Bizarre little hotel, most famous for being a film set location for Star Wars episode 4, A New Hope. Used as the interior of the Lars Homestead. They won't let you forget about it. A very quirky place, friendly staff (limited English, understandably!), nice reasonably priced food (huge portions), cold beer! The underground rooms are quaint and sparse, just a bed! The door looks from the outside with a chain and padlock, not possible to lock from the inside, just wedge a lump of wood in to close! Incredibly hot all night, advertised as having air con, but they don't. Shared toilet and shower amenities, which were adequate. I reckon this would be better described as a hostel rather than a hotel. They are more than willing to take you on local tours, for a hefty tip, whether you want one or not!
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:They'll want to take you on a guided tour, for a hefty tip, be firm if you don't want to go.
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We stopped and toured this location mostly because of the cultural significance. Our Tunisian travel leader is really annoyed that the Ministry of Tourism in Tunisia doesn't advertise this location more and support it. There would literally be world-wide support! There is so much memorabilia for Star Wars fanatics. When we were there, a band was recording a video. There is a bar and rooms available. It looked quite run down to me, so I was glad we weren't staying there. The troglodyte style is quite unique to this area. Definitely worth a stop if you are a Star Wars lover!
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Date of stay: October 2022
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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The hotel owner is a very nice and accommodating man named Messoud. He helped us out with everything from the booking to transportation and even an excursion into the desert to ride camels (though beware a man who works for the hotel bar named Mohammed. He is a crook and a drunk, though he comes off very amicable at first).
If you're not a Star Wars fan though, look elsewhere for lodging. Breakfast and dinner were good and you get to eat in the Lars' dining room. But the room was full of bugs, the sheet had hair and were dirty (unchanged from the previous guests) and the restrooms are public. The entire town of Matmata smells of urine and garbage (probably due to lack of sanitation and sewage of the local Berber population, most of whom live in caves).
As a Star Wars fan though, I must say that staying at the hotel even for one night is a CAN'T MISS experience. To see the Lars' Homestead and to take pictures and just bask in the majesty of the film is an experience that you won't forget and is unmatchable anywhere else in the world. Mos Espa is crumbling and won't be around for long. Nowhere else can you see a relic of the 1977 film so well preserved as the Hotel Sidi Driss. I wish the owner would do more, but there isn't much interest for Star Wars by the locals or any Tunisians actually.
Also, be sure to understand that while this hotel has maintained the overall appearance of the film, it operates as a full-time bar for locals. So expect Arabic music blasted from the bar from 4pm until 11pm (you can't hear the music from the rooms), and you won't have any privacy to act our your favorite scenes or take photos while the area is full of people drinking.
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Date of stay: March 2017
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The room is OK but there is no place like a table to put my bags down besides the foor. The doors cannot be closed properly. The matress seems to be made of plastic or covered with a plastic layer!!! The showers were under construction and no water even in their partner-hotel. Bad luck. The manager then reduced the price. The toilet area is open, i could not even wash myself with a minimum of privacy. Washbasin, Toilets and mirror dirty. Dinner was like so often in the south either couscous or veal with fries ( in my case COLD fries). The waiter even required 1 dinar for a dl waterbottle which he served only upon reqest and not even with a plastic cup. It may be that starwars was using this imitation of troglodyte houses, but there are little traces about it here. All in all disappointing even for someone who is used to cheap accomodation.
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Date of stay: January 2023Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:I cannot really recomend it. they could do much better with better management and a minimum of...
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A brilliant overnight stay at this iconic location that I’ve wanted to do for years! It isn’t a luxurious stay, so don’t expect one! It’s a historic location that dates back to the 17th century but for every Star Wars fan this is a must. The Lars homestead from the films A New Hope and Attack of the Clones, and it makes you feel very humble when you sit in that courtyard, knowing that those film greats were there all those years ago. The staff are great as is the food that is served. We ate our evening meal in the same ‘room’ as the famous homestead breakfast scene in A New Hope - very cool indeed! The food is plentiful and very traditional - you won’t go hungry! Breakfast is also very traditional and delicious! We were staying in Sousse and hired a car for 2 days and the road trip there was very cool indeed - beautiful scenery as you travel further south into the Sahara. Wonderful hilly desert views just outside Matamata Al Quadinal to add to the memories that you’ll take away from there. Very worthwhile trip and visit!
