Очень неплохой отель для Туниса, но очереди в ресторане это что то! A very good hotel for Tunisia, but the queues at the restaurant are something!

_Slightly late, I am writing another review about our current family vacation in Tunisia at the Sahara Beach 3 * hotel. As always, everything is honest on behalf of our entire family. I wrote a lot, sorry, but I think that all the information will be useful to you. Well, whoever does not have the patience to read to the end will not be offended.
_So, let's begin. We rested in Sahara Beach 3 * from August 10 to 21.2016. According to the numbers, it turned out to be 12 days / 11 nights, but in reality, 2 days flew out on the way there and back, well, more on that below.
_This year, according to our whole family, we had a good holiday. Again, not cheap due to today's dollar exchange rate and the greed of carriers and operators. We chose the hotel based on reviews and photos and already knew where we were going. We flew, as always, with a positive and good mood, but with apprehension. Arabs again (this is because of the previous holiday in Egypt which was a complete failure). To a greater extent, our fears were not confirmed, but still there was some similarity with Egypt. There were some rough edges and minuses, but they did not really affect the overall rating of the hotel and the impression of the rest.

_Over our entire travel history, we have been 2 times in Turkey in two hotels 3 * and 5 *, 2 times in Egypt in Hurghada in a 4 * hotel and in Sharm El_Sheikh also in a 4 * hotel, 1 time in Cyprus in Paphos in a hotel 5 *. There is already enough experience in holidays abroad. In general, we believe that the rest in Tunisia was a success and was quite decent. We flew to Tunisia as usual with the children from the tour operator Coral Azureir. The flight from Omsk was delayed for an hour, allegedly due to a banal tire change on the plane, everything was on time from there. And so the flight back and forth without problems, only the planes are old and tired, the seats are broken, the plastic in the cabin of the aircraft is cracked in places, in general, the impression is not very good. Another thing I didn’t like was the extremely unsuccessful departure from Omsk again at 20-45 in the evening on the 10th. Flight more than 7 hours, landing at the airport of the city of Enfidah at 12 o'clock in the morning according to their time, registration, waiting for all the tourists on the bus, then a night road to the hotel and while everyone was taken to the place we were already somewhere around 2 o'clock in the morning August 11 - in general, the 10th was on the way. And they took us from the hotel then on August 21 at 3 am according to their time - the last day also flew out of the rest completely! And our vacation was paid from the 10th to the 21st, in general, we lost 2 days from the rest. : ((
_Upon arrival at the hotel at the reception, we were immediately instructed sleepily in broken Russian what and how, asked to fill out a questionnaire, gave us 2 keys to two rooms and a card for dining in the restaurant, then wishing us a pleasant stay, we were sent to check in. Our suitcases were picked up by a porter and helpfully asked to follow him. He promptly showed us to the place and brought in all the suitcases. So we ended up in our rooms 1321 and 1322 on the 3rd floor of the 1st building (room 1321 was occupied by children, and 1322 was ours). Knowing that the rooms can get problematic, they immediately checked everything: in principle, everything was tolerable, but in our room the air conditioner turned out to be inoperative. They told us that it did not suit us and demanded to change the room. At the reception we were told that 5 minutes and we will do everything. True, they called a repairman, he twisted something, changed something in the air conditioner and it worked. In general, this was the biggest minus, everything else was normal. Further, knowing that there would be a night arrival, we took care of sandwiches at home in advance, got food from our suitcases and had a bite to eat. Very tired after the flight and the road undressed and fell to sleep. In the morning, waking up, they began to look around more meticulously: both rooms are interconnected by an internal door, which we met on vacation for the first time and turned out to be very convenient, everywhere the tiled floor looks clean, the rooms are small, old: each has 2 beds, one single bed and one double bed with bedside tables. Each room has a pair of banquettes, a table with a mirror, a built-in wardrobe, central air conditioning, and a bathroom with a sink with a mirror, a bathtub and a toilet. Everything is old and tired but working. The water in the bathtub and sink did not go well, but it did go away. There are no refrigerators in the rooms, no safes, no TVs, and sockets are also a problem, at best there are a couple of them for the whole room and then high at face level (why this is not clear), so be sure to take tees and extension cords with you. But everything worked, everything lit up and turned on, the water is hot and cold without problems at any time. Air conditioning worked tolerably, it was not hot. Upon arrival, they gave out one bottle of water, then you could take it yourself in the bar opposite the reception, there is mineral water with and without gas, which one you ask for and they will give. The balconies in our rooms were overlooking the local water park and a large abandoned hotel and a side sea view (we took standard rooms). In general, everything was tolerable and no more. Here it is necessary to note one more fact noticed during the stay: the doors to the room - as if they were not there, the audibility is so high that people walking along the corridor and saying something aloud seemed to be in our room.
_Hotel. The location is not the best, because. there is nowhere to walk, there are no shops nearby, you need to go either to Monastir or to Sousse for shopping. The hotel itself is multi-storey and consists of 3 buildings. The building is old, but outwardly and from afar you can’t say so and it still looks decent. The hotel area is pretty clean, this is constantly monitored. The landscaping is excellent, many flowers and trees have been planted, everything is blooming and fragrant. There are many elevators in the hotel, although not all of them work, sometimes you had to wait a long time for your turn. On the ground floor, on the way to the restaurant, there are small local shops selling leather, jewelry, toys, spices, clothes and bathing accessories, once a week an uncle comes with sweets. In principle, everything you need can be bought here, but keep in mind that the prices here are a bit more than in stores in the cities of Sousse and Monastir. All sellers can speak Russian.
_Cleaning rooms. Starts in the morning and continues throughout the day. We were mostly cleaned before lunch in our absence. They make the beds, it seems like they have to change towels and possibly change them, but they are smelly and it’s not pleasant to wipe themselves with them, soap and shampoos are not replenished, they wipe the floor in the room and in the bathroom and that’s it. We left a dinar for our cleaner every day, so she twisted all sorts of figurines on our beds and sprinkled them with flowers or petals. It was nice to go into the room to see such a composition.

