Fairmont Taghazout Bay

Architecture inspired by Amazigh houses

The Fairmont Taghazout Bay opened on 9 July 2021, at kilometre 17 on the Essaouira road, in the Taghazout Bay resort. The project is owned by Sud Partners, a subsidiary of the Moroccan Akwa group; the Fairmont brand belongs to the Accor group. Announced for 2019, the opening came two years late.

The American practice HKS designed it with the Moroccan architect Abdessamad Achrai. Their idea was to draw on the Amazigh (Berber) dwellings of the Agadir region, low and simple earth shelters, rather than the Marrakesh riad. The buildings stay low, in simple forms, using local materials and colours, and the landscape, designed by Scape Design Associates, plays a central role. The hotel covers 18 hectares of beachfront and has 146 rooms, suites and villas.

It has won several World Travel Awards, prizes voted by travel professionals: Africa's best new hotel in 2023, and Morocco's best beach resort in 2023 and 2024.

Restaurants with international names

Dining is what most sets the Fairmont apart from the other hotels on the bay. There are four restaurants and two bars:

• Morimoto, the Japanese restaurant of chef Masaharu Morimoto, known from the TV show Iron Chef, with a resident DJ playing deep house;
• Paper Moon, an Italian restaurant founded in Milan in 1977;
• Beef & Reef, an open-air restaurant by the pool, with fish, seafood and grilled meat, the easiest option with children;
• Tapa Wine Bar, facing the ocean, wines and tapas drawing on Spanish, Moroccan, Italian, Lebanese and Turkish cooking;
• the garden bar, which claims the widest gin selection in the region, with cocktails using herbs from the hotel's organic garden;
• NOLA, the jazz bar, inspired by the bars of New Orleans, with whiskies and cigars.

Our advice: over a week, keep Morimoto for a night out, as the DJ gives it a club feel, and Beef & Reef for family lunches by the pool.

Spa, sport and golf

The Fairmont Spa has nine treatment rooms, two solariums, a hammam, a sauna, a jacuzzi and a magnesium pool. Treatments use products from Natura Bissé, a Spanish brand, and Maison d'Asa, a Moroccan one. The spa is open round the clock for hotel guests, and from 10 am to 9 pm local time for visitors.

The gym has a spinning room and Pilates Reformer machines; the hotel runs Pilates, spinning, running and yoga classes overlooking the bay. The Padel Arena has two outdoor courts, a shop and a bar-restaurant. Surf lessons for all levels are organised from the hotel.

Tazegzout golf course is five minutes away. Designed by the golf architect Kyle Phillips across 76 hectares of argan trees, it has holes set on cliffs 80 m above the Atlantic and is irrigated with recycled water. The concierge books tee times; the hotel offers a four-night package with three green fees, a massage and transfers.

Which room to choose

Every room has a large private balcony, a marble bathroom and breakfast for two adults. The choice is first about the view: garden, partial ocean, or full ocean in the Deluxe rooms. One-bedroom suites add a living and dining area; two-bedroom suites, with two bathrooms, sleep up to four adults.

The villas, with two to five bedrooms, have a fully equipped kitchen, a private garden, a heated infinity pool and a butler. For two families travelling together, this is the option that keeps everyone's privacy.

With children

The Fun 4 Kids Club has indoor and outdoor areas and its own pool; teenagers have their own club, the Hangout. Children stay free up to age 6. The hotel provides cots, high chairs and bath toys. Lifeguards watch the beach.

Sabaro's view

Who it suits: families who want a kids' club and a teens' club, couples who come for the restaurants and the spa, golfers.

Strengths: architecture that sits well in the landscape; Morimoto and Paper Moon on site; villas with heated pools; Tazegzout golf five minutes away; a place in the Michelin Guide selection; a score of 4.7/5 on ALL Accor from more than 1,000 reviews.

Good to know: Agadir airport is about 45 minutes away; Taghazout village and its surf schools are a few minutes' drive; the hotel is Green Globe certified (an international sustainable-tourism label), with solar panels and rainwater irrigation.