Hotel Sidi Idriss - ⴰⵙⴻⵏⵙⵓ ⵙⵉⴷⵉ ⴷⵔⵉⵙ — Hotel in Maghreb

This hotel has missed an s from its name as it is more of a hostel than hotel.|We arrived around 6pm after a long drive, we were greeted by a guy who it turned out was a local guide rather than staff member, he was very pushy wanting to show us around the town before we had even checked in.|We told him no several times but after checking in he followed us around the outside as we went to take photos and demanded 20 dinars for his trouble.|Now to the nitty gritty, booking through booking.com it states there is aircon, be warned there isn't even a fan in the room. The door doesn't close from the inside we had to wedge it shut with a piece of wood.|We had a couple of drinks in the bar and asked about an evening meal, despite others eating in the breeze of the outside seating we were made to eat in a stuffy underground dining room. The food was basic tunisian fare, tasty but don't eat the salad! I contracted a tummy bug requiring antibiotics from that salad!|If you are a star wars fan a visit is a must but you can see everything in 30 minutes no need to stay over!|Toilets and showers were separate from the rooms and very basic, no toilet seats in the gents, no towels are provided. The pillows are rough looking cushions with no pillow cases. The rooms had beds in and that was all, not even a rubbish bin! For somewhere frequented by many star wars fans their English was non existent and the guide even pointed to a picture of uncle Owen and said look that is George Lucas eating here. I was too tired and hot to correct him. A fan could be provided as the temperature in the room never dropped below 26°C and being underground with no windows was airless.|My advice, pass by and take your photos then leave as quickly...

I see most reviews focus on visits to the filming location whereas my review is following a 1 night stay in the hotel section. We stayed here with our private guide who gave us the option of this or a night in the desert and us being Star Wars fans of course opted for this.

Note I've had to readjust my expectations as this is after all a very clearly stated 1-star hotel. They even have their 1-star rating as you descend the steps into the hotel, hence my rating is based entirely on this fact.

The rooms are very cosy rooms in Berber style caves. There was electric lighting and plugs in the room to charge your essentials but no WiFi and poor mobile signal as you're literally in the hill. The bed was firm but quite comfortable with clean sheets. We were provided with towels.

Bathrooms and showers were shared. Toilets were clean and had toilet paper contrary to some of the reviews I saw below. The showers had hot water but some clothes hanging hooks would've been very useful in the shower.

We found that staying in this place was very relaxed, were had no guides pushing us to show us around once they knew we were staying there. They accommodated our dietary requirements by served us a very filling traditional & vegetarian dinner and breakfast prepared freshly in house. It's also very peaceful outside in the evening for a stroll and taking pictures from above.

Oh and finally, every cat we came across looked healthy. We even met one of the staff that said he looked after all the cats and he said there were a...

A brilliant overnight stay at this iconic location that I’ve wanted to do for years! It isn’t a luxurious stay, so don’t expect one! It’s a historic location that dates back to the 17th century but for every Star Wars fan this is a must. The Lars homestead from the films A New Hope and Attack of the Clones, and it makes you feel very humble when you sit in that courtyard, knowing that those film greats were there all those years ago. The staff are great as is the food that is served. We ate our evening meal in the same ‘room’ as the famous homestead breakfast scene in A New Hope - very cool indeed! The food is plentiful and very traditional - you won’t go hungry! Breakfast is also very traditional and delicious! We were staying in Sousse and hired a car for 2 days and the road trip there was very cool indeed - beautiful scenery as you travel further south into the Sahara. Wonderful hilly desert views just outside Matamata Al Quadinal to add to the memories that you’ll take away from there. Very worthwhile...