Latest Reviews for Skanes

Went to the Sahara Beach in June 2007 to celebrate our son`s 21st birthday. As a party of 9 people covering 3 generations in ages, I feel qualified to express my honest opinion regarding this holiday.

About a week prior to departure, First Choice contacted us saying that the original hotel we had booked, which was The Houda Golf and Beach, did not operate air conditioning at the time we were going. We were very concerned about this, we had two young children and an asthmatic in our party and had worries. We were given 3 options; we could go as arranged but not allowed to complain because we were made aware of the problem, go and purchase a fan for our stay bearing in mind we had 4 rooms in total or change to a hotel operating the air conditioning which we opted to do. We eventually settled for the Sahara Beach as it `appeared` to offer what we were looking for, including a kids club. 6 of us had paid for extra leg room seats on the plane both ways, and going out only 5 of us got them, on the way back NONE of us got them!!!

When we arrived at the hotel, our first impressions were of very unfriendly reception staff who acted like we were a hinderance to them, although we did have a welcoming drink while we filled out loads of forms. We all had to have our photo taken which was put on a card (like a credit card) which we had to carry everywhere with us and show for every meal and drink. That was a real pain because our 4 year old lost his within 2 days, and we could not order a round of drinks for our party, it was one drink per one card. We have been to several all inclusive places and never had this kind of hassle. We were given one room key on a large chunky key ring which we had to share regardless of how many people shared the room.

The rooms were adjoining and had connecting doors which was good but they were by far the most basic rooms we have ever seen with the thinnest walls, you could here phones ringing 3 doors down and clearly hear any conversations and other noises aswell. The bedding and curtains were stained, they were small, had no TV, fridge, no home comforts.

The bathroom was diabolical. The caps on the taps either kept falling off or had been put on the wrong tap, so hence cold water from hot tap and vice versa. The shower was hand held and the water was either scalding or freezing...nothing in between making having a shower impossible. The bath was awful, the water that came out of it varied from green to brown in colour, that was the only way to have a complete wash as the shower was unusable. To top all this off, we had no air conditioning...the very thing we went there for. It took several phone calls to reception before we were informed that they do not operate the air conditioning either until after we would return home.

I complained to the First Choice Rep and he said it was well known that Tunisian hotels all operate the same policy and we should have been informed about this in the UK prior to departure.

The beach was lovely, sandy and just at the back of the hotel, sunloungers were sometimes limited but that was due to people getting up at ridiculous hours before breakfast and saving them. The beach boys on the beach were not very helpful when asked for assistance, they either took so long finding you chairs that you did it yourself, or just didnt bother at all, but they always had their hand out for a tip!!!

The first time we used the Kids Club was a near catastrophe, we left our two 4 and 6 at 10.00am and went to collect them two hours later and they were not there. The kids rep did not know where they were, the outside door had been left open and it was not realised that the guy started the morning with 6 kids and now only had 4. It turned out our two decided they didnt want to stay and left to find Mummy 10 minutes after being left. A British couple saw them and looked after them until our return. In the light of recent events it does not bear thinking about what could have happened.

For us, the worst thing about this holiday was the disgusting food. We were supposed to have a table set aside for our sole use during our stay, but this was clearly used by other guests because we often came in to find food and stains all over the table cloth, dirty plates and glasses still on the table and often we waited so long for our waiter, that we cleared them ourselves!

The restaurant was canteen style with buffet but the quality and choice was easily the worst we have ever had. We had stayed in poorer countries such as Romania but this was worse than there.
The same options came out at lunch time and then again for evening meal, often we saw flies landing on it and often was the case it was inedible. The desserts were exactly the same every meal, never a change. A couple of us had bad stomachs and stuck to eating just the rice or bread.
We got up for the first breakfast but it was so poor that we never bothered again.

Putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the door was a complete waste of time. The cleaners would be outside our bedroom door between 8.00 - 8.15 am every morning (you could set your clocks by them). They would be heard right outside our door banging the hoover against it, shouting to each other up the corridor and dragging furniture along bare floors, it was ridiculous. The funny thing is, we would get up because a lie in was out of the question, vacate our rooms but often we returned to the rooms at 3.30pm and found the rooms untouched!! Strangely enough though, they were lurking around on the day of departure and went into our daughters room and asked for a tip!

