We stayed here on Christmas eve and had no choice but a 5 course French style dinner. The food was pretty ordinary but the entertainment was fun. A 2 piece group consisting of a man on drums with another on a Hammond organ. As well as a few Christmas standards they did a number of Elvis songs and even Quando, Quando. Quite surreal, especially when you consider that Kairouan is the fourth holiest Islamic sites in the world. Also it was a bit of a shock as we had been hoping to avoid the whole Christmas thing.
The outside of the hotel looks spectacular and rooms were comfortable but a bit dark and in need of some maintenance or at least a freshen up. It was novel how the bathroom door doubled as the toilet door so that at first you could be forgiven for thinking that the room didn't have a toilet.

I have to disagree with many of the reviews. I agree that some of the staff does not go out of their way to serve you, but it is still very good and we had a great experience with two young waiters who accompanied us to the cafe (the old prision), stayed with us chatting and sharing information about Tunisia and also asking us questions about Canada. They were very educated and even let me do my shopping in the hotel shop at 10 pm!
The hotel itself is very beautiful and our room was very well appointed. A refresh was provided to us during check in and sweets were waiting in our room.
True, the food is nothing remarkable and the fact that they have a self service expresso machine but they charge you extra for using it, is not impressive, but for the rest it is an ideal place to stay while in Kairouan.

I have stayed at La Kasbah on at least four occasions and frequently have clients stay at this hotel, as it is the only deluxe hotel in a city with simple hotels. The management seems to not see "service" as something that is part of the hotel. While the property itself is beautiful and well located in Kairouan, the rooms are fine, but calling them 5* is a big stretch. The wi-fi has never worked in the reception area, despite attempts on multiple visits. We frequently book clients at the hotel, since local options are few, but the management's attitude seems to be that they are the "only game in town". So, even our clients consistantly find the same. The hotel's 5* rating should be downgraded until they learn that service, an occasional smile from the management and customer relations can all do a lot to improve their hotel.

At first glance this hotel looks great, and has a wonderful location inside the fortress on the edge of the ancient medina, a few minutes' walk from the Grand Mosque and the souks. The decor of the lobby looks fine, and our Junior Suite was pleasantly done. Unfortunately, the standards of maintenance and service fall way below the '5 stars' notice at the entrance. We had two power failures in our suite in 3 days, and neither of the rooms in which our party stayed had WCs which flushed properly. The mats on the loungers round the outside pool were ancient and filthy with birdmess. The 'bar' served neither orange juice nor wine; the 'mineral water' at breakfast tasted like chlorinated tapwater and was served in opened bottles; at breakfast orange juice was charged as an extra; at 2.30 pm on a weekday we couldn't have a meal on arrival, and it took an hour to get a round of sandwiches. Our major criticism is that the receptionists had no idea what to do in a medical emergency. Our daughter was taken ill and needed a doctor immediately, but the two staff at the Reception desk were very slow to respond to my request and seemed to have had no training in any procedure to call a doctor or a hospital. We only got help because someone else happened to be passing through the lobby, understood the urgency of the situation and came to my rescue with a mobile phone to find numbers for a doctor, a local hospital and a private ambulance should we need it. If there was any other hotel of international standard to stay in Kairouan, this place would be put out of business in a month. It's such a shame, because the location is so good that it could be a really beautiful place to stay, in the hands of a management who cared about standards.