Хороший отель, но расеян и 2я линия ... Good hotel, but scattered and 2nd line...

We stayed at this hotel in July 2014. In Tunisia itself for the third time, of which the second in Monastir. On the way, everything is already clear, UIA flew from Kyiv, respectively, the arrival was at the new Enfid airport, it took about 50 minutes to get to the hotel. The departure was late, the hotel was at one in the morning, the reception was empty, they settled instantly, the room overlooking the garden, the rooms with cosmetic repairs, the doors to the balcony are plastic (in many rooms there are still wooden ones). The room was absolutely perfect. Everything worked and was available from air conditioning to a free safe, the key to which is given immediately upon arrival, the TV remote control is available (in other hotels in Tunisia this is not available or for money). Three sets of bath towels, changed daily, there was a good maid, she always did it before our arrival from the sea until 12 o'clock, and in general a good woman, cleaned well, always left 2 bottles (1.5 l) of water, reported soap, shampoos and gel for the body (of course, we carry our own on our travels, but it’s still nice), just a set of three beach towels, lay in the bathroom, changed them ourselves when we saw the maid on the floor. All two weeks she decorated the room with petals or flowers, it was especially pleasant for the child. The first hotel in which there was no pronounced need for tips, no one hinted, did not pretend that they were required, and so on. On our travels, we personally tip the maids every other day and then, if desired, the staff, such as the porter.
I liked the hotel in general, clean, green, nice pool. The pool provides ice cream and pancakes, there are all drinks, if you need a cocktail, then in the bar of the main building. Locally produced drinks, we drank only cocktails (somewhere around 7 types) and wines (3 types), and also drank cappuccino (there are all types of coffee drinks), Russians only drink beer. I’ll tell you right away about the big drawback of this hotel, so as not to return to it anymore, the hotel is completely focused on Russians, in isolated cases there are Ukrainians, Belarusians and Slovaks. We were not very comfortable, this is the first time we are relaxing in a hotel with so many Russians, I'm sure that this was the last time. This is just in case if for someone, this is important.
Since we have already traveled for the third time and for the last two times, you can say most of Tunisia and most of it on our own at excellent prices, let's say Pegasus did not surprise any of the excursions, and when you look at these prices in dollars, you don’t understand at all who is on agrees to them (if someone needs information on prices from Pegasus, I can write or scan a brochure) But I can immediately say do not listen to the horror stories that Pegasus representatives tell (Gulchatay and Altynai, as I called them, some real name : )). Nonsense and outright lies about Tunisia struck. For those who are not in the know, the revolution in Tunisia ended 4 years ago, there is a president and this year there are new presidential elections, people for the most part are friendly, they especially love children, I would not say that they are annoying. This is what I liked about Tunisia, that here you can feel calm in the city and not be afraid. Of course, there are stories about the fact that jewelry is torn off, well, excuse me when a young lady goes with a deep neckline and 2-3 gold chains hang around her neck, and in addition a DSLR hangs on her shoulder without a case, so what did you want ! ? In my opinion, you should not forget that you are in a foreign and even an Arab country. So, about representatives, turn on your brain and at least read about the country before you go to it, and not believe all the stories of managers that the main task in the hotel is to sell you excursions, everything else is secondary and in most cases it is not important for them (and the flow there are a lot of tourists to them, which struck me, what do people ask about and what problems do they come with, people turn on the brain). You can safely buy excursions in any other place, of course it’s a pity that this hotel has only one representative of one operator, in other hotels we chose any other one from someone cheaper or bought from locals. For comparison, Sahara for a family of 2 adults + a child in Pegasus is $ 450, the same can be bought in Monastir for $ 250, I even managed to buy for $ 180, but this is rather an exception. And so in everything. Zoo, you can safely take a taxi, the cost of a taxi is on average 80 dinars + 20 dinars entrance 1 adult, going by yourself for 3 (family) will cost about 130 dinars (we could manage 110 dinars, but again this is an exception) from the operator it costs about 150-170 dollars. So you can go anywhere, save a very large part of the budget, we even traveled to ancient cities (such as Dougga, Tuburbo Majus, Zaguan, etc. ) individually by car with a driver (car with air conditioning ) it cost us all 200 dinars, the operator asked for 600 for this! , and so on. A little distracted from the hotel.

