Holidays abroad without Russians - pleasantly surprised)

Written: 12 october 2009
Travel time: 1 — 11 september 2009
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For business travel; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
9.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 10.0
Service: 9.0
Cleanliness: 8.0
Food: 10.0
Amenities: 9.0
REST ABROAD WITHOUT RUSSIANS - THE MOST REAL! ))))))))

In my opinion, almost every person is looking for heaven on earth) Well, of course, subconsciously) So, this very paradise seems to me to be a kind of mosaic, parts of which are “pieces” of the earth, and they need to be collected ...However, this is all - LYRICS ...hmm ...but what)))
So, September 2009 was remembered by me as a vacation in TUNISIA, it was a spontaneous trip, everything was decided in four days (in principle, neither a trip abroad nor a specific country was seriously planned).

Country: Tunisia
Destination city: Monastir
Resting place: Sousse city, El Kantauoi suburb, Vincci El Kantaoui Center hotel, 4 stars.
Rest time: September 1-11.2009

1. HOTEL «Vincci El Kantaoui Center», 4*, INFRASTRUCTURE +5


I do not like to live in "high-rise buildings", I usually choose hotels where you can stay in a bungalow. But this hotel is a five-story building (plus one floor below), large, but cozy. All photos of the hotel facade that can be found on the Internet reflect reality.
We lived on the third floor, I liked that there were no problems with the elevator, however, as far as I understood, there are seven elevators. It’s not very convenient that you can’t go through the floor “through”, well, for example, you left room 3060, but you need to go to room 3010, so you won’t get into it if you go along the corridor of the floor, you have to go down to the reception and follow the other elevator.
It is interesting that we arrived in the evening, we decided in advance (! ))) to find a way out to the sea ...but broke off. We wandered along the corridors for almost an hour, found two pools, but did not find access to the sea. We laughed later))) In short, one of the disadvantages of Vincci El Kantaoui Center is called “lack of its own territory”, and this is really true, without embellishment. The hotel building, as it were, closes itself, yes, it is huge, beautiful, but it does not have a “courtyard”, land as such, that is, there is a building on the whole land. Well, of course, there is an exit to the street, to the road. But, surprisingly, it did not bother us much.

2. NUMBER +5
The three of us went to rest, we had a double room - “free zero six zero” (why I write like that, you will understand later).
The room is wonderful: two large rooms, one has a double bed, the second one is also of the “double ottoman” type. Two balconies, one with a table, chairs, a view of the Institute of Tourism (the official name is longer). Interestingly, the food at the hotel is all-inclusive, and in each room (and in the single room too, as it turned out later) there is a small kitchenette located at the entrance: an electric stove (Simins or Samsung, I didn’t remember, sorry) , sink, extractor hood, cabinets, refrigerator. Compact and convenient, maybe someone cooked their own food on such tiles)))

So, well, what else is there in the room ...Wardrobes, bedside tables, tables, mirrors, ottomans - a standard set. We had two tables - one was something like a dinner table, round, the second was low, like a coffee table. Yes, everything is done in a single oriental style, so cute.
How I regret that I didn’t take a picture of the number (((There are a lot of pillows on the bed, small and large.

3. SERVICE +5
I reject all the negative assessments of the reviews that I read on the Internet before the trip. So, from my own experience: the bed linen was changed for us, as it should be, once every three days, the maid constantly left extra towels, no one considered anything for us! I cleaned it every other time, however, it was evident from the ashtray with cigarette butts on the balcony, but it doesn’t matter, it was clean in the room, we almost only came there to sleep).
In the free bar (it says “all inclusive” in English, this is the first bar, how to go from the restaurant where you eat) was also served well. Surprisingly, at first it was practically empty, only in the evening people were pulling up. And everyone (attendants) smiled, said hello, asked how you were doing, there was such a friendly atmosphere)))

4. OPERATOR AND GUIDE SERVICES +5
Upon arrival, we were greeted well (the tour operator is Pegas Touristik), we arrived at the hotel at 21:00, we had to fill out a questionnaire, check in, and we were first sent to dinner).
We also left perfectly, they picked us up from the hotel on time, we ourselves vacated the room at 12:30, no one reminded us of anything, did not rush. We left things in the room with friends - and to the bar) I managed to swim in the pool, went to the airport in a sea swimsuit)
Guide Ksenia...A nice girl, she explains everything, answers all questions...One thing I didn’t like was that she was practically not at the hotel, we saw her a couple of times, she explained with an apologetic smile: “You are the only one here ". Well, nothing, we did well without her)