_Hotel staff. Everyone tries to seem very nice, friendly and helpful, but... for a dinar! Everywhere you need to leave a tip or give in hand. I didn’t have to contact the reception (with the exception of upon arrival due to a non-working air conditioner), so I can’t say how problems are quickly resolved there. An Arab with a cart runs around the hotel and sells a “vitamin” (a chilled glass with fruit slices and grapes) for 3 dinars, by the way, the same fruits that are given in the restaurant for free, just chopped and chilled.
_The main contingent of vacationers are Arabs, once again Arabs and again Arabs, French, there are a few Germans, Englishmen, many Russians, but few compared to the Arabs. The Arabs are very noisy and arrogant, the French youth behave provocatively, they can run through the corridors in the middle of the night and yell like crazy, attracting attention, they laugh very loudly, shout, make noise, make noise in the pool or in the restaurant, very ugly.
_Internet WiFi. Caught in the room for free. The speed is not super, but you can climb in social networks and look at your mail. We in classmates periodically corresponded with relatives.
_Nutrition. Not bad and even tasty, but the QUEUE is something!! ! There was meat, chicken, fish, pasta, soups, potatoes, seafood, various salads with sauces, sausages, scrambled eggs, eggs, yogurt, sweet cakes, nuts. Various drinks: hot coffee, tea, cappuccino, chocolate from vending machines; always chilled cola, sprite, diluted Jupi juices, alcoholic: white and red wine, vodka, beer. Fruits: apples, apricots, oranges, melons, watermelons - everything is more or less sweet. Delicious ice cream for lunch and dinner. Take as much as you like. The food is slightly undersalted, who needs to add salt. Everything is delicious and varied. The restaurant has a feature: upon arrival, you are given a food card and when you go to the restaurant for the first time, you must present it to the manager, he will put you on a free table and attach a waiter. This table and the waiter will be behind you throughout the rest. For breakfast, you serve yourself, and for lunch and dinner, the waiter brings cutlery and drinks, for which they left him a dinar each time. If you didn’t have enough drinks, you can still order, no one limited us in anything.

_Restaurant. It's huge! All three buildings are fed in it. From the first building we had to go far into it, but it somehow didn’t bother us, physical education was not superfluous. In principle, everything is clean in it, but not perfect. Tables with food are duplicated around the entire perimeter. In general, in terms of nutrition, we can say that the food is delicious, the drinks are normal (maybe diluted, but within the normal range), we were satisfied. The year before last, in Egypt, we were poisoned and suffered half the rest with our stomachs, but this year everything was fine in Tunisia.
_Beach. Nice big, sandy, but dirty. There are cigarette butts all over the place. Even in Egypt, each sunbed had a bin, but here there is none, the bins are only along the paths, but the majority of vacationers can be seen to be too lazy to get up and go somewhere to carry garbage, so they are sifted everywhere under themselves, burying cigarette butts and glasses in the sand. The sea is cool, often with small and large waves. We liked it, especially the children - to ride on them. The only thing I didn't like was a lot of algae nailed by waves and jellyfish in the water. Although I’ll say this: no matter how much I tried to see jellyfish, I didn’t see it, but they somehow managed to sting my son and daughter (we went to a coastal restaurant, took slices of tomatoes, put them on the burns and everything went away), this misfortune bypassed me and my wife (maybe we are just thick-skinned : )).
_SPA. Hamam is very weak. Wasted money. We sat with my wife in the steam room, then stood under the shower, then the Arab woman lathered us with some kind of smelly soap, fidgeted a little with her hands in mittens, one for all of us and that's it! Under the shower and dosvidos. In general, nonsense - this is not a boor at all, but a washing collective farm. SPA is located on the 0th floor near the main exit to the pools. There is also a nearby gym and a large indoor heated pool.
_Pools. There are 4 of them - a large one with waterfalls (they were turned on at 12-00 noon), another one a little smaller, but deep (allegedly central, all the entertainment of the animators always took place on it), one on a hill next to the bar and one indoor heated in the SPA zone. All pools smell quite strongly of chlorine. We noticed that many in the hotel were coughing and sneezing, and we had the same misfortune - it seems that from this very bleach, a tickle in the nose and throat begins. But no one pays much attention to this, they say just an allergic reaction to the chemistry in the water. We then flew back on the plane so all the passengers sneezed and coughed after such a rest!

