Residence Maya

We arrived here after staying in the medina in Tunis and then travelling by train to Sousse we arrived at Residence Maya at dusk. It was a wonderful break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Our taxi driver (complete with nail studded bat in the boot of his car!) took us to the hotel, got a little confused, asked for directions and took us to the door. We arrived and were greeted by a lovely English speaking woman (thankfully as my French is questionable at best) who took us through check in. The entrance is large with a massive sign above the door saying "Residence Maya" so you can't miss it. We were shown to our room which was light, airy and clean. The double doors open on to the balcony which looks out over the beach. There were clean towels, soap and toilet roll and bottled water provided (something not to be expected in all hotels in Tunisia). We were only staying here one night before going on a trek down to Douz but it would have been nice if we would have stayed longer to explore the area. The hotel is right on the beach and although it isn't in the centre of Sousse (which is very tourist friendly) it doesn't feel remote. There are restaurants along the main road, we stopped by a pizza place - unfortunately after being a bit too adventurous elsewhere we were now being quite cautious about what we were eating so we didn't go far. There is a shop at the end of the road that sells bottled water and snacks if needed! The staff were so, so helpful. Breakfast is from half 7 but as we were leaving at 6 they arranged for us to have breakfast at 5.30 which was very kind of them. The breakfast was in keeping with breakfasts elsewhere (yoghurt, croissant, bread, fruit, coffee, orange juice, soft cheese, jams, boiled egg etc). Wifi is on the third floor but they offered to bring us a chair if we wanted to use it (we opted to sit on the steps as we didn't need access for long). Given that we paid about £30 for the night I am amazed by the helpfulness, facilities and room. I would certainly go back here. If you want to stay in a touristy area though you should try somewhere in the centre of Sousse as this is a bit removed. Taxis are cheap and easy to flag though so it isn't a huge problem.