"A Mixed Experience – Beautiful Rooms and Beach, but Room for Improvement
I'm not a particularly picky person when it comes to holidays, and I always make a point of reading reviews before booking. The reviews for this hotel made it sound like the perfect getaway, so I arrived with high expectations. Unfortunately, after spending a week here in September, I came away with mixed feelings. For what we paid and what we received, I would say it was okay, but certainly not amazing.
Arrival and Check-In
We were told the airport was around 45 minutes away, so being the last drop-off after a journey of 1 hour and 40 minutes wasn't the best start to the holiday. However, this isn't the hotel's fault.
On arrival, we were greeted by an extremely friendly receptionist who had a great sense of humour, which was a lovely welcome. Unfortunately, our rooms weren't ready, so we had to wait a while after an already long flight and an uncomfortable coach journey.
The Rooms and Cleanliness
Once we finally got into our room, we were pleasantly surprised. The room was beautiful, modern, and tucked away in a peaceful location. The beds were extremely comfortable, and the room itself was a real highlight of our stay.
The housekeeping team also deserves a special mention. The cleaners were always polite and friendly and did a fantastic job of keeping the rooms clean and tidy.
The Pool and Beach
The swimming pool area was a disappointment. There is very limited space for sunbeds, with room for perhaps ten, meaning it's not really suitable if you want to spend the day sunbathing by the pool. Most people seemed to use the grass area instead.
Thankfully, the beach more than made up for this! Located just outside the restaurant and less than a two-minute walk away, it was definitely the best place to relax. There were plenty of sunbeds, the sea was lovely and clean, and the beach staff worked hard to keep the area tidy. For us, the beach was one of the biggest positives of the holiday.
The Food
Unfortunately, the food was one of the biggest letdowns. As this was our first visit to Tunisia, we were hoping to experience more traditional Tunisian cuisine, but we found the food generally bland and lacking in flavour and seasoning.
There was plenty of food that felt more like standard international fare, such as chips and spaghetti Bolognese, rather than the local dishes we had hoped to try. We also had concerns about some of the food, including meat that appeared undercooked and fish that seemed raw. Flies around the food were another issue and something the hotel really needs to address.
The Atmosphere and Entertainment
One thing that really stood out was how heavily the hotel seemed to cater to German guests. During our stay, the majority of visitors appeared to be German, and much of the entertainment, food presentation and general atmosphere seemed geared towards them.
Staff often greeted guests in German, which is understandable given the clientele, but it sometimes felt as though other nationalities, including English, Italian and Polish guests, were an afterthought. Even the welcome signs in the restaurant appeared to be aimed primarily at German guests.
We also noticed guests reserving the best sunbeds very early in the morning and not using them until around 2 pm. Although there were fortunately enough sunbeds for everyone, it was disappointing that management didn't appear to do anything about this.
The entertainment wasn't really to our taste. The children's club ran until around 9 pm, followed by tango dancing that seemed mainly aimed at German guests, before an evening show occasionally followed. Some of the shows were okay, but overall, the entertainment didn't give us much to look forward to.
The entertainment team clearly worked hard, although we didn't feel they made much effort to engage with us. Whether this was because we weren't German, I can't say for certain, but it did leave us feeling a little left out.
The Surrounding Area
There isn't a great deal to do within walking distance of the hotel, and the surrounding area felt quite run-down. If you enjoy spending most of your holiday relaxing on the beach, this may not be a problem. However, if, like us, you prefer a bit of variety and aren't keen on the hotel's entertainment, you could find yourself getting bored fairly quickly.
Final Verdict
Overall, this hotel has some genuine positives, particularly the beautiful rooms, friendly housekeeping staff and lovely beach. However, the disappointing food, lack of pool space, limited entertainment and feeling that the hotel caters predominantly to one nationality took away from the overall experience.
We had some enjoyable moments, but I wouldn't describe this as the perfect holiday the reviews had led me to expect. With improvements to the food quality, entertainment, guest experience and pool area, this hotel could be so much better.
The good points:
- Beautiful, modern and comfortable rooms.
- Friendly and hardworking housekeeping staff.
- Lovely, clean beach with plenty of sunbeds.
- Friendly welcome at reception.
The not-so-good points:
- Food was bland, with concerns about some items being undercooked.
- Flies around the food.
- Very limited sunbathing space around the pool.
- Entertainment and atmosphere seemed heavily geared towards German guests.
- Limited things to do in the surrounding area.
- The transfer took 1 hour and 40 minutes, despite being advertised as approximately 45 minutes.
Would I return? Probably not, unless some of the issues were addressed. It wasn't a terrible holiday, but for the money we spent, I expected more."