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Take cash as the hotel does not use card for payments
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I would not stay a night here unless you were really wanting to experience living in southern Tunisian troglodyte homes. It was cool to see the Star Wars stuff, though it was very dated. However, the rooms were not that enjoyable if you are looking for comfort.
Pros Star Wars: The main reason to come here is cause it was the setting for the interior of the Skywalker homestead in the first Star Wars movie. I will admit it is very cool to see. Everything looks alot like you would imagine it would nearly 40+ years on. Courteous: The folks were plenty friendly. They wanted to share the history of the place and were proud of it. Food: They also included a meal for our overnighting. It was traditional Tunisian and pretty good as far as Tunisian food goes.
Cons Lack of Amenities: This is not a plush location. I would equate it to an outside hostel or camping. There's no TV. There's no heating or AC. You are literally staying in a hole in the ground. It's authentic to what the locals lived in back in the day, so be ready for that. However, that novelty quickly dies off. One night was way more than enough. The bathrooms were a fair walk away and definitely more in like with campground restrooms. Doors: Uhm yeah. The "doors' are just some wood nailed together. They provide little protection from the outside. You could fairly easily see through ours. It also barely locked with a massive sliding bolt that only barely closed, but made a huge sound. This all meant for a winter stay it got pretty chilly in the room of the night. Beds: These were not meant for comfort. It's utility. Very firm with no give or padding. Fortunately there were plenty of heavy blankets for the cold.
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Date of stay: February 2021
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you are a star wars fan. This place is a must visit The movie set decor coupled with the building itself (a traditional troglodyte dug as habitat) creates an out of this world experience. The place is actually a hotel, you can go there for a traditional couscous and/or beers also
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Date of stay: January 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A horrible hotel with horrible inexesistaning services. The receptionist didn't know any information. The fast food is very very basic. The toilets and showers are far from the rooms. It's a poor bar with rooms not a hotel. I don't recommend it at all.
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Traveled on business
Room Tip:Don't come to this hotel
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Well I've been, I can tell you it's a load of old crap. First off (when we went) when we arrived there were (no word of a lie) 2, that's 2, smouldering bodies outside our apartment. Further investigation also revealed several smouldering piles of what looked like midgets! God knows what was going on there? We were then taken on a day trip to some palace, which was just weird. Must have been a fancy dress party the night we went, the music was similarly dreadful. We then took a ride to have a look at the vast expanse of dunes but by which time I was so annoyed I smacked the Rep, Bob clean in the chops and he fell off and rolled down a dune into a pit, which gave us a laugh! I'll never go there again, you couldn't make it up!
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Date of stay: September 2012
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Make sure that your enthusiasm for Star Wars doesn't get in the way of understanding what you are getting yourself into here. The "hotel" is a series of caves cut into the earth. Beds are cots. The shared bathrooms...lets just say that smelling them from afar was enough, I couldn't go any closer. Granted, we thought this would be an incredible experience- staying in a Troglodytic dwelling-- but once we saw it, these middle aged American travellers decided to switch to something a bit less "middle earth" and/or "middle ages". But if you're young and game-why not?!
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Date of stay: August 2008
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check in / front desk
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
New York City, New York5 contributions5 helpful votes
you cant really. we got the number from goggle and called them.. they just said to come, no booking.. if youre going with a big group maybe try and double check, but i bet they give you the same answer. They have a lot of space and they are so sweet and helpful once youre there.
I stayed in sousse. This wouldn't be ideal for a day trip as it's around 3 1/2 hours drive. There are hotels in matmata if u wanted to stay. This hotel is just the inside of the lars homestead. There are other sets but they are in the south of tunisia. Unsure whether there are actual trips as we arranged a taxi driver ourselves from our hotel. Sorry not much help. Vicki
There are more places to choose from in the Matmata area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
sidi driss hotel
LOCATION
TunisiaGabes GovernorateMatmata
NUMBER OF ROOMS
20
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