Five-star resorts are relatively new to Algeria, whose tourism industry has lagged a bit behind its neighbors Morocco and Tunisia, but Algeria is catching up fast. Surely one of the most elegant places to vacation in the entire southern Mediterranean basin these days is the pine club, the only hotel facing the sea in the metropolitan area of Algiers. It is right on the blue Mediterranean and maintains a beautiful private beach for the exclusive use of its guests.
Vacationers planning a week-long stay in Algeria could do much worse than split their time there between the venerable Hotel El-Djazair (known as the Hotel St. Georges when Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery used it as his headquarters in the North Africa in World War II), that former Moorish palace built in the 1880s on top of a hill in Algiers, with the rest of the week in the pine club to sunbathe and eat divinely in its numerous restaurants.
You can expect a high level of comfort and good service at the pine club. There is a wide variety of restaurants within the hotel. Many visitors rarely venture outside the complex, it is so self-contained, yet the University of Algiers is just around the corner, as is the Ben Aknoun Zoo, which features desert foxes (the famous Fennec fox, the mascot of Tunisia) and other animals you and your children will rarely see outside of North Africa.
Within the complex there are four very different restaurants as well as two bars and lounges along with a separate poolside bar and a nightclub disco for night owls Room service is available 24/7. There’s plenty to do here beyond sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the warm Mediterranean. If you don’t feel like going to the sea, there are indoor and outdoor pools available, a third smaller pool for children, a health and fitness gym, sauna and spa. In the spa you can enjoy a massage or hire the usual beauty and hair care services in a 5-star resort. If you must bring your official work with you, pine club It has a business center with private conference rooms.
The complex, which has some 400 rooms and was completely renovated in 2010, occupies a large walled compound on the western edge of Algiers in what for decades has been an exclusive residential area occupied by the city’s elites. You will be surprised at the low costs compared to France or Italy, just across the water. A room for two (big enough to sleep three) will set you back about 220 euros, or about $145 a night per person. Of course, if you want to splurge, you can get an Ocean View Junior Suite with a small living room for 330 Euros or around $215 per person. And if you’ve just robbed a bank and money isn’t an issue, you can stay in the 2,150-square-foot presidential suite (assuming no head of state or movie star has booked it yet!) for 1,300 euros, or $850 a night for person.
If you splurge on the latter, you can expect for your money the best views of the Mediterranean Sea from a series of windows in the large separate bedroom and separate study, a dining room, living room, private balcony, private kitchen, with a bathroom. big enough for small town needs. Look on the hotel website for current charges and a reservation form.