, there was one restaurant that was still being worked on so it wasn't open yet but I'll try it the next time I go. The main restaurant was nice and with good food, I became friends with the restaurant manager, Farouk. He was exceptionally kind to me and wanted to know my feedback on everything. 

The atmosphere was as you'd expect, quiet and calm in the corridors with the rooms but lively and energetic in the restaurants, cigar lounge, great room, lobby, and outside by the pool and seating areas. A few members that stood out to me was again, Farouk—Along with Hicham and Saphae who I'm still friends with and keep in touch with on Instagram.

This is actually the first time I had ever stayed at a Fairmont. I've seen them around but I hardly ever venture away from Marriott because of my status with them. In Tangier, Marriott properties were actually limited with the most decent one being the St. Regis and it was like an hour and a half away on the NE coast so that wasn't practical so I chose here due to it being right in Tangier. I wasn't disappointed—I remember arriving early in the morning and my room was almost ready so they welcomed me to breakfast while it was being finished. The hotel and grounds were really spectacular and it was kind of situated on the top of a hill so you overlooked tangier which was a nice feeling. The entire property was really quiet and calm even with other guests.

The entire property was immaculate as was the room, the restaurants, pool, and cigar lounge.

I arrived via cab to the main entrance and was shown to reception, the lobby area was really nice with a private sitting space in a sort of library area. The atrium itself where reception was, was quite large and commanded attention. Fairmont's are known as luxury hotels so I knew what to expect in the way of a 5 star hotel but I didn't know what to expect from the Fairmont point of view but they delivered, quickly.

My room was incredible, I believe I had booked a king suite that overlooked the bottom gardens and 

Tangier. I had a large terrace where you could step out and look down at Tangier and the coast along with the Strait of Gibraltar. The room had a living room area near the terrace and a large bathroom with a large walk in shower as well as a bathtub. It was the perfect quarters for the next week while I was in Tangier.

The hotel had about 4 restaurants and they were all good. One was a restaurant on the top floor with a "secret" entrance due to it being both a restaurant and speakeasy. It was actually well hidden because I had to go ask where the hell it was—Food and drinks were good. The main restaurant was where the served breakfast as well as lunch and dinner, it was beautifully decorated and their breakfast spread in the mornings was spectacular. The attention to detail and availability of foods and stations was all so well done and really impressed me, I'll share some photos below. The pool was really large and the center of the hotel courtyard out back, service was great and it was nice sitting out and lounging in luxury.

The atmosphere of the hotel was great, the grounds were immaculate and the gardens fresh and well kept. There were workers everyday I was there, tending to the flower beds and ensuring they were in top shape, their attention to detail was really appreciated. All of the staff was really friendly and it was great to stay here during my time in Tangier, I look forward to returning.