The bar staff were miserable and rude and kept pointing to a plate on the bar for tips! The animation team are great and work so hard and so long hours, but all the entertainment is centred round them, and when we went, shows were held in the Skanes Bar which did not hold enough seats for a third of the people there, was boiling hot and very uncomfortable.

A real pain was the vendors continually trying to sell you something every time you went for a meal, as to get to the restaurant you had to walk between them and a polite ";no thank"; doesnt work as they physically run after you and insist you look at their stall.

The on site photographer was worth a visit, really nice photos and reasonably priced. We went to the zoo and it was quite run down and the best part was being able to feed the camel, thats about it. The on site facilities were worth a visit aswell, and the on site stables was great for all you horse lovers.

By the end of our holiday we were pleased to go home, our nightmare would have been two weeks there!!
We read some reviews and cannot believe they are talking about the same hotel. If we had paid £160 each all in then we would have expected what we got, but we paid nearly £470 each and lost our free child place to go there.
We would never consider returning to the Sahara Beach even if it was free

This was the best holliady of my life. I went to Easter 2007 and will be returning next year.

STAFF-The Hotel was amazing a Big shout out to ADIEL, MADRID, RONALDINIO,ALI, ALEX, KEYBOARD, HAMMED AND ALL THE ANIMATION STAFF. Adiel And Ronaldinio made my holiday FAB. i Love yaz sooo much. you were so funny and kind. You always stopped to talk to Me and Amy. The couldn't help you enough.

POOL- Spotless the waterpark is out of this world propa amazing loved it.

RESTAURANT- The food was amazing lovely everyday.

THE REP- Brilliant told all you needed to know.

BEACH- Very nice got pestered a bit but lovelt to walk along.

ACTIVITIES- Wounderful theres plenty to do. If like me you love the computer theres the internet which is reasonably priced. Also a few shops in the hotel which are cheap.

Entertainment- Fab amazing. Funniest thing ive ever seen. the animation team are the niceset funniest group of people you would ever meet.

FIRSTLY, ANYONE GOING TO THIS HOTEL PLEASE FEED THE TABBY CAT THAT YOU WILL FIND BY THE CHILDRENS POOL - SHE HAS 2 YOUNG KITTENS.

Ok now the holiday !!
I cannot believe some of the reviews i have read - i really think they have been made up by bored people because
This hotel is brilliant - We really could not fault it.
The food is lovely and believe me we are fussy. There is something different everyday. AND THE PANCAKES - YUM YUM.
Snacks are avalible at the beach bar all day.

The hotel is clean and the staff are nice and friendly.

The entertainment staff work hard from 10am making sure there is always something to do.
The evening shows are ";ok"; nothing to write home about apart from the Michael Jackson show, now this was REALLY good.

Be careful when you go into places like Sousse - it can be very scary as the people are quiet aggresive and wont take no for an answer !!

If you want value for money, a nice clean hotel and good food then this really is the place for you.
We have been here twice and would deff go again.

Been to tunisia many times and have stayed at all the resorts the resort is ideally what i personally like a very quiet and relaxed holiday we stayed at the liberty across the road and we used the neptunia to exchange money first impression was nice hotel we liked the fact that it was right on the beach.We booked up for a week staff were nice i personally had 2 problems one was the food the other was my sons shower in their room i am i would say used to tunisian food but at the neptunia it was the worst you were going down to breakfast and some of the food from the night before was on the breakfast choice and again at lunch they mostly catered for french and werent interested in any other nationality that arrived at the hotel.

The rooms were very basic we complained about the shower in my sons room as soon as we arrived and again to the rep and also complained about food her reply was oh well you get what you pay for but i also informed her that i paid more for Neptunia than i had previously paid for a 4*all inclusive the day before we left we had a new rep spoke to her and she was staight over to complain about shower it didnt help us any but it may help any more unfortunate guests staying there all i can say is its just as well we had 2 rooms or else my 2 sons would have had to have bodywashes for a week.

