 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | |
50°F / 10°C
(Passing Clouds. Cool.)
|
|
|
|
|
Contrary to many Tunisian cities, the economic and political capital city of Tunis doesn’t live on tourism. However this is a city open to the world and more specifically to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, which has a whole range of hotels for business travelers. The tourists will also find fitting accommodations, but the offer lacks of boutique hotels, a situation that has to be related to the fact that Tunisia has long been used to deal with mass tourism rather than with individuals. One should also keep in mind that most of the time the number of rating stars placarded in Tunisian hotels doesn’t suit exactly the international standards of comfort.
Summer heat can soon become oppressive in Tunis, so it can be preferable to choose a hotel in one of the seaside cities of the northern suburbs in summertime, as those cities are open to the sea and benefit from lower temperatures. Unfortunately, most of the cheap hotels are located in Tunis itself, so those with low-budgets will not have many options to flee from the capital city heat.
Concerning foreign languages, French is spoken in every hotels, no matter what category is concerned, whereas the more the category of the hotel is high, the more chances you will get to find English speakers.
Médina
During the Ottoman times, the caravanserais (named fondouks in Maghreb) of the medina served as inns for the foreign traders who gathered there by crafts or countries. As for the important guests, they stayed at the Palace of the Government, on the Place du Gouvernement. But with the extension of the city beyond the walls of the medina, the latter has lost its inn-keeping function. There are few accommodations in the medina. A resplendent boutique-hotel opened recently, the Hôtel Dar El Medina. There is also a beautiful Auberge de Jeunesse. The low-budgets will also find first-price accommodations without many comfort at the entrance of the medina in the vicinity of Bab El Bahr, such as the Hôtel Marhaba located on the Place de la Victoire.
New Town
Various categories of hotels can be found in the city-center, but there are no boutique-hotels.
A first category refers to hotels of average standing devoted to business travelers but that can also fit the holidaymakers. Among them, the most famous and one of the most expensive is the Hôtel Carlton. There is also the Golf Royal Hotel or the Hôtel Naplouse wich doesn’t feature any conference room, along with some hotels settled near the Parc du Belvédère, such as the very good hotel Les Ambassadeurs or the Hôtel Belvédère Fourati.
A second hotel category deals with cheap hotels that can fit the tourists given their interesting locations, such as the Hôtel Salammbô, the Grand Hôtel de France or the Hôtel Maison Dorée.
The four and five stars hotels in Tunis have known their heyday in the eighties and some of them have it hard keeping a certain level of excellence and promoting a modernization that seems necessary, as hinted by the many changes of owners that some of them have been through recently, like the Hôtel Africa Meridien, the Mercure El Mechtel, or the Sheraton Tunis Hotel & Towers. As for the Hôtel Abou Nawas Tunis, it is one of the last one hold by the Tunisian hotel chain Abou Nawas.
Les Berges du Lac
Business travelers can perfectly consider staying at the Berges du Lac, the new business district located between the Tunis Lake and the airport, which is only 5 minutes away by taxi. This district doesn’t have any touristy appeal, but it is growing on as a leisure and shopping center: the area around the amusement park Dah Dah Happy Land Entertainment Park is devoted to the entertainment of the whole family, while the district is progressively equipped with bowling halls (Golden Bowling), discotheques, restaurants and coffee houses, where alcohol is however still prohibited in this district. Some standing hotels have consequently settled here, such as the Hôtel Les Berges du Lac Concorde which offers excellent services.
Carthage, Sidi bou Saïd and La Marsa
The few accommodation facilities of those three touristy destinations are not systematically adapted to business travels, but they will perfectly fit individual travelers on holidays.
There are very few hotels in Carthage, as the site benefits from protections concerning its status as a part of the UNESCO Word Heritage. However one of the rare boutique-hotel of Tunis can be found there, the modernist and designed Hôtel Villa Didon sited on the Colline de Byrsa (Byrsa Hill).
It is also kind of a privilege to stay in the picturesque white-and-blue village of Sidi Bou Saïd! Indeed you will have to make a reservation long time in advance if you want to find a room at the charming Hôtel Sidi Bou Farès or at the well-known boutique-hotel Hôtel Dar Saïd.
In summertime, the villas of La Marsa are all occupied either by their owners or by holiday’s tenants, but the hotels are scarce. However, there is a welcoming address: the Hôtel Plaza Corniche. As for people with low-budgets, they can try at the Pension Predl.
Gammarth
The new generation of luxury hotels is to be found 20 kilometers north away from Tunis. Indeed, the Mediterranean forest and the long sandy beach of Gammarth have been colonized by luxury resorts, which have taken away with them the wild beauty of the place. This seaside location doesn’t make it a place only for holidaymakers, insofar as most of the hotels are perfectly equipped to welcome business travelers. Except for some places such as the two stars hotel La Tour Blanche, most of the hotels are 5 stars rating. Some of them are among the bests in Tunis, such as the excellent
Hôtel The Residence Tunis with its famous thalassotherapy center Les Thermes Marins de Carthage, or the Renaissance Tunis Hotel. However, before choosing a hotel in Gammarth one should take into consideration the relative isolation of the area. The amount of amenities provided by the resorts aims at compensating for it: private beaches like at the Hôtel Abou Nawas Le Palace or at the Corinthia Khamsa Hotel, array of restaurants and bars, swimming pools and Spas, along with leisure facilities such as a Bowling in the case of the Golden Tulip Carthage Tunis. But those willing to visit Tunis and its vicinity or those having to go even at the close La Marsa city-center will have to consider renting a vehicle. It is also possible to take a taxi from the hotel, but the TGM train doesn’t pass to Gammarth. - Najda Laroussi
|
|
|
|
|
