JOIN US THIS NOVEMBER FOR A
CULINARY RETREAT
WITH SAM WAY
Thursday 20th – Monday 24th November 2025
From €4,260 / £3,550 / $4,881 single occupancy
From €6,697 / £5,581 / $7,674 joint occupancy (2 people sharing)
All prices are excluding flights & travel insurance
RETREAT HIGHLIGHTS
- Experience Marrakech with food influencer Sam Way as your guide
- Four nights at El Fenn – named on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List 2024 as well as one of ‘26 exceptional hotels’ for The goop List 2024
- Discover Marrakech’s buzzing food scene – from restaurants to street food
- Learn about Morocco’s world class produce & its ever-growing network of organic producers
- Dive into Morocco’s culinary traditions & how to harness Moroccan spices in cocktails as well as food
- Visit organic farms to see olives & saffron being harvested
- Attend a cooking class with female chefs to learn how to prepare truly authentic Moroccan dishes
- Learn about Morocco’s thriving wine culture & the art of tablescaping with El Fenn’s artistic director
- Soak up some inspiration on tours of the historic medina & Museum of Culinary Arts
- Just 16 places available on this bespoke retreat
- Get ready to make new friends, share a unique experience & return home with new flavours for your own culinary endeavours
- Everything – from your room & excursions to meals & airport transfers – are included. All you need to add are flights & travel insurance
“We’ll be cooking, eating and tasting it, meeting some fantastic producers, and I want people to leave feeling really inspired”
With more than 14 million followers, Sam Way is one of social media’s most beloved food creators. Known for encouraging a whole new generation into the kitchen to make the taste-packed dishes he creates for @samseats, he’s partnering with us to share one of his favourite culinary destinations and deep dive into Moroccan food with you.
Sam will be guiding you through Marrakech’s buzzing food scene – from local markets and organic farms, to street food and restaurants. Because Morocco and its food is far more just tagines. On this trip, you’ll learn about some of its most unique products such as argan oil and spices, as well as its ever evolving wine culture and organic farming movement.
‘Marrakech has a really dynamic local food scene and the produce being grown is incredibly diverse and delicious,’ says Sam. ‘We’ll be cooking, eating and tasting it, meeting some fantastic producers, and I want people to leave feeling really inspired.’
With Sam as your guide, you’ll also discover the food secrets of the historic medina and learn how to make truly authentic Moroccan dishes at a cooking class with female chefs. Plus, there are trips to inspiring food destinations – including an organic saffron farm, a fully circular permaculture farm and museum dedicated to Moroccan cuisine – as well as dinners at El Fenn, a local restaurant devoted to organic sourcing and our pick of the best street foods.
We’ve curated this experience to allow you to discover one of the world’s richest food cultures, with a side of city exploration and sunshine. Plus, you’ll get the chance to make new friendships with a group of like-minded people.
The five-day event runs Thursday 20th to Monday 24th November. Prices start at €4,260 / £3,550 / $4,881 for a small room and include all meals, pre-dinner cocktails and wine with dinner, trips out & transport plus airport transfers. Here are all the details.
YOUR RETREAT ITINERARY
Day 1
Check in to one of El Fenn’s gorgeous rooms at your leisure before gathering for lunch in the sunshine on our rooftop. You’ll then be taken for a tour of the hotel before a tablescaping workshop with one of El Fenn’s designers and a mixology workshop with our bar team. Dinner that night will be a Moroccan sharing feast and you’ll start getting to know each other over some great food and wine.
Day 2
After breakfast in the sun on the El Fenn rooftop, you’ll head off into the medina to learn more about its history, see the souks and start to discover the secrets of traditional Moroccan foods. After a seasonal lunch at El Fenn, you’ll have a few hours of downtime before attending a spice workshop and heading out for a sunset street food tour. Dinner that night is in the world famous Djemaa el Fna square so think lamb slow-roasted in clay pits, beef stew slow cooked in embers and olives marinated with cumin and preserved lemon.
Day 3
Sanctuary Slimane is a beautiful permaculture farm where organic produce is grown in complete circularity with the surrounding landscape that includes thousands of olive, fig and pomegranate trees, as well as bee hives and ponds. You’ll do a tour of the farm and an olive oil tasting before Sam cooks just-harvested produce with owner Aziz Nahas and chef Driss Aloui. November is also the time for saffron harvesting in Morocco and you’ll visit an organic saffron on the way back to Marrakech where you’ll see the harvest and do a workshop. Dinner that night will be at Mizaan – founded by a team passionate about gastronomy and culture, Mizaan is a celebration of contemporary Moroccan flavors.
Day 4
Soak up the blue skies over breakfast before heading out to meet the all-female team at a restaurant where social progress is combined with truly authentic food. You’ll learn how to create classic Moroccan dishes during a cooking class before sitting down to eat what you’ve prepared for lunch. In the afternoon, either visit the medina again for a shopping tour to pick up everything from spices and herb teas, to harissa and preserved lemons, or head to Gueliz which is packed with great shops. At sunset, you’ll learn about the fascinating story of Moroccan wine with a guest sommelier before Sam cooks dinner using his pick of local ingredients and produce in our rooftop kitchen.