The resort wont meet everybodys standards its really down to what you expect from it there are no shops no resturaunts but taxis are very cheap about 8 diners to sousse which was about £3.50.I hope this doesnt put anyone off because Tunisia is a lovely place its a shame the Neptunia didnt have more respect for return travellers.

We arrived to beautiful weather thats all that was good! Thalassa Village was clean apart from the odd cockroach. Tunisian people very friendly. alot of germans and french who the resort catered for the most oh if you want a sunbed you`ll have to be at the pool at 6am otherwise you stand no chance of getting a sunbed!!!!! The food was boring same thing most days very continental(very french and german).

I won`t be going back to the Thalassa I was glad to come home sorry to say ,I liked Tunisia but would`nt recommened here .

After booking a weeks holiday at the last minute,we can truely say we had a fantastic time at this hotel and wish we had gone for longer.We will most certainly be going back.

Not much out side hotel,but get a taxi to monastir outside hotel for about 7dennar,you can go to supermarket get your cheap drinks(alcohol).be descreet when takin in hotel they don,t really mind.buy bottle beer and bottle wine in hotel,it is cheaper than draught beer and good.the people are great,pool and beach fantastic,paragliding a must at £8pr person.there is plenty going on during day,but not a lot at night even though some of the shows are good they drag them out a bit.the rooms are cleaned every day.we was a bit wary about going to tunisia but are glad we did and can,t wait to go again a holiday thoroughly enjoyed.Take some duty free with you fags can be hard to get when there.Staff at there airport are great.ENJOY YOUR STAY.

After reading some of the reviews on this site i was PETRIFIED!!! i asked my husband to cancel the holiday, Thankfully he declined cuz we had a FABOULOUS time.....

Weather was HOT, HOT, HOT!
The pools were great, although you had to fight for a sunbed BLOODY GeXm£%s!!! One morning i made my husband get the towels out at 5am!!
People were lovely especially MOMO (AKA Charlie) He is the funniest man i have ever met, he works for the parasailing crew on the beach but can be found around the pool tryin to encourage the LAZY SUN LOVIN holiday makers to have a go on the parasailing PLEASE have a go, it is FANTASTIC!!!! and very cheap at £6 each!
PAUL, THERESA and THE CREW made our holiday the best!!
BUGS: not many flies or mossies at the beginning of the week, but as the temperature went up, the ammount of flies and mossies also increased! I got BIT to DEATH and at present 04/07/07 am still itching and have lumps all over me!
ALCOHOL: Bit of a let down as choices were limited, and the glasses were small, 1 person = 2 glasses, Queues were long and GeXm£%s were pushing in as usual!!
We ended up drinking our own Bacardi and coke as we couldn't be bothered to queue.
FOOD: Lots of choices, try everything... but again Queues were long and BLOODY
GeXm£%s pushing in as usual! Not many flies in the dining room but at the snack bar there are LOTS i couldn't even stand near the snack bar as it was making me sick!
TOP TIP when at the self serve scoop the food from the bottom of the pile, me and the Wad did and we didn't get sick like some at the hotel!

Looking back the holiday was worth the money we paid, we are returning to the Houda at the end of July with the kids in toe, but this time i am prepared i am taking Marmite to protect my lovely tan from all the lumps and bumps from those mossie bites, 1 spoonful a day will keep the mossies at bay! 1 large bottle of Bacardi, large glasses to go up the bar with. Things i am leaving behind... my MANNERS, I too will push in at the bar, shove people out of the way to get my hands on the biggest piece of chicken! OH CAN'T WAIT

Well we got back 2 days ago and must say that we actually really enjoyed our time there although the hotel is getting very busy.

You must be up between 6 and 6.30 for a poolside sunbed - just set the alarm go and put your towls down, grab a cup of tea and then go back to bed. If you can, get a room between 701 - 900 as these are in the quietest block (nearest the beach) - you could be near the animation stage otherwise and it's very loud between 8.00pm and 11.00pm so no early nights for the kids. We actually thought the food was good - bizarley the cabbage in particular!! Breakfast was a bit of a mad one with all the french just pushing in but do the same and it won't bother you too much (don't eat the scrambled eggs though ;-) )

I really suggest you do the Arabian Feast night and the Camel Caravan, great fun. We also did the trip to Tunis and Carthage which was good and interesting to get out and see the countryside a bit (although 1.5hrs each way in the coach was a little dull).

