Our stay at la Tangerina was beyond our expectations

The view from the roof terrace at La Tangerina

April 11th 2008.

Dear Farida and Jurgen,

Our stay at la Tangerina was beyond our expectations which were high as we had heard only wonderful thinks about your beautiful little hotel.
We loved the view of the strait!!
Thanks for accommodating us,
Best wishes,
Judy Cascales and Gonzalo Lopez
From San Diego California

P.S A special thanks to Jurgen for fixing my curling tongs! - he is a genius.

Tangier Kasbah

Tangier Kasbah, originally uploaded by Purple Cloud.

The uphill walk to the Kasbah - a great shot taken by our friend Purple Cloud.

The Tangier's Jazz Festival - stay at La Tangerina

May 28 to June 1st 2008

A little over 1 month before the 2008 Jazz Festival - reserve your room at La Tangerina now for this fantastic cultural event when the streets come alive to Jazz!

The Artist line up:

• Chuchito Valdés avec Leonel O Zúñiga & Havana Street Band
• Boney Fields & The Bone's Project
• Jazz Me Do
• Biréli Lagrène Gypsy Project & Sara Lazarus
• M'Oudswing
• Enzo Favata Trio
• Fabien Mary Octet
• Isaac Turienzo
• Caravane Palace
• Circular Time
• Fouad Hani & Yabato Nakimya (les pacifistes)
• Julien Brunetaud Quartet
• Jesus Flores & Somos Nasse
• Mazagan
• Mokhtar Samba
• Nadhia Madana Jazz Quartet
• Numydia
• Puissance Jazz Big Band
• Le Saxtet
• Black Label Swingtet
• Digue Bazar Compagnie
• Heavy Fingers Fanfare
• Le Gros Tube

For more information visit the TanJazz 2008 web site

Visit La Tangerina's web site graphic

A nice little job from 360 Mike, done while contemplating the pyramids of Egypt - actually that's not true he is in Hurgada but what the hell - nice work Mike.

La Tangerina family

La Tangerina's décor - European colonial with hints of Arabesque

What a wonderful beautiful place, thank you for making me feel at home in Tanger. For your hospitality and friendship. This hotel inspires me on many different levels. It has inspired me to decorate my home (one day when I am no longer a gypsy poet) with great attention to detail.
On another level it has inspired me to always live in a home full of laughter, many different stories and languages.
When you make your trip to America I would love to show you around New York and Oregon.
I will probably be there, unless of course I fall in love on another continent.
Chukran, Merci, Gracias, Obrigada, Thanks

Amanda Deutch
6th July 2007.

Farida & Jurgen - thank you for everything

Tanger was a wonderful experience and here we felt at home. We cant wait to get home and tell everyone how amazing it was. We hope to be back!
Hefan & Luiza
Christian & Mihala
Romania

1st August 2006, Tanger, Morocco

La Tangerina the No1 hotel in Tangiers according to Trip Advisor

In another world

dlwdlw Antwerp

Apr 9, 2008

1/1 found this review helpful

• 
  La Tangerina - The Interior

Arriving in Tangier from Tarifa (South Spain) the hotel is at walking distance, but at the high end of the Kashba, so you may prefer a taxi. The hosts and owners, Jurgen and Farida, are very pleasant, hosiptable and helpful. The hotel is lovely and restored with great love and attention to detail in the local style.

From our room we could see Spain across the Mediterranean, binoculars provided on the shelf next to the bed!

The Hammam was a very worthwhile experience.

From the hotel just stroll down through the Kasbah and the Souk, see the American Legation, and then through the gate and across the open air market, up the steps to the Cafe de Paris for a cup of coffee. Make sure to see St Andrew's Church (up the hill, behind the Mosque) and greet caretaker Mustapha ("Mr. Thankyouverymuch") for us.

• This TripAdvisor Member:
  • Liked — Location, atmosphere, True Tangiers
  • Disliked — No internet (but plenty of internet cafes around)

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.

dlwdlw's Summary

Date of Stay: April, 2008

Traveled with: Spouse / significant other

Visit was for: Hobbies / interest / culture

Age group: 50-64

Member since: May 16, 2006

• My ratings for this hotel are:
  • Value
  • Rooms
  • Location
  • Cleanliness
  • Check in / front desk
  • Service
  • Business service

Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?

absolutely!

I recommend this hotel for:

Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Older travelers, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists

I do not recommend this hotel for:

Check out our other reviews on trip advisor





Or please visit our web site for more information on our hotel

Petit Dejeuner

Petit Dejeuner, originally uploaded by doc18.

A fantastic photo from our guests Purple cloud and Doc18 - thanks and hope to see you again- Latangerina

Tangers has inspired some of the greats.

Jack Kerouac loved Tangiers

Tangiers multicultural society and large immigrant population has attracted artists like Paul Bowles, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, Brion Gysin and the Rolling Stones, who all lived here or visited at some stage.

Mick Jagger a frequent visitor to Tangier

William S. Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch in Tangier in the 1950s and the book's locale of Interzone is an allusion to the city.

After Delacroix spoke of the amazing light and colours he found in Tangiers, it became an obligatory stop off for many other artists wanting to experience it for themselves.

Matisse became very fond of the place. He made numerous tours of Tangiers, always staying in the Hotel Villa de France. He found the landscapes and colours exactly as Delacroix had described. If you come here you can even visit the room where he painted the famous view out of the window.

Another well-known artist heavily influenced by Tangiers and Matisse was Californian Richard Diebenkorn. He found the Matisse's rhythmic patterns and colours haunting.

