Dar Zyne la Medina

Very nice traditional hotel right in the heart of medina, the staff is very helpful and supportive, Refka is very friendly!

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.

I believe the operator of the hotel has been changed in recent years. All the good reviews were from the past. You can find many negative reviews recently. Unfortunately my experience was also very bad. The location was not good. It is located in the heart of the medina. The path to the hotel is hard to be found and it is not accessible by car. All shops closed at around 6pm. It become very quiet and dark at night. I felt uncomfortable and dangerous every night I came back after dinner. Should find a hotel near the edges of médina or at the Avenue of Habib Bourguiba where you can access by car or taxi. Apart from the location, another problem is the building itself. The building looked beautiful in the photos but the reality of the condition was very old and untidy. We found some stains on the bedding, some of the light bulbs were out of order, the drainage system of the shower was poor. The bathroom was flooded after we took the bath. The most terrible thing was the service. The breakfast on the first day was poor. They just served a small dish of salad for two persons, a cup of yogurt, a boiled egg, a few small fruits and a pot of warm coffee. They did serve a piece of butter and jam but no bread or pastry was served. I doubted if I need to enjoy the butter with the fruit or something else. We requested to have some bread in the following mornings and we finally were well fed in the second day. After the first breakfast, we were asked to leave the room we stayed and room changed was needed. The reason was that the room we stayed in the first night was the the room we booked and they said the room was upgraded. However, we were not informed our room was upgraded when we checked in. Therefore, we needed a half hour to pack our luggages before we left when we were in rush to our schedule. After we came back in the evening, we were assigned to another room but found that the door lock of the room was not functioning. How ridiculous! We assisted to have the door locked in the next morning when we left the room but we could only have the new key at night on the next day. We almost had to give up the remaining two-night accommodations and book another hotel. There was no hanging hocks in the room, no coffee machine, no fridge and no amenity. We required a hairdryer on the first morning but we didn’t have one until we checked out. I regretted I didn’t cancel the booking when the booking was fully refundable.

This is the worst hotel experience I have ever had. The location of this hotel is the middle of Medina which means you have to walk with your baggage’s to the main streets always since it is not accessible by car. It is a nightmare if it rains, the Medina’s floor is always full of rubbish and ponds of dirty water after rains. This is not the worst part of my stay. We were offered a very large room (suite) upon arrival and it was to our surprise because we only booked a standard room. On the next day morning, we were asked to pack our belongings and move to the standard room we booked. It would have been better if we were told of such information upon arrival so that we can avoid unpacking our luggage on the previous night. The arrangement was very weird since only 2 of the 5 rooms were occupied during our whole stay. We doubted the necessity of room changing. Next, we were not sure why the portion of breakfast on the first morning was so tiny, we felt like we did not have any food after finishing the breakfast. The breakfast became normal on the next few days and we have no complaints on the breakfast anymore. Next, the male staff was quite rude and could not communicate well in English. We were not given the right room key after moving to our new room on the 2nd day and he shouted at us saying he could do nothing and we should wait until the next morning, his manager would give us the right key. Such manager has never showed up during our stay. On the next morning, of course, as expected we could not get our room key. Eventually we packed our belongings and left the hotel with our room unlocked as we booked a private tour and we must leave. When we returned to the hotel in the evening, we received the room key but the door lock was not functioning very well. Anyway, we could still lock the room afterwards. What’s more, hotel building and the room deteriorated quite obviously. A number of the facilities are broken or not well maintained. For example, only 2 light bulbs of the chandelier worked in the suite (1st room given) and the mattress in the 2nd room bend obviously in the middle. No room cleaning service offered during our stay, no towel replacement as well. No hair dryers in the hotel was another nightmare, it is ridiculous to have not even 1 hair dryer which anyone has hair would need it. I have written too much but I was really quite upset about my 4 night stay at this hotel. Highly not recommend this hotel. Look for other places else, staying at the middle of Medina is not a good idea.