Dar Roumana, Fez

Thanks to the budget airlines (in this case Ryanair) it is now possible to fly direct to some amazing places for a long weekend. Fez is one destination recently made more easily available.

A city with a long tradition as a centre of Islamic study—it has the oldest university in the world—Fez has in recent years had to watch Marrakech steal both the glory and the tourist dollars. The upside of this is that a stay in Fez remains a genuinely Moroccan experience. It may only be four hours from Luton, but a visit to the Fez Medina (one of the greatest markets on earth), it is like stepping back in time.

Nestled in the middle of the madness and mayhem of the Medina is Dar Roumana, a haven of calm and tranquillity. A traditional Moroccan house (Dar) restored by the considerable efforts of former investment banker Jennifer Lapostol and her husband Sebastian. Lapostol gave up her job in the City to train at the Tante Marie cookery school. And after a spell working as a private chef she decided to set up her own place. Having previously studied Arabic, she settled on renovating a Dar in Fez. It has clearly been a remarkable journey and one that she recounts in detail as she prepares a dinner for the hotel guests.

Judging by the results of her cooking—without question the best meal I ate in Fez and better than many five-star hotel meals—and the quality of the renovation, she made the right choice in seeing it through. With a gorgeously calm and cool central courtyard, featuring intricately carved woodwork and plaster, the best roof terrace in Fez and one of the most relaxing bedrooms I've stayed in for years, the most taxing thing about a stay at Dar Roumana is deciding where to unwind next.