Mohamed Choukri

The most well known native author from Tangiers is probably Mohamed Choukri. He's widely recognized as one of North Africa's most controversial and popular authors. His autobiography "For Bread Alone" was described by Tennessee Williams as "A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact."

• Silent Day in Tangiers by Tahar Ben Jelloun.
• Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs - relates some of the author's experiences in Tangier. (See also Naked Lunch (film))
• Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac relates him living with William Burroughs and other Beat writers in Tangier.
• Interzone by Burroughs - It talks about a fictionalized version of Tangier called Interzone.
• Let It Come Down is Paul Bowles's second novel, first published in 1952
• The Loom of Youth by Alec Waugh - a controversial semi-autobiographical novel relating homosexual experiences of the author in the city of Tangier.
• Two Tickets to Tangier by Francis Van Wyck Mason, an American novelist and historian
• Modesty Blaise; a fictional character in a comic strip of the same name and a series of books created by Peter O'Donnell - In 1945 a nameless girl escaped from a displaced person (DP) camp in Karylos, Greece. She took control of a criminal gang in Tangier and expanded it to international status as "The Network". After dissolving The Network and moving to England she maintained a house on a hillside above Tangier and many scenes in the books and comic strips are located here.
• Carpenter's World Travels: From Tangier to Tripoli - a Frank G. Carpenter travel guide (1927)
• The Thief's Journal by Jean Genet - Includes the protagonist's experiments in negative morality in Tangier (1949)
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• The Crossroads of the Medterranean by Henrik de Leeuw- chronicles the author's journey through Morocco and Tunisia in the early 1950's and includes many pages describing Tangier, notably the Petit Socco as a food market with mountain dwellers (the jebli) selling their produce and 'the street of male harlots', where they ply 'their shameful trade'.
• The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers
• The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain includes a mixed bag of comments on his visit to Tangier, ending with: "I would seriously recommend to the Government of the United States that when a man commits a crime so heinous that the law provides no adequate punishment for it, they make him Consul-General to Tangier."
• Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell mentions that Tangier is one of the four corners (borders) of the disputed area in the war between the three superstates. (Part 2, Chapter 9)

During the 1940's and 1950's Tangiers was an international zone. It was a playground for all kinds of eccentric types - artists, writers, millionaires, as well as more sinister crooks, secret agents and gamblers.

La Tangerina Hotel roof terrace overlooking
the straits of Gibraltar and the Medina

La Tangerina - possibly the best little hotel in the heart of Tangiers

Thanks to costasur for the info

Cotta an ancient Roman town that dates back to the 2nd and 3rd century

If you are visiting the Caves of Hercules you should also see the old 2nd and 3rd century Roman ruins of Cotta.

Cotta is only a five minute walk from the caves of Hercules. Head south and you"ll come to a small area of stone ruins just above the beach.




Here you'll see the remains of an ancient Roman town that dates back to the 2nd and 3rd century. After extensive excavation, archaeologists revealed several walled sections along with the layout of the Roman town.

As soon as you arrive, you'll probably be greeted by a local guide. He'll be more than happy to show you around.



Cotta is a mixture between a villa and a Roman industrial complex. There are temples, shrines, Roman baths, oils presses and a courtyard where they used to process oil and other products in large vats.

Like many other ancient Roman sites on the coast of Morocco, Cotta specialized in the manufacture of a pungent anchovy paste called "Garrum". It was made from fish guts, but the Romans loved the stuff.

For more information on interesting things to do and see whilst staying in La Tangerina Hotel please check our web site.




Thanks to Costasur for the info

The caves of Hercules only a short drive from La Tangerina

Located just outside Tangers is the Lighthouse at Cap Spartel which is a favourite stopping point, where you can sometimes see the extraordinary meeting of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea; one turquoise and the other one dark blue.

The drive up to it is also stunning. Once you leave Tangiers, you'll find the air is tinged with pine and Eucalyptus scents. The views are like those on the Costa de la Luz with wide, deserted sandy beaches...



The caves of Hercules, located just 14kms west of Tangiers, are a place of stunning natural beauty and great archaeological significance. Apparently, this is where the mythical figure Hercules used to rest after finishing his 12 labours. In a fit of temporary insanity inflicted by the goddess Hera, Hercules killed his own son. As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible.

He became the embodiment of what the Greeks call "pathos", the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering lead to tremendous popularity, fame, and in his case, immortality.

Here are his 12 tasks:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its fur.
2. Slay the Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean the Augean stables.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the Girdle of Hippolyte.
10. Obtain the Cows of Geryon.
11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides.
12. Capture Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades.

The mouths of the caves open up onto the Atlantic and are flooded at high tide. When the tide comes in, water gushes up through these massive holes in the ground and hillside. It's very impressive.



The caves are partly man-made and partly natural. It's not exactly sure how the caves were created. It's believed that for some reason, an ancient civilization used to carve millstones out of the solid rock that caused giant caves to form over the years. How these primitive people managed to cut into solid rock with simple and crude tools is still a mystery.

At low tide, the views inside caves looking out over the ocean are stunning, the colours in particular. The blue Atlantic Ocean and sky above resemble a reverse silhouette of Africa.



Swimming here can be quite dangerous. The currents offshore can get very strong. If you're not a strong swimmer, it's best to stick to sunbathing and you should also check out the Roman ruins at Cotta only 500 metres from the caves.


For more information on things you can do and see whilst staying at La Tangerina hotel please check our web site.


Thanks to costasur for the information