Day 5
Swap notes and numbers over breakfast before a final wrap-up with Sam as you reflect on an amazing few days. Then it’s either time to head to the airport – or stay on at El Fenn to soak up some more sunshine.
BOOKING
Booking opens via email at 10am on Wednesday 28th May. If you’re a newsletter subscriber you’ll get early access to booking the day before.
Email your name and preferred room size to request a place. We’ll contact you for payment via email or phone to confirm your place.
Places are limited to 16 people and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
ABOUT SAM
Sam Way set up @samseats in the hope of landing a restaurant job. Fast forward five years – and 10 million followers on TikTok and 1.7million followers on instagram – and he’s known for his innovative recipes that are showcased in his trademark 60-second videos. Sam’s passion for food is so infectious, we couldn’t think of a better person to explore the richness of Moroccan cuisine and some fascinating local chefs and producers.
ABOUT EL FENN
El Fenn opened in 2004 and has captured the imagination of a generation of travellers ever since with its trademark design: one part bohemian, another luxury, always a celebration of Moroccan craftsmanship. This unique feeling of home-away-from-home meets cool has seen it namechecked everywhere from Vogue to Architectural Digest. We’ve also been included on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List four times and The goop List 2024.
ACCOMMODATION
All our rooms feature our signature blend of traditional Moroccan artisanal decoration meets a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture and art from the El Fenn private collection. Colour-soaked and playful, each one is unique. You’ll also have access to our three swimming pools and gorgeous spa if you want to book some extra treatments.
Room categories include:
SMALL ROOMS – These colour drenched rooms in the original house all have a tadelakt bath with an overhead shower (some with an open bathroom).
Price for a small room, single occupancy. €4,260 / £3,550 / $4,881
MEDIUM ROOMS – each of these more spacious rooms has a king size bed, small seating area, open fire and either an oversized bathtub or a walk-in shower.
Price for a medium room, single occupancy. €4,716 / £3,930 / $5,404
Price for a medium room, joint occupancy. €6,697 / £5,581 / $7,674
LARGE ROOMS – larger rooms with a substantial indoor or outdoor seating area plus an open wood fire. Each has an oversized bathtub with a separate shower.
Price for a large room, single occupancy. €5,172 / £4,310 / $5,926
Price for a large room, joint occupancy. €7,153 / £5,961 / $8,196
EXTRA LARGE ROOMS – the ultimate in El Fenn style. These huge rooms are sumptuously styled with a large lounge area, open fireplace and a separate large bathroom.
Price for an extra large room, single occupancy. €5,400 / £4,500 / $6,187
Price for an extra large room, joint occupancy. €7,381 / £6,151 / $8,457
All our rooms feature our signature blend of traditional Moroccan artisanal decoration meets a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture and art from the El Fenn private collection. Colour-soaked and playful, each one is unique. You’ll also have access to our three swimming pools and gorgeous spa if you want to book some extra treatments.
Room categories include:
SMALL ROOMS – These colour drenched rooms in the original house all have a tadelakt bath with an overhead shower (some with an open bathroom).
Price for a small room, single occupancy. €4,260 / £3,550 / $4,881
MEDIUM ROOMS – each of these more spacious rooms has a king size bed, small seating area, open fire and either an oversized bathtub or a walk-in shower.
Price for a medium room, single occupancy. €4,716 / £3,930 / $5,404
Price for a medium room, joint occupancy. €6,697 / £5,581 / $7,674
LARGE ROOMS – larger rooms with a substantial indoor or outdoor seating area plus an open wood fire. Each has an oversized bathtub with a separate shower.
Price for a large room, single occupancy. €5,172 / £4,310 / $5,926
Price for a large room, joint occupancy. €7,153 / £5,961 / $8,196
EXTRA LARGE ROOMS – the ultimate in El Fenn style. These huge rooms are sumptuously styled with a large lounge area, open fireplace and a separate large bathroom.
Price for an extra large room, single occupancy. €5,400 / £4,500 / $6,187
Price for an extra large room, joint occupancy. €7,381 / £6,151 / $8,457
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
The programme on day one of the retreat with lunch so either take an early flight or arrive at El Fenn the day before.
- All your meals at El Fenn plus restaurants we’ve picked for their great food – and interior style
- Pre-dinner cocktails and wine with dinner
- All your trips & entrance fees outside El Fenn
- Airport transfers & transport
- Your flights
- Any extra alcohol or spa treatments
Absolutely! If you want to arrive the day before the retreat starts – or stay on for a night or two afterwards to explore Marrakech a bit more then we’ll be offering retreat attendees a 15% discount on our best rates.
Gorgeous. The days are still warm in Marrakech in November with average temperatures in the early 20s so think blue skies, sunshine and lots of light layers because the temperature dips in the shade. Evenings can get cold so bring a warm jacket and a rain coat just in case. We don’t get much rain here but you might need a cover up.
Bring light layers to wear during the day, some comfortable walking shoes or sneakers because you’ll be doing some walking, and something to change into for dinner.
Not much. The interior design retreat is pretty action packed because there’s so much we want to show you. Each day though, we’ve factored in 1.5-2 hours of downtime so that you can rest, have a hammam or just relax.
You can cancel anytime up to 8 weeks before the start date of the retreat to receive a refund of your deposit minus 5% administration fee.
IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW?
