Dar Zyne la Medina

I would warn you of your stay here to save you the headache. I first of all was expecting the place to be inaccessible by car as I read other reviews, but the walk was awful. I had luggage with me and luckily friends, locals assisted me this day. The roads are made of rock or stones so impossible to use the wheels on the luggage, we had to carry them for a pretty long distance. Also, the walk there was scary. There are shops all along the way but the atmosphere is just dark and crowded along these walkways. For example, there was a man rolling a trash receptacle who just continued walking and bumped into us, no apology. My local friend kept asking me, "Where did you find this place, my God?" This is just the beginning. After arriving to the house, the room was as pictured, but my Tunisian friend had already called ahead to assure that the room was very clean. Not so long after arriving we get a knock at the door, mind you after over 15 hours in the air from my flight, I was exhausted, this is why I booked the room near the airport, to nap before heading to my actual destination. The owner, insisted on copies of identification, she also wanted a marriage certificate, (who carries a marriage doc?) again she insisted on another copy of our documents as previous one was “not a clear copy” that she had made. After not being able to provide a marriage document, she asked for more money by upgrading the room, so we then could stay. Three times she came banging on the door. We ended up leaving, NO REST! The owner is a scammer! After the fact, my friend said they would kill for one Tunisian dinar in that area, it’s not safe.

This is a really unique boutique hotel in the heart of the medina. Past reviews are correct that it can be a long walk since the middle of the neighborhood isn't accessible by car, but that shouldn't be a concern if you have a map and aren't overpacking. Service as fast and friendly. The hotel arranged an airport taxi, in which the drive takes you door to door including the long walk. There are a few restaurants, coffee shops, and small stores nearby in the medina...but otherwise it is very quiet after dark. It is not unsafe, just dark and quiet. The architecture of the rooms is really unique and it's a fun way to get a local experience.

Pay attention to the negative reviews! My sister and I booked a specific room, which is labeled as the "Zyne" room on several booking sites (they don't have a website of their own so you must book through a third party). The room, breakfast, and property looked beautiful based on photos. When we arrived to the hotel, the daytime manager, Refka, asked if we'd like tea or water. We said tea, assuming it was a complimentary welcome drink. She instead brought us to her husband's tea shop down the street where we overpaid for our own cups of tea, including hers. Next she brought us to her cousin's toursity perfume shop where he started a sales spiel. She left us there saying her cousin would bring us to another place after that. We immediately felt uncomfortable, like we knew we were getting the typical tourist hustle, and were worried how we'd be taken advantage of next. When we returned to the hotel, Refka showed us to our room, only for us to realize it was not the room we booked. It was a very small, thoughtlessly furnished room and on our booking site was listed at almost half the price. We let her know we had the wrong room, which she denied. It wasn't until we pulled up the booking site with photos that she admitted that they gave away our room to another guest. She said they chose not to inform us or cancel our booking. We asked what could be done and she said all the rooms were booked fully and there were no rooms available in the entire Medina so we had no other choice but to accept the room and we were "lucky" to have it. She didn't even offer a discount because she said she didn't know what the room rates were. No other problem solving was offered. Eventually, Refka said if we didn't want to stay, we could cancel for a refund but that we needed to do it through our booking site, she had no way to issue refunds. We contacted the help line on our booking site and they needed to speak to the owner because it was the only way to receive a refund. Refka gave the owner's phone number, but the owner declined all phone calls over the course of 2+ hours, and then refused to answer the phone or email over the next several days each time a call or email was made. Refka provided no guidance on how or when to get in touch with the owner even when repeatedly asked. We were respectful and calm and tried our best to explain why we had an issue yet we would receive only a blank stare or shrug. The night manager arrived and he and Refka spoke together privately and the night manager suddenly had a new story and said that our room had a "problem" in it and wouldn't elaborate. He offered no further support on solving our issue of being over charged and receiving the wrong room. He said any other hotel would "throw us on the street." We went up to the room to consider if we wanted to stay despite the issues thus far. The answer was no. The wifi and cell service didn't reach the room, there were missing lightbulbs in the already dark and dank room, the r

Beautiful house converted into a hotel with 5 rooms. Well decorated, cozy and managed by a welcoming couple always ready to accommodate our needs. Great location. And incredible value for money. Would definitely recommend and come back!

An old, restored house in the middle of the medina is nice in theory but in this case ... not so much in practice. The place is nice but not quiet fully done up with broken bathroom seats, broken other bits and pieces and not a clean feel to it at all. I refused to stay in the room I booked because it was so oppressive and thankfully I got upgraded, but it still was a rather poor experience for an hotel of this price category in Tunisia. Probably our worse in the whole trip. Very little is provided in the room other than TV and Internet: no glasses, no complementary tea, not even water! Breakfast is a really sad display of packaged food, including packaged juices. Hard to understand in a country with plenty of fresh and cheap fruit and vegetables. Rooms DO NOT GET CLEANED OR REFRESHED from one day to the next, even on longer stays. The staff is lovely and they try to be helpful but some basic training is badly needed. The worse was the parking: I had asked about it before booking as we had a car. No problem, the hotel staff indicated where we should park. They took us there. The next day the car was gone. Towed away. Parking in local secure parking building is so cheap in Tunis, why could the staff not point us in that direction? A car towed away + flat tire was a lot dearer and time consuming. I would most definitely not stay again. And remember they only accept cash, no credit card.