Cirta

“Faded Elegance”

This once magnificent palace hotel is now showing its age. The impressive exterior is looking stained and in need of maintenance and it is in the middle of a busy traffic junction. Parking is minimal. The entrance is beautifully tiled with an ancient open well lift giving slow access to all 4 floor… Più

This once magnificent palace hotel is now showing its age. The impressive exterior is looking stained and in need of maintenance and it is in the middle of a busy traffic junction. Parking is minimal. The entrance is beautifully tiled with an ancient open well lift giving slow access to all 4 floors. The small and cheerful bar is on the first floor - beer $2 and a supply of spirits. On the ground floor is a huge dining room belonged in the 19th century, but the food wasn't bad. The wine was $8 a bottle and of good quality. The breakfast was basically bread and cake. The rooms are gloomy with very high ceilings, cool enough, but the furniture looks original to the 1890s. The bath was adequate but the plumbing was noisy and slightly whiffy. The city itself is very interesting being at the top of a steep hill over a very deep gorge which bores though the town with water gouged tunnel. There are several impressive bridges including a pedestrian only which can be made to sway and a very spectacular suspension bridge high up in the old town. There is a cable car being built to connect the rail station (impressive) with the hospital at the top of the town and then on to the next peak - opening June 2008. The museum has some good mosaics and some paintings of fishing and bathing in the river in the 19th century - when it was unpolluted - don't even go near it now. A great day trip is Tiddis a Roman town set on a slope with beautiful views.

Meno