Saint Georges Tunis Hotel — Hotel in Tunis

||||Not for the faint of heart, this ageing hotel really needs to be put out of its misery!||||Cons:||1. Location||This place is stuck out in the middle of suburbia and is at least a 40-minute walk to the medina. (As an obvious foreigner, you take taxis at your own risk: either the flag fall is set too high or the fare from the last passenger remains on the meter and yours is simply added to it.)||2. The hotel interior is shrouded in a haze of cigarette smoke, the opacity of which is determined by the time of day or night.||3. Noise||Depending on the particular room, a guest can be blasted by noise from the bar or noise from the restaurant; noise from the hotel's parking lot just in front of the hotel or noise from the street traffic - motorcycles in particular, which typically set off a series of car alarms.||4. Breakfast - barely edible||One morning, there was actually black mould on a few pieces of bread in the bread basket; twice when I poured milk into my coffee, white chunks suddenly appeared floating on the surface of the coffee. Finally I just stopped eating there altogether.||5. The restaurant was permeated by a lingering stench of stale cigarette smoke, even with restaurant doors flung wide open.||6. Table cloths were stained or littered with bits of bread or dollops of 'jam'; it was a matter of finding which table was the cleanest of the dirtiest.||7. The currency exchange service the hotel advertises on its business card seemed to be limited to the service provided by the one English-speaking desk clerk. I gave him €100 and he gave me 200 Tunisian dinars - no receipts, no documentation of any sort! ||When I commented on the very poor exchange rate relative to that at the airport, he just shrugged his shoulders saying that there were only two currency exchange options in Tunis: the banks or the hotels and that hotels always had the poorest rates of exchange. Given that Tunisia has a soft currency and that exchange rates are set by the government, I found his comment a bit odd.||8. Staff||Front desk staff appeared sullen or just plain indifferent. 'Smile' seemed to be a foreign concept.||9. Tips seemed to be expected by the only English-speaking desk clerk there. Went to pay for the room and because I was momentarily distracted by something else I neglected to pick up the six dinars change. When I returned to the front desk a couple of minutes later to ask about it, the clerk said he'd assumed the six dinars were for him! A 'tip' for a desk clerk???? For what???||||Pros:||Very difficult to come up with any pros for the St Georges||1. Housekeeping staff and restaurant staff are pleasant enough.||2. The only English-speaking desk clerk said the hotel has a free storage facility for luggage. However, I didn't bother using it, as I figured even if it were 'free' at the time he mentioned it to me that by the time I'd return to pick up my luggage, a charge (or 'tip') might be levied anyway.||3. WiFi is available, but not in the rooms. Guests have to sit in a smoke-filled lounge to get a WiFi signal.||||I doubt very much that I'd ever stay at this...

The old Saint-Georges has taken some knocks on this page recently, not all of them (based on my experience) deserved. I'd like to set the record straight, though of course not as straight as the owners would like. Accordingly, some of the remarks below refer indirectly to other recent comments.||||PROS : fast and reliable Wifi -- reasonably polite service (with one exception, but it was Ramadan and he got happier once I paid) -- decent basic breakfast (coffee, bread, butter, quince jam, yogurt -- prompt and thorough room-cleaning service -- hot water without fail -- effective A/C -- faded-glory feel, with a peaceful and leafy courtyard (by budget standards) -- bar on site (outside of Ramadan) for an end-of-day Celtica -- accepts VISA -- pleasant neighborhood with places to grab cheap dinner, shop for basics (e.g., two-minute walk from a Carrefour)||||NEUTRAL : the walk to the main drag (Habib Bourguiba) and the medina is a factor, but it's not really that bad. it was 25 leisurely minutes for me down to Bourguiba, then another five over to Bab al-Bhar, which marks the start of the medina from the east. moreover, if you do decide to take a taxi, my experience was that they were invariably available and cheap since they always used the meter (airport vultures the lone exception) -- i can see how noise might be a factor in some rooms, but it did not bother me overmuch. the cafe on the outside street was the biggest culprit; it shut down around 11pm.||||CONS : demanded full payment for twelve days up front; this was a new one on me -- no good views from any room -- phone in the room, but allegedly no ability to make or receive calls, to anywhere, from anywhere on site; this struck me as bizarre and ridiculous -- no organized laundry service, though it is advertised on their material; the maid offered to do my wash and did a fine job, but it was unclear how and how much to pay her -- slightly seedy feel because of age, cigarette smoke (which in general I did not find to be a real factor; I certainly never smelled it in my room), and the bar, which was quite popular when I was there (it's mostly Tunisians who drink there, and the choices are limited to two kinds of beer; women would probably feel uncomfortable there, especially if...

I stayed four nights in this hotel and found it quite pleasant. Most reviews were bad and literally tried to put you off staying, but for a cheap room with breakfast you can't complain too much! The room was a good size with adequate storage space. There was a double and single bed with extra pillows (so no need to ask). The TV was very outdated (square box on wall) but worked well enough. A downside was the bathroom door...glass panelled! Fortunately I was staying with my husband but if I was with a friend it would have been a little awkward as you would have to stay on the bed so you "don't see anything". The room was clean and the maid came everyday to clean and tidy, changing towels as needed. The breakfast again was simple but enough.||There was good WI-FI throughout the hotel including our room. Common areas with bigger TVs that were always free. The staff were friendly and welcoming and never showed any annoyance with us arriving gone 11pm and having to leave at 5am (they locked they main gate at night for security). A little bar was also attached to the hotel.||Location was good to airport and cost 5dinar in a taxi to get there...they will rip you off when going from airport as our taxi driver refused to put the counter on and wanted to charge 40-50dinar!!! We haggled down to 20dinar and that's with my husband being Tunisian and speaking Arabic! So careful to not get ripped off and always ask them to put the counter on whenever you get in any taxi!||Good location to shops and restaurants and coffee shops. Taxis always available and only cost 10dinar to SiSi Bousaid (would recommend) and 10dinar to the other side of Tunis where...