Tetouan Lifestyle Hotel To Open In 2027

Published on Nov 21, 2025, 3:28 pm CST

7 min read

Key points

Kerten Hospitality has signed a 63 room Cloud 7 Dersa hotel in Tetouan, Morocco, scheduled to open in 2027
The lifestyle hotel will reuse the historic Dersa building in Tetouan's Spanish era quarter, preserving its facade while redesigning the interiors
Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan will offer family suites, Joontos restaurant, a cigar lounge, a lobby cafe, and a rooftop bar close to Martil Tamuda Bay
The project partners Kerten Hospitality with Oromecanica Group, owner of Rafinity, tying hotel design to Moroccan artisanal jewelry heritage
Morocco's tourism strategy and record 17.4 million visitors in 2024 support new lifestyle openings in secondary cities like Tetouan

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: The biggest changes will be for travelers building northern Morocco itineraries that combine Tetouan, Martil Tamuda Bay, and nearby coastal towns
Best Times To Travel: Travelers targeting this hotel should look to late 2027 and 2028 once an exact opening date and first season rates are announced
Onward Travel And Changes: Expect easier pairing of Tetouan stays with nearby beach time in Martil Tamuda Bay and overland links to Tangier and Chefchaouen once the hotel is open
What Travelers Should Do Now: Advisors and independent travelers can start sketching 2027 northern Morocco trips, track construction and opening updates, and use existing riads or coastal resorts until booking at Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan becomes available
Cultural And Heritage Focus: Travelers who prioritize architecture, Andalusian influenced medinas, and contemporary design hotels will gain a new base that sits inside a restored landmark building

Tetouan lifestyle hotel opening plans moved from concept to contract on November 20, 2025, when Kerten Hospitality signed a deal for the 63 room Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan in partnership with Moroccan jeweler Oromecanica Group. The project will convert the historic Dersa building in Tetouan's former Spanish quarter into a contemporary lifestyle hotel while preserving its street facing facade. Future guests will be a mix of culture focused travelers, weekenders from Casablanca and Tangier, and international visitors using Tetouan as a quieter base for exploring Martil Tamuda Bay and the Rif foothills. For planners, this is an early signal that northern Morocco's cultural hubs are getting the same kind of design led inventory already common in Marrakech and Casablanca.

The Tetouan lifestyle hotel opening will repurpose a protected landmark in the Dersa district into a 63 key Cloud 7 property, which should make it easier to build northern Morocco itineraries that combine UNESCO listed heritage, Mediterranean beaches, and contemporary design stays in a single route.

A Historic Dersa Landmark Reimagined

Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan will sit inside the Dersa building, an architectural holdover from Tetouan's Spanish era that fronts the city's historic core. Project plans keep the original facade while completely redesigning the interior into modern rooms, social spaces, and food and beverage outlets, an approach that is increasingly common in dense historic districts where full teardowns are neither practical nor welcome.

Interior design is expected to lean heavily on Tetouan's Andalusian spirit and Oromecanica Group's jewelry heritage, with custom details, art pieces, and textiles that echo the Rafinity brand's emphasis on intricate metalwork and couture level finishes. The result should feel closer to a design forward urban riad than a conventional chain hotel, but in a building that already sits near museums, galleries, and the medina rather than in a car dependent coastal strip.

Cloud 7 is Kerten Hospitality's lifestyle hotel and residence brand, designed around social spaces, local art, and community programming rather than traditional business hotel layouts. Bringing that template into Tetouan aligns with the city's growing profile as a creative hub, anchored by its National Institute of Fine Arts and a medina that UNESCO describes as one of the most complete in Morocco, with a clear Andalusian influence in its art and architecture.

Inside Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan

At opening, Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan is slated to offer 63 keys, including family suites aimed at multi generational and small group travel. Public areas will center on a set of food and beverage venues, led by Kerten Hospitality's Joontos restaurant, which has already built a reputation in other markets for Mediterranean leaning menus and neighborhood focused dining. A cigar lounge, lobby cafe, and rooftop bar round out the plan, giving guests multiple spaces to work, socialize, or simply take in city and distant coastline views.

