Hotel Gafsa Palace

The place is old, which by itself wouldn’t bother me, but it’s dirty and neglected. Lots of things were broken and left unrepaired. What a horrible experience. This is nowhere near a five-star hotel now, though maybe it was in the past. Dinner was included, but when we asked for a bottle of water, they charged us 4 dinars at checkout. It costs less than half a dinar at a local shop, and nobody told us water wasn’t included.

I’d heard bad things about this place but decided to give it a try. I regret it. We settled on a price before arriving, then they changed it and charged us more. They let me down completely. I’d sooner sleep outside than stay here again. Avoid this hotel.

We’d called a week before arriving, and they asked us to confirm by email. The price they gave us both on the phone and in the email was 105 TND per room. After a long journey to get there, the receptionist told us it was actually 300 TND per room. We showed him the email. He agreed it clearly said 105 TND, then called it “a mistake.” We’re not Tunisian and had come all this way for the hotel, only to be told it was an error. The receptionist didn’t contact a manager. He acknowledged the mistake but said it wasn’t his. I told him I’d rather sleep on the street than pay these scammers 300 TND, then left. A total disappointment.

During 10 days in Tunisia visiting the main cities, I stayed at several three- and four-star hotels with much better conditions than this one. Here, the facilities are old and seem almost abandoned by the staff. There was no maintenance or cleaning in either the rooms or common areas. None of the pools were working, and breakfast was very poor. The worst part was how unfriendly and inattentive the staff who welcomed us were. They even tried to mislead us about the prices at check-in.