Artists, literary people, statesmen… the Ulysse Palace in Djerba once welcomed renowned international figures. It is celebrating its 55th anniversary this year.
The hotel Radisson Blu Ulysse Resort & Thalasso, once called Ulysse Palace, will celebrate its 55th anniversary on March 24th. It is one of the oldest hotels of the island, and its first palace.
At the beginning of the sixties, the young Tunisian state and its first president, Bourguiba, decided to build four luxury hotels in Gafsa, Monastir, Bizerte and Djerba. The latter was named after Ulysses, the Greek hero who berthed in Djerba, “the Lotus-eaters island” in Homer’s Odyssey.
The Ulysse Palace hotel welcomed renowned guests. The French writer Françoise Sagan, the singer Juliette Gréco, and the actor Alain Delon spent their holidays there. The German Chancellor Willy Brandt spent his 1969 Christmas holidays here too. Algerian President Boumediene stayed at the hotel in 1972.
The Ulysse Palace hotel even hosted a historical moment in 1974: the signature by President Bourguiba and colonel Gueddafi of a union agreement between the two countries, Tunisia and Libya… An agreement which was rapidly forgotten and never implemented.
For this birthday, formers guests and employees came to testify. The first ones remember their bedazzlement: “an experience of luxury and beauty…”. The others recall witty anecdotes about their early years and about their prestigious guests (see the video).
More information on the Radisson Blu Ulysse Resort & Thalasso.
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