Early statements from project partners emphasize that the hotel is meant to be both an address for visitors and an open door for locals, via collaborations with Tetouan artists, makers, and cultural institutions. Mr. Aziz El Hajouji, founder of Oromecanica and Rafinity, frames the move into hospitality as an extension of the maison's long running focus on refinement and high standards, with hotel guests treated in the same way Rafinity treats jewelry clients. Kerten Hospitality CEO Marloes Knippenberg, for her part, pitches the property as a fit for "boutique travellers, digital creatives, national or international weekenders and architecture and heritage enthusiasts," a positioning that matches the typical Cloud 7 profile of independent travelers and remote workers.

Why Northern Morocco, And Why Now

The Tetouan deal slots into a much larger national tourism story. Morocco welcomed a record 17.4 million visitors in 2024, roughly 20 percent more than in 2023, and generated about 112.48 billion dirhams in tourism revenue that year, with performance still rising into 2025. The government's roadmap calls for at least 26 million visitors by 2030, backed by expanded airport capacity, more air routes, and support for new accommodation in both established and emerging destinations.

Tetouan sits at the intersection of several of those trends. Its medina has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1997 and is now also part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for crafts and folk art, giving it global cultural visibility even as it remains less crowded than Marrakech or Fez. Down on the coast, Martil and Tamuda Bay have been steadily built out as Mediterranean resort areas, attracting beach travelers who also want easy access to Tangier, Chefchaouen, and the wider Rif region.

By positioning Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan just minutes from Martil Tamuda Bay and close to major cultural sites, Kerten and Oromecanica are effectively betting that more travelers will want to combine heritage rich old towns with sea facing stays, rather than choosing between them. Imad Barrakad, CEO of Morocco's tourism development agency SMIT, explicitly frames the project as proof that outreach to lifestyle and boutique operators is working and that northern cities are part of the growth map, not just the big coastal and imperial hubs.

Background: How SMIT And Operators Shape New Openings

The Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development, SMIT, was created in 2007 to move projects from concept to execution as part of the country's broader tourism strategy. In practice, that means identifying sites with potential, packaging them for investors, and coordinating with brands and operators that can deliver on both capacity and positioning goals.

Lifestyle hotels like Cloud 7 are especially attractive in historic cities, where large scale resorts often do not fit the urban fabric and where visitors are looking for a sense of place more than a standard chain experience. Kerten's asset light, multi brand model lets it work with local partners such as Oromecanica on small and mid scale projects that tie into local craftsmanship and design narratives instead of importing a generic template.

How Travelers Can Use Tetouan In Future Itineraries

Until Cloud 7 Dersa Tetouan opens, travelers will continue to rely on existing riads and small hotels in the medina and modern properties along the Martil Tamuda Bay strip. When the hotel does come online, likely sometime in 2027, it will give advisors and independent travelers a single property that links Tetouan's cultural core with modern lifestyle amenities under one roof.

The most straightforward itineraries will combine entry through Tangier, overland transfer to Tetouan, two or three nights split between the medina and coastal time, and onward travel to Chefchaouen or further south toward Rabat and Casablanca. For travelers already looking at Morocco adventure or cultural trips, such as the REI and Intrepid itineraries that include Morocco alongside other destinations, Tetouan can become an add on or a quieter alternative to more crowded circuits. Pairing this future hotel with existing guides and destination content for cities like Casablanca gives travelers multiple northern gateways and a clearer sense of how to allocate nights between hubs.

What Travelers Should Do Now

Because the Tetouan lifestyle hotel opening is still at the signing stage, there is no booking window yet. For near term trips in 2025 and 2026, travelers should continue to use current Tetouan hotels or nearby Tamuda Bay resorts, while monitoring Cloud 7 and Kerten channels for construction updates, soft opening dates, and introductory offers.

Advisors who serve design minded clients can start sketching sample 2027 itineraries that include at least two nights in Tetouan, followed by time in Tangier, Chefchaouen, or along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. When rate sheets and inventory details are published, these outlines can be finalized quickly, giving early adopters first pick of opening season dates. As Morocco's visitor numbers climb and more travelers look beyond Marrakech, having a viable, lifestyle focused hotel in Tetouan should make it easier to promote northern routes that balance culture, coast, and quieter streets.