The hotel is supposed to have served as inspiration for the Sandcrawler in Star Wars (which has recently been disproven). A particularly brutalist feature are the starkly protruding stairs at the side.

The Hôtel du Lac was privatised in the 1990s, but it fell into disrepair and closed in 2000. In 2011, it was bought by the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO), which proposed demolishing the building and planned to replace it with a new hotel tower in 2013. These plans caused considerable opposition from architects and heritage conservationists, as the Hôtel du Lac is considered one of the few examples of brutalist architecture in North Africa and as symbolic of Tunisia's modernization and independence. In 2019, a petition was launched for saving the structure. 

The building is in a poor condition, which, in addition to decay, was exacerbated by damage caused by a fire in 2011. A final decision on demolition or restoration does not yet seem to have been made (last updated on December 2, 2024).