Hotel Phonecia Reviews

Travel Date: July 08

"great with a few reservations"

Submitted in July 2008 by: mrs i guttridge

Operator: Thomson

had a good holiday but a few points. first, don't venture into town with your wrist band visible as locals leap out pretending to be the chef/waiter/staff you fail to recognize out of uniform.we found shopping an ordeal with constant pestering which may t...

Travel Date: July 08

"great with a few reservations"

Submitted in July 2008 by: mrs i guttridge

Operator: Thomson

had a good holiday but a few points. first, don't venture into town with your wrist band visible as locals leap out pretending to be the chef/waiter/staff you fail to recognize out of uniform.we found shopping an ordeal with constant pestering which may turn unpleasant when you get sick of it. second, hotel entertainment in the evening was quite poor unless you were under 12. most adults sat around reception playing cards...one decent alfresco bbq was fine, but a single middle aged belly dancer didn't cut it,between 200-250 tables. third, only two bars open at night for all inclusive, the third(payable) was always empty.beach bar closed except during beach party, again aimed predominantly at children. finally, the great sunbed fiasco. despite hotel policy to the contrary, ALL the sunbeds would be covered in towels by 7 in the morning. some guests then left for the beach/town/excursion/back to bed, leaving sunbeds unavailable all day.that leaves a significant number of people without ,which i feel is very unfair.to overcome this my family simply removed towels and used sunbeds as we remained in situ all day.this reservation of sunbeds even went on on the beach with towels tied around beds and parasols in the plum spots.hotel policy is supposed to discourage this, but in practice leaves guests to dispute amongst themselves.not nice.we even saw one towel reserving 6 sunbeds for most of one day. all in all we did have a good holiday, but would put this hotel at 3 1/2 star not four for the reasons above.p.s 4 0f 5 of our party got the runs which the rep suggested was the minerals in the water.

Travel Date: June 08

"excellent value"

Submitted in June 2008 by: keith brough

Operator: Thomson

can only say one thing,excellent

Travel Date: June 08

"excellent value"

Submitted in June 2008 by: keith brough

Operator: Thomson

can only say one thing,excellent

Travel Date: April 08

"Travel Date 6th April 2008"

Submitted in April 2008 by: Dave & Margaret Tovey

Operator: Thomas Cook

The hotel gave us what we sought, a relaxing break in the Sun. Maintained the standard we had experienced in the Iberostar Founty Beach Agadir last year. Included in our list of 'Must Visit Again'

Travel Date: April 08

"Travel Date 6th April 2008"

Submitted in April 2008 by: Dave & Margaret Tovey

Operator: Thomas Cook

The hotel gave us what we sought, a relaxing break in the Sun. Maintained the standard we had experienced in the Iberostar Founty Beach Agadir last year. Included in our list of 'Must Visit Again'

Travel Date: May 07

Submitted in June 2007 by: LISA - TRACY-

Operator: Airtours

Stayed at this hotel in may for a week and it is brill! Had read reports about it b4 we went but it was spot on! the food catered for all tastes,drinks were large and plentiful,rooms and all other areas were spotless and a small tip, a smile and a thank yo...

Travel Date: May 07

Submitted in June 2007 by: LISA - TRACY-

Operator: Airtours

Stayed at this hotel in may for a week and it is brill! Had read reports about it b4 we went but it was spot on! the food catered for all tastes,drinks were large and plentiful,rooms and all other areas were spotless and a small tip, a smile and a thank you went a long way! a good shopping trip was to nabeul market on a fri but dont book thro the rep, its a rip off, taxis are always outside, cost us 8 dinar there and back - rather than 20 dinar each to go thro rep!!!one tip tho walk straight to end of market and then walk back and shop, they dont hassle you as much as they think you have spent up! you will also see how expensive the shop in hotel is! we went to new medina shopping and it was a nightmare they hassle you and then some!you are allowed to dine a la carte once during your stay, and this was the only downside! the food is better in the main restaurant! only difference is you get waited on! we took english pounds, got a safe in room, think it was 4 dinar for week, no probs changing it in hotel,

would go again and take husband and kids next time!LOVED IT!!!!

Travel Date: September 06

Submitted in September 2006 by: Laura and Dave

Operator: Thomas Cook

This was our 1st trip to Tunisia and we are so glad we picked this particular hotel for our 1 week stay! If only for the reason that because of the political situation in the world..we did not want to leave and venture out much ,and as a lot of young men h...

Travel Date: September 06

Submitted in September 2006 by: Laura and Dave

Operator: Thomas Cook

This was our 1st trip to Tunisia and we are so glad we picked this particular hotel for our 1 week stay! If only for the reason that because of the political situation in the world..we did not want to leave and venture out much ,and as a lot of young men hang around public areas and me having blonde hair i might as well have had 2 heads for all the staring that went on!

This hotel has all you need for a self contained one week holiday..we went all inclusive (you wear a wrist band a bit like in a theme park) i took mine off within a day as it irritated me but no staff questioned me.

We had a bit of a miserable view from our room at the back of the hotel, with solar panels and concrete but that didn't seem to matter as we spent very little time in it anyway.

The room itself was very comfortable and clean ,lots of wardrobe space etc,the maid was excellent..arranging our bed linen in different designs every day and throwing petals on the bed on one occasion too. There was an occasional sewerage smell in the room at night, but not too bad. We had a full bath and very nice shower, with fresh towels every day.The twin beds were large and comfy.

The buffet food was very good, but did get a bit repetitive by the end of the week as everything is cooked in a sauce..it would have been nice to have had more roasted sliced meats etc that would have gone so well with the delicious array of salads available every day.The puddings were very nice and the fresh chocolate pancakes were delicious in the afternoon.

You can get a ";free"; trip to the al a carte restaurant in the all inclusive option but wasn't really worth the bother as the food was no where near as nice as the buffet.

The evening entertainment is not particularily exciting but the staff do try their best, having your meal and a few drinks and maybe a trip to the moorish cafe inside the hotel was about all you can expect..there was a disco later on at night but the music they mainly played was european. The night life definately needs to be improved.

The staff are particularily nice and we would recommend you tip small amounts on a regular basis..we always tipped 5 dinars at meal times as the waiters were so attentive and they really appreciated it.

The concierge staff are really sweet (particularily the staff dressed in traditional costumes..who invited us out to a local family wedding while we were there which made our holiday!)

The beach is absolutely gorgeous with the softest sand and comfy sunbeds (if you tip the sunbed man he will keep one free for you no matter what time you turn up)
The water was shallow and warm and very clear and there was a cooling breeze to refresh you from the heat. Many sellers try to hassle you as you are lying on the sunbeds, but pretending to be asleep was a trick i learnt very early on!

The pools are fantastic if a bit chilly, but the bubble pool by the outside bar was never on which was a disappointment.

We did venture out to the medina in Hammamet but the persistant hassle we received from the local sellers was a bit too much for us in the heat so we only stayed there about an hour..without the hassle we would have bought much more, which is a shame.It is almost like they are trying to drive shoppers away! We did go to a couple of the local hotels shops , where the shop keepers leave you to browse.

All in all i would say that the hotel is fantasic, but the surrounding area not so fantasic.. we did feel threatened a few times and that put us off going out more (we spoke to a lot of other couples while we were there and they felt exactly the same) but if you want a beach..hotel and pool holiday i don't think it can be beaten.