Hotel Thalassa Reviews

Arriving in Tunisia - everything went fine, bag boys offered to take your bags at a charge - a simple no thank you worked!
Jumping onto the coach expecting a 30mins tranfer I was suprised to find as we pulled out of the airport travelled up the road for a few mins we were at the hotel! (there was no plane noise)

The front of the hotel was very impressive - and the entrance/reception was amazing - greeted by a cool drink we were checked into the rooms very quickly. The rooms were a good size, very clean with sea or pool views.
The staff were very friendly and not after you for your money - we had a lovely time and made a good friends with one of the bar men who took us out to eat and paid, we went to his house, out to a nightclub and was very useful when it came to shopping! As I say he was not after anything just wanted to learn more English as he already spoke something like about 6/7 different languages!

We went out on our own to explore the different areas - the market at sousse was an experience - be warned you will see cows heads etc hanging on the walls in the markets to show the meat is fresh today. I did not feel threatened being a young blonde - it may of helped having a 6ft man by my side!

The food at the hotel was buffet style and was good - the chef made pancakes etc fresh for you and the desserts table was fantastic - I did have a little upset stomach but can't put this down to the hotel as we ate and drank at many other places.
Try something in the resturant called brick (not sure how it's spelt) but this was really yummy!

Have a great holiday

First of all- if you have booked this hotel you must request main hotel only as the bungalows are dreadful.
This hotel is by far one of the best hotels in the area with clean suroundings and helpful staff.
Pools are lovely but salt water can irritate the kids after a while.

Anyone going to tunisia must do the 3 day safari we did it in temps of 43 degrees with 2 small children and we all loved it so much it made our holiday and what a bargain for £75 each (half price for the kids)its a must to see the sahara desert and all the other fantastic stuff they take you to see, all of course on air con coach.

Now the food- yes after a few days you dread the meals but this is a poor country and they do there best to keep you happy if you ask you can have is there advice but if you put up with it they will keep dishing it up.

Lots of storys about beggars on this site well trust me this is a poor country although its beautiful its poor compared to the uk and if begging from tourist feeds there children each day and for many it does how many of you would do it if you had to? Im sure all of you would.

Would i go back? no only because its its not a busy place with lots to offer like the med but im so glad i have been to see such an amazing place.
ps. If like us you like a drink in your room whilst getting ready in the evening forget buying a cheap bottle from the shops this is a muslim country and only one shop per town sells alcohol so stock up in the airport if you must.

We had a fabulous holiday at this hotel, the rooms were kept very clean as was the hotel. The hotel staff were very friendly and were always willing to help

As for the hotel photographer who I see has come in for some stick on a previous reviews, he was a very friendly man and took good pictures which only cost less than £1. The food was good but did tend to get a bit boring towards the end of our 2 weeks. Travelling with Thomson we had free beach towels as well as free sunbeds. You will find if you tip the pool attendant a Dinar he will search out umbrellas for you.

The watersports on the beach were good and kept the kids occupied, as did the annimation team with their daytime activities. However we did find the evening entertainment a bit lacking, but with 12 of us in our party we made our own entertainment when necessary.

We never found any problem getting change from the waiters around the pool, but then we were a friendly bunch and made friends with all the waiters who were always willing to help us and we never minded tipping them a Dinar.

Outside the hotel is nothing, but you can easily walk to the train station about 5 mins and catch a train into Monastir or Sousse, or get a taxi for the short journey up to the Go-Karts which were great fun. On the whole we had a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday.

Just came back from there, was not impressed with this hotel.
Accomadition was a small bungalow type room near the sea, room excellent except for the smell of the rotting seaweed.
Weather unfortunauly not very good for most of the holiday and the hotel makes no allowance for that, entertainment wise.
You are basically left to your own devises.

Food we thought was terrible, breakfast the same everyday and and some nights the choice was that bad we could not find anything ediable.
Miles from anywhere you have to take a taxi or a bus if you want to do any site seeing or shopping.
Prices in the hotel for little things like crisps, pack of cards (believe me you will need these) cigarettes etc are very expensive.

There is a mini market across the road that has just opened but unfortunatley there is very little in it.
You can get a nice chip buttie and real English tea and coffee from the cafe there as the owner is English.
But this is not overly cheap either (£1 for a mug of coffee)
On the whole we would not go back to this resort again

First impressions of the hotel is good but by the time you have been there for two weeks it tends to be a bit boring. Expect the same breakfast every single day and a rotation of evening meal's, if your having the buffet, and only average quality a'la carte meals from the snack bar. Glass's can be very dirty but most meal cutlery and crocery is clean, however watch out for fighting waiters at evening meal time. Two had a tiff and on punched the other in full view of the guests, not very good for people with young children.

Paying 3TD for sunloungers is not acceptable nor is paying 2.2TD for a bottle of water when it can be bought at the shop over the road for only 0.600TD! All drinks in the hotel are of similar price to the UK but of a much lower standard. Some of the trips are good value but can be long, lasting up to 12 hours in a single day (mostly sitting on a bus) and not suitable for people with disabilities.

Overall the holiday was only average and its the first time ever, we have looked forward to returning home. All the other guests had similar opinions but we made the best of it and still managed to have a laugh!

There is absolutely nothing in Skanes apart from hotels. There is nowhere to wander to so if you don't go half board at the hotel, you will have to get a taxi to another resort (Sousse for instance) for your evening meal.

Hotel was clean but rooms very basic - no tea/coffee making facilities and no fridge/minibar. Maid was very sweet - they work every day for a pittance and mine was very grateful for the 15TD I gave her on the last morning.