5. POOLS +5

Vincci El Kantaoui Center has two swimming pools. The first one is covered, located on the lower floor, there is a jacuzzi, it works on time. There were no people there at all! We swam a couple of times, but not much, it's just that the smell of bleach is there, it doesn't weather well, although the windows are open.
The walls here are glass, you walk along the second floor and see who is splashing there) And on the right behind the same wall is a garden. The ceiling is high, and the palm tree that grows in the middle of this garden overlooks the territory of the second pool located on the second floor under the open sky. The pool is small, there is a children's "sink", but for some reason the children do not really like to wallow there. On the left - tables with chairs (well, whoever came from the bar with beer sits down there), around - sunbeds, there are a lot of them, enough for everyone. The only small minus is that in the afternoon there is little sun here, it is hidden behind the high walls of the hotel. By the way, the first three days we did not climb out of the pools)))

6. BEACH 3
The beach is like a beach ...Far from the best.
Firstly, a small area (Vincci El Kantaoui Center mattresses are blue, and if you go further to the yellow ones, you will be politely asked from there). Secondly, accordingly, there are few sun loungers, not enough. However, we are Russian people...
they laid towels directly on the sand, then, upon arrival at the hotel, they simply changed them at the reception for clean ones (they can be changed once a day). Thirdly, during small “fluctuations” on the sea (and it is the Mediterranean in Tunisia), grass was nailed to the shore, in appearance - like our sedge, soft, but still not very pleasant. And fourthly, the main drawback is the lack of showers or at least taps! They came to the hotel - all their feet were in the sand, it was impossible to leave the beach without "scooping up" it.

Oh, yes...In all prospectuses it is written that "Vincci El Kantaoui Center" is located on the first line, the distance to the sea is 200 meters...Well, I would say that it is 280 meters, but that is also not a problem, if no "but". First, I had to walk past the construction site, you know, the walk is not pleasant. Secondly, tourists from hotels that are on the second line ride here in a wagon drawn by horses along the same road. All this is beautiful and sweet...
but sometimes horses, sorry, poop past their "pants" (such a device: a piece of cloth is tied between the horse and the cart).

7. ENTERTAINMENT +5
I must say right away: there is no animation in Russian! As there are no Russian channels on TV! Oh, I baaaaaaaldela from this! In the evenings in the hall on the first floor - live music on the piano or accordion, you can dance, very cool)
The animators are trying, they do exercises on the beach, games, in the evenings at the hotel there are different evenings, discos, karaoke. I personally ran to the beach every day by 11 o’clock to play volleyball, I love it) By the way, we had a team right there)

8. COMMUNICATION +5
I decided to highlight this item...In fact, it should be at the very beginning, because this is a HUGE plus...THERE ARE ALMOST NO RUSSIANS IN THE HOTEL! It's a thrill, it's bliss, it's paradise) No, I'm a patriot of my country, but after the Russian-speaking Egypt and Turkey, where they know Russian better than in Russia, I feel like I'm in a fairy tale.
4 people flew in with our plane, and another Russian couple was in the hotel - and that's it! (when they left, however, 25 people arrived). In general, I visited it ABROAD. Communicated with the Germans, the British, the Spaniards, the Swedes, the Serbs - in broken English (that's where the shame is, you need to urgently learn the language! ))) And gestures, it was so cool and UNUSUAL. By the way, the attendants also do not know Russian! And while playing volleyball, I also talked with Europeans, then we greeted them at the hotel ...there was one guy, like a Serb, handsome, he has a very strong voice (in karaoke they sang with him), they played volleyball with him, cool So).

9. FOOD +5
The main restaurant in the hotel is small, cozy, most of it is covered, there are tables in the open air. In the evenings, candles are lit on the tables.

Waiter service is not the most efficient, it seems to me that they are simply not enough there. Friends said that they got to dinner a couple of times ...
“In traffic jams”, that is, the restaurant was full, they were not allowed in, we had to wait 15 minutes. Nothing like this happened to us.
I give the food a 5, although I am quite picky about food. The choice is small, but the dishes are delicious and, most importantly for me, LOTS OF MEAT))))))) Damn, I remember a "fashionable" hotel in Turkey, where there were only steamed and boiled vegetables, that's who should take an example from the Tunisians. In short, everything was delicious. Of course, the menu is the same, but you can endure 11 days. Main dishes:
for breakfast - scrambled eggs, pancakes with all sorts of jams and sauces, boiled eggs, side dishes, usually fried chicken, dry breakfast with milk;
for lunch - 5-6 types of side dish (fries, pilaf, pasta, mashed potatoes, stewed vegetables, etc. ), the same amount of meat (cutlets, chicken, lumpy meat (lamb - you will lick your fingers), usually two types of soup ( you understand, dumb, different from our rich soups);
for dinner - side dishes, meat (different from lunch), and, what was very surprising, they didn’t give for the first 4 days, and then they started giving ice cream every dinner! Delicious, real, 5-6 types: chocolate, strawberry, orange, lemon, pistachio ...Especially delicious - chocolate and pistachio. I confess, before the closing of the restaurant (having had dinner before) we came just to eat ice cream).
And fruits! Delicious peaches, apples, pears, plums, grapes, dates, melon - everything was super, we ate too much)
Yes, you can also go to the a la carte restaurant...I DO NOT RECOMMEND. They will serve garbage (salad and pizza or salad and fish), and you will have to wait a long time, you will lose more than an hour of time. And sit - on the street, stuffy. The only thing is that the table is beautifully set. But they brought such a pizza - vegetarian and there was one onion, horror (

