This place definitely isn't a 5* luxury hotel, but when you're paying the equivalent of £15 for a double room you don't expect it to be! However, it is charming, individual and basic without being grotty. As well as having strong connections with the beat poets of the 50s/60s (William Burroughs lived here for several months and both Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac also came to stay) it also has good views of the beach and the sea and, if you're lucky enough to get room 7, a large rooftop balcony to chill out on.
The bed was large and comfy and the room was clean, if a little dated. The shower had seen better days but wasn't unbearable and the shared toilet was also more than acceptable. The steep flights of stairs would make this an impossibility for anyone with mobility problems though.
We booked by phone a couple of weeks before and it seemed to work OK, despite my broken French! Having said that, the place wasn't too busy when we stayed so I don't know how reliable booking would've been in the busy season. They only take cash as payment and the room cost 200dh for the night.
The hotel is a little challenging to find (down a side street) but we managed it with the map from the rough guide book. It's fairly centrally located though - you can easily walk from there down to the Medina, the beach or the market. It's about 25 minutes walk from the port - we arrived by ferry. An added bonus is that one of Tangier's only bars is attached to the hotel, although there wasn't much going on there the night we went! It's probably more fun to sit in one of the city's tea-shops and watch the world go by whilst enjoying a glass of sweet peppermint tea.