Food gets very 'samey' after 3/4 days. Breakfast the same every day, no bacon for example but you can have eggs cooked to order. Boiled eggs and tomatoes every day, pastries very nice. Take your own tea bags! They provide a fruit drink but it tasted like it was full of 'E' numbers - pretty disgusting; they do provide freshly squeezed orange juice for 1.5TD (approx 75p), which was delicious.

One thing I was utterly disgusted with and that is that they charge you 3TD for the use of a sunbed and cushion in the hotel pool area!! This is the first time in my many holidays that I have been charged within the hotel complex - they also charge on the beach, which is pretty standard anywhere now.

Shop on site is expensive - 3TD for a bag of crips for example. Gran Marnier in the American bar was the equivalent of £4.50 for a small shot and they charge you 15TD for the hire of a safety deposit box for a week.

Indoor pool nice. Spa centre and treatments lovely (additional cost for treatments but very good value compared with home). I had a turkish bath with exfoliation and mud wrap for 20TD (roughly £10). I think it is probably the spa which has brought this hotel up to a 4 star.

I made the most of the spa facilities because the weather was dreadful. I went on the 28th March and for the first 3 days it rained constantly. All in all, we had 2.5 days of nice weather though the wind was very chilly - be prepared! Forget the strappy tops!

I went on a 'city tour' trip with the Cadogan rep. This included a visit to the ex-president's mauseleum in Monastir, a visit to a leather shop, carpet factory, an hour in Sousse and then on to Port el Kantouri. Cost about £12 which I felt was good value - out at 8.30am, back at 3pm-ish.

Duty free shop in the airport was well stocked - cigarettes ridiculously cheap; brought 400 Superkings back for a friend and they cost approx £24 for the 400 - he was over the moon! You cannot use Dinar in the duty free shop and you cannot take the currency out of the country - need to change it back at the airport; keep your receipts as you can only change up to 30% of what you have changed into Dinar, back to Sterling.

The best thing about this holiday was that I met some lovely people who I will be keeping in touch with, otherwise I think it would have been very forgettable. Location of the hotel and the weather was the worst aspects.

well what can i say no resort at all very good hotel clean all the time drinks a bit pricey onley 2shops 25 minute walk airport shops closer 5 minute walk train station to monistir and sousse very cheap no problem with safety despoist as told in other reports left 70 pound on bed still there when got back lovelly beach ok .take cards games if easly bored not many books to swop good food i would consider to book dircert next time 1 week is plenty though entertainment team very good golf course not bad try to book it before hand weather can be windy now so all in all smashing hotel if you want a rest or you as a base prfer el kantoie

yours honestly alan sandra stoke on trent

This hotel was booked through the Airtours Prestige brochure, though this hotel is a good hotel it is not a Prestige Hotel, in subsequent editions of the Airtours Prestige brochure this hotel no longer appears and nor should it.

FOOD
The food is extremely limited within the different restaurants at the hotel, the buffet is of poor quality with little real choice , the breakfasts are poor, you pay extra for fresh orange juice, the fruit is of very poor quality and the bread is only suitable for toasting, which you have to toast on an old white toaster which takes a good 5 minutes.

While i was there Thomson holidays had employed a english chef for two weeks to bring the standards of food up to scratch, he had his work cut out. I would hate to think how poor the standards were before he turned up.

The sweets at the evening buffet are usually quite good but many are tasteless particularly the chocolate based sweets, Strawberry based sweets and ice cream are the best bet.

FACILITIES
You will find that many of the facilities at the hotel incur extra charges which seems to be a common occurance throughout the Thalassa Hotel, the beach towels gym and tennis being just three. The Animation team are excellent and there is no charge for the activities they arrange such as archery, volleyball etc.

The pool is well kept but very, very refreshing to say the least !
The pool attendant will try to charge you for sun lounger cushions, tell him you want them for free or he will charge what ever he feels like up to five dinars (£2.50) a day. Alternatively get them yourself or bring your own towel.

The beach is well kept and patrolled by security, again you will be charged for cushions on the sun loungers should you wish them. The watersports are cheap and well worth it -Jetski 15 dinars (£7.50) for ten minutes, you can haggle the cost and time with the operative.

I can reccomend the trip to Tunis and Sidi Bou Said, although you will be out from between 2pm and about 11pm it is well worth it, our gentlemen guide from saphire tours was excellent, it only costs 40 dinars each (£20).

VARIOUS
The hotel photographer is a real pest and the quality of his out of date Canon photo equipment is quite poor, though he only charges 2 dinars (£1).The quality of a current digital camera is far superior and if you want to waste 2 dinars give it as a tip to a waiter rather than waste it on this individual. Just flash your digital camera when he is about or ask to take his photo then he will soon get the message.

Various hotel staff such as the photographer, chamber maids etc will give guests sob stories on how poorly they get paid but compared to many in Tunisia they are well off, i suggest not tipping the chamber maids at the end of your stay as they expect to get tips as many staff though the hotel do, only tip if you feel you have received a good service.

You can oder a taxi from the hotel reception, ask the taxi driver the price before you get in, don't trust the taxi meters they are not always accurate and you can always haggle the price.

15 dinars - Port El Kantoui
7 dinars - Sousse
4 dinars - Monastir

I found the fixed price shops in Port El Kantoui to be cheaper than haggling and far less hassle than the souks at Sousse and Monastir, There is also a very good supermarket in Port El Kantoui, don't bother with the supermarkets in the Miami shopping centre, the supermarket in Kantoui is the cheapest and best by far.

Hope this helps !