10. DRINK 4 -
Beer, dry wine, vermouth, cognac, vodka - this is the standard set.

The restaurant does not serve strong alcohol drinks, we drank mostly white wine, because it is always cold (and red is always warm, that's a paradox). A couple of times it was pink. I also personally drank vermouth ...everything is diluted, of course, but you can drink it. We also tried cocktails...There is no variety in this, often the bartender mixed the same ingredients. It's cool that their vodka is called "Natasha" (I read it myself).
Well, cognac and vodka brought from Russia saved us a bit) By the way, having learned from bitter experience, we also brought snacks with us: pigtail cheese, kirieshki, smoked fish ...Everything went off with a bang, at the end of the holiday we had a big company ).

11. MEN...............
Well, it's hard to rate tunists...
I want to say one thing: do not believe that the men in Tunisia are more well-mannered and gallant than, for example, the Egyptians (and they told me exactly that, they say, they had a French colony there). They come - horror!
And, most importantly, they don’t understand Russian, but they learned the phrase “Do you want a Tunisia boyfriend? ". At first it’s funny, then it’s annoying (We were in Medina at the market, well, we got it right, one was too intrusive, my man told him: “Listen, get away from her, ” and he wailed: “Know, ah, know the bandit! ”. In short, my Later he told me that we don’t go anywhere else, if only to shops, it’s more civilized there).
And, about women, too, you need a few words! ) In general, there are very few of them in tourist areas, and those who live in cities (we saw them when we went on an excursion), wrapped up from head to toe, only their faces are open ...Although there are those who dress in European style , but they bear little resemblance to the natives ...And so - small, black, unremarkable ...

SOME MOMENTS)

How until those hours of the night we had fun in the outdoor pool)))
We were 7 Russian people, we decided to party.
At first we sat in the bar (until 12), then the bar closed, brought the booze bought in the duty free, and the hookah - we bought it for my sister for her birthday right there, in Tunisia. In short, we walked to the fullest, occasionally one of the attendants timidly looked at the door, checked whether we were alive, and disappeared again) Swimming in the pool at night is a thrill. And they kindled the hookah ...with paper ...In short, it's scary to remember how much garbage we left there ... )


How they walked at a disco ...fun) True, there were gays, our men wanted to kill them, we, of course, stopped them ...The rest of the Europeans did not pay attention, but we are Russians, it is unpleasant for us to look at the kisses of pi ...boys(

Kick-ass, an hour and a half in the heat, went to Sousse - they were looking for the Ice Cream Palace, shtob it! ))) I read about it on the Internet, I decided that it was necessary to go there) As a result, we settled in a cafe, where the chairs and tables were made like ice cream cones, and ate ice cream there).
Damn, now I remember, every day is a holiday))) It takes a long time to describe, but I really liked the trip to Carthage)

We took a horseback ride on the beach - I didn’t like it, because the horses are not riding, and, accordingly, the horse was led by its owner, Ali Baba, a cool guy, we talked in English with him, he showed his house (we drove past him). . . But I don’t advise you to take an excursion, I won’t be able to walk on my own ...I wanted to ride quads, but changed my mind, my friends said that they twist something in the mechanism so that the car does not pick up speed, and who needs such a ride (
Also, they say, an interesting excursion to the Sahara, but it lasts two days, we personally regretted our time, besides, it seems that we have already seen the desert in Egypt, we rode camels ...Yes, this excursion is the most expensive - 195 dinars costs (1 dinars =25 rubles)...
Be sure to take a walk to Port El Kantaoui, it is very beautiful there (there are singing fountains nearby), very beautiful sea yachts, catamarans)

And, we also flew by parachute over the sea, rode local transport - tuk-tuks and trains, ate cactus fruits, in general, you can’t list everything)
Oh, a lot like I wrote, if it was difficult to read, aim sorry)

I hope my review will be useful) I will be happy to answer all additional questions in a personal)
Separate greetings to Muscovites - Tolya and Olga, Viktor and Oksana, Andrey and Olga; Dima and Yulia from Murmansk, Volodya and Alena from Magadan our countrywoman from Samara - Rima) Guys, you are all superRRRRRRRR)
Translated automatically from Russian. View original