The staff were all nice and friendly and we found everywhere clean and the room was refreshed everyday - but make a point of asking the maid to change the sheets otherwise they may not get done until day 8 - and with the heat and your burnt skin peeling they do need changing earlier!! You WILL need to start with a factor 30 at least for the first few days or you will turn very pink very quickly even if you do tan easily.

The plumbing in the room was excellent but the mens loos by the bar and the slides kept blocking regularly. Sometimes the mens loos by the slides was covered by a couple of centimteres of pee and sh*t - obviously the kids then walk straight in to the pool and you will notice it by the end of the day.

Overall it was nice - just don't expect a 4/5 star.

Well after returning from a fantastic 2 week holiday at the Houda, we are all very sad to be home. It was the best holiday we have had by far for a long time. The hotel was beautiful and very clean. The rooms were cleaned daily and the made service was to an exceptionally high standard. There were clean towels every day amn we were often greeted with swans and floral patterns made from the towel etc. Lovely!!

We had young children with us and the hotel mini club couldn't have made more of an effort, they were attentive and nothing was ever an effort from them, they were always smiling and done so much with the kids. A special thank you to Olfa, Yasmine and Hannah....the children were in tears the day we left as they grew very fond of them.

Also a special mention to the animation team who work around the clock with a permanent smile on there faces. There was a wide variety of activities every day including, water aerobics, water polo, beach volley ball, archery, darts, football....but it was all fun and they all made an effort to make you feel welcome. A special thank you to Geo who made our stay very memorable with his charm and sense of humor, he always went out of his way to please everyone. We all miss him very much. Sam the entertainment manager also he was always looking out for the guests and ensuring the team were doing everything possible to please the guests.

I would definetly recoomend this hotel for families, couples or groups of friends looking for a fun packed holiday...Have fun!!! I intend to go back in august and cant wait!!!

I was really worried after reading reviews, but it is not as bad as what some people have said.It is typical all inclusive food, entertainment and its in Tunisia. It is not the sort of place to go to if you want to go out every night to different pubs and clubs.

When you get there, you are sat in the bar area, you are given a wrist band and then given a meal ticket. You are unable to get into your room until you check on a white board which tells you if the room is ready, when it shows your room number, you then have to collect your key from the recpetion, this is the weirdest check in we have ever experienced but its a very busy hotel, we waited and waited but was then given a different room as there was a problem with the previous occupants, we finally got key and did not have any more patience to wait for porter, we took bags ourselves to room (be warned there are no lifts and lots of stairs)

You can sit where you want a breakfast but other mealtimes you are given an allocated table. It is quieter if you go for the later sitting as not so many kids but we were sat on a table with another english couple. It does not seem a reason to moan but when you have your evening meal, you want to feel as if you are on holiday and having some privacy. We moved our table on the second night but our waiter seemed very upset about this. We had read to give him a tip and we did this but it's not really necessary (you get your own food, you get your own drinks and you can't sit where you want???).

Food is okay, as it a good mixture. We also had two nights out at the ";Sounds and lights"; and the ";Boudouin Feast"; - the later is definately the better night. You can also have two nights at the a la carte restaurant. If you are only staying for a week, at least you have some different food!
Unfortunately, flies are on the food at breakfast and on you when you sunabathe. The only place they dont bother you is at the beach. I got 2 bites (which is not bad for me) but then somewhere between sat evening and the flight on sun morning, I got a total of 12 bites and I'm now in agony!!

The place is lovely to go to if you just want to lie on a sunbed and do nothing all day. This suited us down to the ground. If you want something to do - there is loads and its great if you have kids. Overall, we had a nice week in the sun and had a great time as it's not far from the airport and the staff are friendly. Our only tip would be to take a bottle of some decent alcohol as the vodka does not have any vodka in it! The GandTs are good but the red wine is the only thing which will give you a headache.

Disco is good place to get drink after midnight but its a shame its not busier. The venue is great but not used as much as it could be, the hotel is aimed at families.

Reps are good and I would not hesitate to recommend the hotel to other people.