Phenicia Hotel

"Quantity over quality!! The entire facility is very dated. It is in urgent need of a major renovation. Room: In the bathroom, tiles/faucets are totally outdated (70s) Due to a lack of cleaning, heavily calcified faucets and tiles! Paint and plaster are partly crumbling off the wall! Please do NOT look closely at the toilet, otherwise you will feel sick. (Feces/urine deposits under the rim of the bowl) Glass of the sliding doors to the balcony is partly cloudy! The rubber seal tracks of the glass doors to the bathtub fall out at you every time you open them. Side sea view = sea view! But then it should also be declared as such. Restaurant: There are no small spoons in the entire hotel. So boiled eggs have to be eaten with a soup spoon. And stirring coffee or tea with wooden sticks reminds one of a highway rest stop or McDonald's. At breakfast, there is a daily struggle for salt and pepper because there are too few shakers on the tables. Likewise, you have to look for cutlery yourself because there are no containers with it laid out, and you have to wait for a waiter or organize it yourself. The hot beverage dispensers certainly haven't been cleaned in months (the tray and grate for cups are completely filthy). The standard of the guests corresponds to the hotel. In the hotel lobby/reception, guests are served without shirts as if it were normal! At dinner, you can show up in flip-flops, pool slides, shorts, and sleeveless shirts without this being... ...given even a glance by the restaurant manager, let alone being turned away. A major drawback is also the dining room, which is too small for the room capacity, resulting in dinner having to be eaten in 2 seatings of ONLY 1 hour each. One hour for an appetizer. Main course and dessert on vacation?? You are on vacation, after all, and not on the run to scarf everything down quickly!! 2 dining times are no longer up to date!! The only positive thing to mention is the nice and motivated animation team, which, along with the staff, is very nice, helpful, and always friendly! Also, excellent evening entertainment shows are the highlight at this hotel. Perhaps one can only vacation there again when the Sentido chain decides to subject this property to a complete renovation."

"A week spent here in a swim up room, end of September/October. Nice greeting with a drink on arrival at the hotel, swift check in service with reception, tax paid then to the room. Clean and fresh smelling - free safe and stocked mini fridge - beach towels are provided for these rooms, tranquil space - wonderful. Food choice was plentiful and hot in all the restaurants and snack bars( beach-cheese burgers- choc crepes, amazing) - free al a carte restaurant is worth the visit - along with the 2 more, that have a small charge. Evening meal has 2 sittings- 6 and 8pm, where on your first evening you are allocated a table for the duration of your stay - waiters are very attentive - glasses never left to go empty. Bar staff in all areas are very friendly and helpful. Beach area vey clean/tidy with plenty of sunloungers - additional cushions supplied by the beach staff upon arrival. Foam party in the pool - brilliant - keep fit in the sea - most enjoyable. Not much hassle on the beach from the sellers, a polite no thank you and they left me alone. Weather around 30 degrees, slightly hotter than expected but with a nice sea breeze. I had a fabulous week in a great hotel with a friendly atmosphere. A big thank you to Manel in reception, Kaim for the towel creations/ birthday decorations and my waiter for the excellent service all week and for finding a box for my birthday cake. Looking forward to returning soon"

"We have just returned from a week at the Sentido Phenicia and rolled the dice with Tunsia as we had heard good and bad things. But after reading a few reviews before we left, we were unsure what we were going to walk into. PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE THE BAD REVIEWS – although people are intitled to their opinion. From the moment we arrive at the hotel the experience was good. Very friendly staff and a great check in system where you are offered a drink, and everything is done for you. The hotel is spotless, and the cleaners are constantly cleaning and tidying. Rooms: The rooms are ok, and we had a lovely balcony, but in honesty they could do with a makeover, but are fit for purpose and clean. The housekeeper was fantastic, polite and did a great job, nothing was too much trouble, so please if you stay here tip the housekeepers, they work so hard. Pools and the beach: The pools are great, and one is heated and the main pool not so cold you can’t get in. The foam party on Thursday morning at 11am is a must – great fun. The beach is a highlight, tip the sunbed man and you get the best sunbeds, which are the comfiest we have ever had at a hotel. The sea is so warm it’s a pleasure to float about in, so remember to take your inflatables or you can buy them from the shop of £7. Food: The hotel operates a two-time sitting system which we thought was going to be strange. But it works. You have the same table every night and your bottle of wine is waiting for you, no pushing or shoving very relaxed. We had no problem with the food, something different every night. Make sure you try the soups, fresh sea food and the pasta bar, very good. Beach bar burgers are tasty and the beach BBQ bar really good. There are also restaurants that you can book and pay extra for, we didn’t as the food in the main restaurant was more than good enough. Breakfast was ok. Bars and entertainment: There are 3 bars – The reception bar, the beach bar and the entertainment bar. All well run and service is quick. The reception bar is never overly busy and 9 times out of 10 the waiter is their before you get to the bar. Drinks are good and take advantage of the biscuits with a coffee in the afternoon – Very good. Daytime entertainment looked good, but we didn’t really participate. Evening entertainment was good and the shows fun with the disco going on till 12. Book the Crazy Train with the entertainment team, great afternoon of fun. Really recommended. Out and About: We were very apprehensive about taxis, but if you tell them what you are going to pay before you get in there is no problem. Then the journey is very swift and the drivers very friendly, we always tipped as well. The Medina is a great morning out, 15TND (£4.50) each way in a taxi or go on the Crazy Train. Pro’s: • Hotel is spotless. • Pools are very clean and enjoyable. • Rooms are spotless. • Staff are friendly and nothing is too much trouble. • Entertainment team work so hard. • Beach is a highlight. • Food is good and drinks enjoyable. • Great location. Con’s: • Fly’s are unbearable at breakfast, we missed breakfast the majority of the time as it was impossible to eat your food. (But we were told that this is only in September and to be honest they were not so bad by the end of the week). They didn’t seem a problem at the Beach Bar, BBQ or evening meal. • The hotel could do with a makeover, but this is only a minor observation. Tips: • MONEY – Take cash. We only took limited cash as have always been able to use cards in the cash machines. But the hotel doesn’t have a cash machine and you have to use the one next door. Problem is it doesn’t accept Visa cards or is always empty. The hotel will not change money off your cards and only cash for cash. So, you then have to get a taxi to the nearest cash point hoping that it accepts your card or its full. Not a good situation if you have spent your cash, in a taxi and the cash point is empty, you then can’t pay the taxi and you have a problem. Lots of people getting caught out with this problem. • Drinks – take sealable cups. No problem filling them up at the bar if its coke, beer or even sprits. • Housekeeper – Please tip, they work so hard. • Tipping – Found that we tipped the waiters, bar staff etc on the first night. Didn’t make any difference, everyone was treated the same. • Dinner – if you choose to do the 6.30 sitting, get down there at 7ish. The rush is over and it’s a pleasurable experience. Overall a very enjoyable and relaxing stay. Highly recommended and we would have no problem returning to this hotel or Tunisa which is a hidden gem."