Hôtel Résidence Monia

I arrived at 4 PM and found the ambulance worker asleep upstairs. I was worried he wouldn’t wake up. The staff inside were busy, and the place smelled strongly of alcohol and ashtrays. It’s an old, noisy place, and the rooms had an unpleasant smell. Noise from outside kept me from sleeping properly, and there was constant movement in the bathrooms and rooms. The mattress was uncomfortable and gave me back pain. Wi-Fi was incredibly slow, even sending text messages meant waiting. I don’t usually write partial reviews, but this place isn’t suitable for guests. For this price, there are much better places in Sousse. It’s my first and last time here, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Save yourself the trouble of going.

The location is perfect: five minutes on foot to the beach, three to the medina, decent food almost next door, a small basic shop right across the street for essentials, and decent coffee a minute away on the same street. Staff were friendly and accommodating. The room was basic, but some decor choices made it feel nicer. It had a small balcony, the shower worked more than alright and was warm in the winter cold, and the bed was comfortable enough for me to sleep. I stayed two nights at the start of my Tunisia trip, and for an affordable, basic stay that didn’t ask much of me, it did what I needed. I didn’t think it was a bad stay. It’s a smoking hotel, which might not suit you if you don’t smoke or aren’t used to it. There are ashtrays in the hallways, and I’m sure people smoke in other rooms, though my room didn’t smell of smoke and had a clean ashtray, so it wasn’t really a problem for me. Soundproofing is another issue. On my first night, a huge thunder and lightning storm with very heavy rain went on for 14 hours straight. I was on the third floor of four, and the thunder boomed right over the hotel the whole time. It felt like sleeping on the roof. That was extreme weather, so I don’t count the first night. On the second night, people in the street below seemed to enjoy having loud conversations about once an hour, possibly around the small shops. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault, just inconsiderate noise late at night. There were some strange cat noises too. The bathroom is more of a wet room, but they provide a squeegee mop to clear the water away, so that’s fine. Sorry this is long, I just wanted to be honest 👍🏼

The location was great, and the staff were really friendly. But there was no lift, and the bathroom setup was awful: the shower was right beside the toilet with no divider, so water went everywhere. The towels were old and dirty. I booked three nights, but moved to another hotel the next day. For the same price, you can find better options.

We chose Hotel Monia because we wanted to experience Sousse and support local businesses, rather than stay in a polished resort. It suited that perfectly. The room was clean, recently redecorated, and had enough traditional touches to give us a feel for local decor. By our third day, we felt settled and at home. The front desk staff greeted us whenever we came and went, and we felt looked after. Their local restaurant recommendation was a good one, too. The city’s buzz became one of our favourite parts of the stay. In the evenings, we’d relax with the balcony door open and hear people chatting and music drifting by. It felt comforting and homely. The train station is also close, and we used the very cheap transport for a more relaxed day trip to Monastir. We loved the food around us. La Caleche is practically next door, and there’s a little shop opposite for water and sweet snacks. Presse Cafe is just around the corner and we went often. On the main street, the street food spot beside the Change served excellent tabouna and Lebanese flatbread. Near the theatre, across the main road, 3am Salem sells delicious sweets, including pistachio Libanese. We also enjoyed eating at El Seles, Café Ajdad, Restaurant Du Peuple and Cafe Kasbah. The portions are huge, and meals tend to be home cooked, with bread, olives, salad, samosas, harissa and an oil dip. A kettle in the room would’ve been handy for morning tea. Also, Sousse is very smoky, with people smoking indoors and outside. As devoted non-smokers, we found that difficult at times, so we started having dinner a little earlier to avoid the busiest smoking times. The hotel itself wasn’t smoky. Occasionally smoke came in from the street when the balcony door or window was open, but it didn’t linger or make the room smell. There was no air freshener masking anything, just a neutral smell.