Apartments for rent in Tabarka

The word that comes back in every Tabarka search is "furnished". And the unit of account is the night. The Montazah residences, built for the tourist zone in the 1990s and 2000s, have gradually filled up with individual owners who let their equipped S+1 or S+2 between June and September, to families who do not want a hotel and to Algerians crossing the border for the week. For anyone unfamiliar with the shorthand, S+1 means one bedroom plus a living room, S+2 two bedrooms plus a living room.

The result is a very seasonal apartment rental market in Tabarka, with plenty on offer in summer, very little by the year, and price swings unlike anywhere else in the governorate. Apartments in Jendouba town, Aïn Draham and the other delegations are on the apartments to rent in Jendouba governorate page.

Renting by the night in Montazah and on the seafront

The tourist zone of Montazah, east of the centre, lines up two and three storey residences a few minutes' walk from the main beach. The apartments there are furnished, equipped for four to six people, often with air conditioning and a balcony, and rarely with a direct sea view unless they are in the front row. Daily rentals in Tabarka run at around 80 to 150 DT a night in July and August for an S+1 or an S+2, depending on the fittings and the distance to the beach, usually with a minimum number of nights in late July.

The centre, around the marina and Avenue Habib Bourguiba, has fewer apartments but more life: cafés, fish restaurants, a walk out to the Needles. Floors in the older buildings are let furnished at the same rates, a little more with a terrace.

From studio to S+2, a size for each use

A studio to rent in Tabarka is found mostly in the centre, in two storey buildings above shops, and it is aimed at couples and at divers coming for the week. The S+1 dominates in Montazah. The furnished S+2, rarer, is booked early because extended families prefer it to two separate studios. Beyond that, for a house with a garden rather than an apartment in a residence, the houses to rent in Tabarka page covers the centre, the golf course and the villages.

By the year the logic reverses: an unfurnished S+2 in a residence in the centre or in Raihane is what the secondary school teachers and the regional hospital staff are looking for, and it is found at around 350 to 500 DT a month. A studio on a yearly lease, on the other hand, is almost impossible to find.

Out of season: the town holidaymakers never see

From October to May, Tabarka is a small, rainy, quiet town where half the Montazah apartments stay shut. That is when an owner will accept a nine-month lease at a knock-down price rather than leave the place empty, with the catch that you have to move out in July. For a trainee or a couple settling in, that is the deal to look for.

One reservation: these apartments are designed for summer. A reversible air conditioner at best, light insulation, and a residence with no caretaker in winter. Ask about the hot water and about who looks after the communal areas out of season.

Booking and paying without a nasty surprise

For a Tabarka apartment rented by the night, local practice is a deposit by bank transfer or D17, the postal mobile payment app, with the balance in cash on arrival. Ask for the exact address of the residence and the building number, and be wary of listings whose photos only show the beach. On Houni the advertiser is the owner or the agency managing the property, and the number shown is theirs: no commission is due to the platform.

Still undecided between a residence and a house? The homes to rent in Tabarka page mixes the two.