I will continue, since this year we were no longer interested in the excursion, we devoted our vacation to relaxation. We spent the first half of the day on the beach, the disadvantage is that the hotel is on the second line and you need to go to the beach or there is a carriage with a horse that will take you to the sea for free. Basically, it didn't bother me. But this is the first time we took a hotel on the second line and hopefully the last. The beach is normal, everything is standard sunbeds, umbrellas, there are also mattresses (that year we rested in a hotel in which the sunbeds were not plastic, but soft, much cooler, well, that's it). We always came to the beach at about 8 o'clock, so there were no problems with umbrellas, and there were enough sunbeds and mattresses for everyone anyway. On the beach there were drinks the same as near the pool, closer to dinner if pancakes with chocolate and ice cream were given near the pool, then on the beach they gave fries with a go-dog (I would say that it was a pathetic likeness) and watermelon or melon. Somewhere at 12 we left the beach and did not return that day. We dined and after the heat subsided, we rested and swam by the pool until 19 o'clock.
Food, everything was enough, in principle, I have not yet been to any hotel so that I could stay hungry in ALL. There is meat - beef, turkey, chicken, even pork, lamb; fish - there was tuna, there were all kinds of fish fried, steamed, also came across delicious; side dishes - rice, fries, potatoes, pasta, etc. Salads, vegetables, curds, sausages (we don’t eat this), soups (2 types), bread, olives (the first time I ate such terrible olives, last year in Sousse at the hotel I took half a plate, it’s just disgusting, I was surprised) , olives, all kinds of hot peppers, garlic, etc. Sweet, well, it could have been better, but to be honest, it was enough, for a long time they had already tried everything and took only what they liked more in a small amount. What made me very happy was very juicy, sweet, delicious melons, overeating, there were also watermelons, sometimes grapes (but I don’t like grapes in Tunisia, so I didn’t even take it here), plums, peaches. Well, in short, there is always something to eat, we even arranged fasting evenings for dinner, and those who say that there is nothing to eat, we don’t understand. By the way, the child of 4 years also did not starve. Oh, and I also want to mention natural yoghurts with jam (apple, fig, strawberry, etc. ) for breakfast. Entertainment, almost everyone writes enthusiastic exclamations about animation, animators, etc. here. Well, yes, it’s kind of fun, but in fact everything is monotonous, rather boring, and at times it’s gone and looking at others, even I would say humiliatingly, as for me, nothing special. On the beach, in general, sometimes a pitiful semblance of animation was carried out, it was possible not to come at all, but it was clear from them that the beach was like torture for them, all the movement was arranged by the pool. A few more words about the sea, nature is nature, but this beach gets more garbage, there were algae and somehow they were blown to this particular area, since moving further away, even without removing anyone, there was a beautiful clear sea. I saw this in Tunisia and in other years when there are hotels near the coast of which there are fewer algae and it is easier to clean them, but there are a lot of them, and if no one cleans them at all. There were also jellyfish, stinging many to the right and left. People Tunisia is a sea with jellyfish, well, take Finistil or any anti-allergic ointment with you, instead of running around and asking for tomatoes (it was funny to be honest). Also on the beach, I didn’t like the fact that the merchants go straight to the sunbeds, other hotels didn’t allow themselves this.
For children there was an evening animation, back the same monotonous, and boring for those who are more than 7 days in the hotel. My child already went only to some songs he liked more, and in the second week listening to the same 10 songs somehow... But about the mini club for children, which from 15:00 I can only say good things, the child liked it and he constantly walked, though in this way we lost our daytime sleep. The mini club was led by Heather (eng) and Marina (rus), as a rule, Russian-speaking children were drawn to Marina, my child does not speak Russian, then Marina, as it seemed to me at first, shunned the child, but Heather was surprisingly best friends. In any case, there are only positive reviews about the mini club, this is an opportunity for parents to take a break in the middle of the day.
Well, everything about the hotel, we can say that it’s a good hotel for its level, and if you consider that the money came up, it’s generally beautiful.

And a few words about the general. Tunisia is very suitable for children, sandy beaches, not deep sea, tolerable temperature in summer, the atmosphere is not annoying, you can freely walk around the city on your own, visit museums, medinas, etc. That in Monastir, that in Sousse, Hammamet there is a supermarket chain, such as Monoprix and General, where you can buy dates (this is a separate conversation, I have not yet eaten dates tastier than in Tunisia), olive oil (we always buy in liter cans (from 3 pcs. ), arrives home perfectly), Miswak toothpaste and cosmetics, tea, coffee, all this is much cheaper in General than in hotel shops. And also near the medina there are large souvenir supermarkets with fixed prices, we like them more than walking around the bazaar.