Fourati Hotel

I'm surprised at some of the other reviews as I thought this was a lovely hotel with friendly, helpful staff and reasonably good food, though it was aimed more at French and German visitors than UK.
Tip your waiters and cleaners a couple of days in to your holiday and the service will be exceptionally good....ten Dinar is nothing to us, but a great deal to them. Scowl and mutter and you'll get what you deserve. There is a really nice small bar, run by Samir who speaks perfect English, if you don't want to go to the bigger one.
I shall go back to this hotel as soon as I can!.
Any visit to Tunisia is improved by learning to say please, thank you, hello and no etc in Arabic, and a bit of French will be helpful too. As a single female I was a bit wary about the Medina at first, but really enjoyed it and did not feel intimidated at all. Saying "no" with a smile is all you need to do, and remember that all the people are doing is trying to make a living out of your leisure time.
Obviously keep your eyes open and don't carry valuables, but it would be a shame to miss out on the buzz and fun, and if you get lost just keep going straight until you reach the outside. There is a government shop where haggling is not allowed, although the manageress is quite persuasive, so if you want to buy without too much hassle go there.

We arrived at 02.45 on 9/4/06.we were so tired that all we wanted to do was fall into bed. We were led down to a lower level and shown the rooms, and my partner, her two children and myself gasped.
We could not believe how grotty and disgusting the place was. It was riddled with damp and smelled so musty that it made us wretch. The bedclothes stank and were ripped, the towels may have been laundered at sometime, but not anytime recently. We all just sat on the edge of the beds until we could speak to the rep at 09.30. There is so much more that I could say but there is not enough room.
Sufficed to say, I gave a rating of"1"because there was no zero. I cannot understand why Thomas Cook have this hotel on their books. Thoroughly disgusted.