Gourara Hotel — Hotel in Timimoun

Arriving from Algiers in Timimoun is something of an experience; you fly on a twin-engine turboprop from a city of 1.5 million to a town of 33,000. And it feels remote. You spend hours flying over the desert before you start to see Timimoun come into view which can only be described as bizarre. What makes people want to settle here, what makes me want to travel there? It's probably the sheer remoteness that seals the deal. ||||Before we got to the hotel, we gave our passports to the police for them to note down the details - for the second time that day. We then are told to wait until our hotel sends a car to pick us up, and for a police escort to be ready to accompany the car. I've never needed a police escort for that reason before, but it all felt safe. ||||The hotel is very attractive, with commanding views of the palmeraie and two large swimming pools, with a restaurant and bar/tea salon. There are multiple terraces on the roof of the hotel. ||||The restaurant is relatively expensive but good quality food, but in a town such as Timimoun, there wasn't much competition. The bourek is excellent and the Algerian wine and beer are both very refreshing. ||||The staff were helpful and friendly, able to arrange a guide for us to take the Sebkha tour which was absolutely a highlight of my trip to Algeria. Again, a police escort was needed for the tour but they held back and were a discreet presence. ||||Unfortunately, during our visit there was a smell that reminded us of dying rats which came and went in our room but became unbearable on the last morning. It was also quite difficult to arrange tickets for onward travel to Ghardaia. Perhaps it's the way Algerians operate, but we only knew for sure we had tickets for the bus 20 minutes before we got on the bus - a 6 hour journey cost £5. ||||Timimoun is a very worthwhile addition to your Algeria itinerary and the Hotel Gourara gets most things right. Oh yeah, and the...

Timimoun and the hotel were both more basic than I had expected from the initial research, from reading guide books and from the reviews here. Once you realise this, there is no doubt this hotel makes for the most pleasant accommodation and dining in this part of the desert. Beautiful desert views from rooms and the restaurant. Nice pools. Mind you that if you (like us) arrive after 14:30 (or return from a day trip after 14:30), there is nothing to eat anywhere. Even the bar didnt stock olives, nuts or chips or anything. Then you have to wait for dinner at 19:30. They also ran out of beer the last couple of days, which is more understandable in a muslim country in a remote location (but could probably be planned for). We liked our two nights and two days, but had to adapt to circumstances more than expected. We had some problems figuring out how to book a desert day trip, but in the end it all worked out. There was a mix up with the Expedia reservation that consumed some time and had us worried. We were told to pay directly at the hotel (which would have been less than half the price) although the money had been debited my account at the time of booking. Some intermediary might have created...

Officially 4 stars hotel but should be at most three on international standard. Excellent location facing wide land with dunes in the horizon, less than 10mn walk to downtown and its popular market, very safe for families, nice exterior decorations. Rooms are just ok with simple decorations, lack of finishing, bad smell mostly due to bad aeration architecture, but beds are comfortable. Staff are very nice but need to meep asking for things that should come without it. One day we had water cutoff and limited food at breakfast. There’s a paid 15mn shuttle to the airport. I wish the service was better and the rooms were upgraded and aeration fixed as the hotel deserves a lot more than this. I don’t recommend for families or big crowd who could look for other types of...