_Aquapark. Located on the territory of the hotel, more precisely next to the first building. We went to it once - neither we nor the children liked it. Firstly, there are many Arabs and Arabs who climb everywhere without a queue, and secondly, buildings with ladders along which they climb very flimsy hills, sway in the wind and under the weight of vacationers, somehow this does not add confidence! The slides themselves are not bad, but on all your fifth point, sliding down, you feel every joint, also not ice. The son, sliding down one of the slides, received a bruise on his arm. In general, we were disappointed in their water park and did not go to it again.
_Animation. Not bad. During the day, various games, dancing on the main pool. Evening performances in a huge theater. The performances are good, but not particularly impressive. There were some dances, a fire show, but somehow it didn’t catch on and was not deposited in my memory. Seen much better. For children, evening animation is the same every day, you can learn it by heart.
_Suss. We were in the city once. I traveled back and forth on bus number 52, my wife and daughter. Stop - go left from the exit from the hotel. Entering the bus at the back door, tell the conductor Sousse Center or Medina (the center in their language in both Sousse and Monastir) and he calls the fare, pay and in about 35-40 minutes you are at the place in the city center. The city is dirty like everywhere else in Tunisia. In Sousse, we walked a bit in the center, then went to their local multi-storey supermarket. They bought gifts for themselves: a good leather bag for my wife, a leather belt and a silver ring for me, a pretty ring for my daughter, and something from the office for school for her and her son. In general, Sousse left a negative impression - a dirty, smelly and unkempt city. The only good thing about it is this supermarket in the center, which has everything your heart desires and everything.
_Monastir. We were in the city once too. I also went there by bus number 52, my wife and now my son. Cross the road immediately opposite the exit from the hotel and slow down the passing bus and after 25-30 minutes you are in the city center. We had to take a taxi back (we couldn't find our bus stop on the way back). In Monastir, it seemed to us a little cleaner. He looks somehow younger, prettier and lighter than Sousse. We also walked around the city center (by the way, the center is not like Sussovsky big and beautiful), went to the market (this is where the real shit is, stink and dirt! I don’t recommend visiting it so as not to spoil the impression of the city), visited local supermarkets. There are several small ones here compared to one large market in Sousse. At the market we bought a chain for my son’s hand, bargained at half price - knowing that we were taking bullshit, well, my son wanted to leave something as a keepsake. In general, Monastir left a more positive impression in general than Sousse, but somehow I don’t want to come back here.

_Excursions. We went on a Sahara tour for 2 days. We took from our tour guide directly at the hotel. Very good and educational! It's a hard truth, but it's worth it, in two days you will go round all the sights of Tunisia and the whole country. During the tour you will visit a huge amphitheater, several monasteries, visit the Berbers (people who really live in holes), in the evening of the first day you will ride camels or ATVs in the desert (as you wish), spend the night in another hotel, meet the dawn in the desert, ride a jeeps through the desert along the roads where the Camel Trophy rally took place, stop by the scenery for the movie Star Wars and visit the desert oasis where the movie "The English Patient" was filmed. An excellent excursion, they took it and did not regret it, although they were very tired. She has a great undeniable advantage - she alone consecrates and covers almost all those excursions that are offered separately by the tour operator.
_Well, that's probably all, it's time to finish, and summing up, I want to say that this year's vacation in Tunisia was not bad, but somehow it didn’t really sunk into my soul. There were no special problems during the rest. To all of us, Tunisia seemed very dirty and unkempt. The sea and the sun were ordinary, nothing amazing. The hotel, I think, justifies 3 stars and you can even put a full 4, there are minor flaws, but this is normal for this country. The hotel is old but quite modern. Excellent landscaping is its main plus. The large sandy beach is also one of the advantages of the hotel, although it needs to be looked after and cleaned, which is done poorly by the staff. This year we rested in body and soul as always, swam and sunbathed, and that is why we fly to the sea, the rest turned out to be good and did not confirm our fears in connection with the Arab country. Good luck to you Sahara Beach, develop and improve. Hand on heart I will say for the whole family - if we fly to Tunisia again, if we fly to rest, then only if there is no other better alternative. Again, somehow it doesn’t pull to Tunisia, it didn’t catch on. In that year, Cyprus was - that was a fairy tale and I didn’t want to leave, in Tunisia now it’s almost exactly the opposite. The usual rest, far from fabulous, but acceptable.
_ Have a nice rest and good mood! Always look for the positive in everything and do not think about the bad! Good luck everyone!