Marhaba Palace Hotel

"We recently stayed at this hotel and unfortunately left feeling disappointed. On arrival, we were given the wrong room, which got our holiday off to a frustrating start. The room we were initially allocated wasn't what we had booked, and the air conditioning wasn't working properly, making it very uncomfortable in the heat. One of the biggest issues throughout our stay was the lack of air conditioning in the communal areas, particularly the buffet restaurant. Dining there was extremely uncomfortable due to the high temperatures, which really affected what should have been an enjoyable experience. The lifts were also very small. They were often full, meaning we had to use the stairs on numerous occasions, which wasn't ideal. The beach was another disappointment. Although the location itself is stunning, the sea was full of seaweed and litter, and the sand was also covered in seaweed that wasn't being cleared away. It made spending time at the beach far less enjoyable than we had expected. That said, the staff were lovely throughout our stay. They were friendly, welcoming and always polite, and we appreciated their efforts. The biggest positive is the hotel itself. The building is absolutely beautiful, and the surrounding location is genuinely stunning. It's clear the resort has great potential. Sadly, however, the issues we experienced outweighed the positives. Between being given the wrong room, the uncomfortable heat due to the lack of air conditioning in communal areas, the tiny lifts, and the poor condition of the beach, this isn't somewhere we would choose to return to."

"If you’re looking for a hotel with spacious rooms with lovely sea views, great friendly staff then this is the place for you. If you’re a little fussy with what you eat then you may struggle. My daughter has lived on pasta, bread and chips the whole holiday. I’m not that fussy but even I have struggled with some of the dishes especially the meat that can be very tough. We have managed though and haven’t starved. If you like to join in activities then there’s lots to do from water polo, beach volley, darts, aqua aerobics, archery and much more. You won’t get bored. The evening entertainment is hit or miss and to be honest we have given it a miss most nights but have a great view from our balcony should be choose to watch it for a far. if your here for more than a week then be prepared to watch the same things on week 2 as week one. The staff work so hard and the animation team are always full of so much fun and energy even in the blistering heat which at times has been over 40 degrees they are a credit to the hotel. Another must at the hotel is a visit to Youssef the fish man. My feet have never been so smooth. You get a lot of work done for your money. Defo don’t dismiss him and give him a try. You won’t be disappointed. Thank you Youssef. The beach is beautiful and the sea very inviting, however whilst here a few people have been stung by jellyfish so I’ve taken not chances and given the sea a swerve, bit disappointed but that’s the way it is. If you’re braver than me then you’ll have no problem and the chances are you won’t get stung at all. Location wise your about a 5 min walk from the marina where you’ll find some shops and restaurants, be prepared though they will pester you to go into their shop or restaurant and they will look at your all inclusive bands and try to persuade you their brother or friend or wife work at the hotel to try to get you inside. Turn your bands inside out, this does help. Another tip don’t let taxi drivers rip you off. Agree a price before you get into their cab. The taxi’s can be as cheap as you want it it to be as they will want your business. All in all a lovely holiday and I would highly recommend. It’s not 5* on British standard more a 3/4 but well worth a visit. I have no real complaints and would return. Short fight time from the uk, short transfer on arrival Winner winner!!! While the staff don’t expect a tip please be kind and give a few pounds, it’s very much appreciated after all they work very hard to make our holiday as pleasant as possible so be kind and show your appreciation. If you’ve booked this hotel or reading reviews as I do to see if it’s suitable then enjoy and don’t hesitate."

"The main positive takeaway from our week at Marhaba Palace were: the staff (not the managers, I’ll get to them). They are absolutely amazing and work so hard in extremely hot temperatures. It’s ridiculous a lot of them are made to wear trousers and waistcoats in those warm conditions, I presume it’s the hotel trying to keep up its “5*” standard, it isn’t a 5*, it’s a Tunisian 5*. They should be allowed to wear shorts and polos or trousers and polos at least. A special shout out to Seif who works at the pool bar in the evenings - absolute legend who couldn’t do any more for you! Ibrahim who works at the pool bar in the daytime, the man who boxes ( forgot his name), Mohammed who works in the restaurant and Aziz who works around the pool tirelessly helping people with umbrellas, cushions etc. The hotel is clean, the cleaners did a great job with our room which was sizeable and comfortable, on the second floor so thanks to them also. Guests being rude to staff should be reprimanded or be put on some kind of “warning system”, I don’t like to stereotype but there were a lot of Europeans there who were so rude to the staff, no manners, demanding, push in queues, saw one drunk woman swinging round spilling her drink all over a lovely member of the bar staff (in front of her children) Now onto the average/not so good. I couldn’t believe how cold the majority of the reception staff were, when being greeted upon arrival and the few further interactions that week. Particularly a man called Nazir. On our third day, my girlfriend woke up being violently sick and had a bad belly all morning so I spoke to reception. There was a blonde woman working who was great, she sorted a doctor to come to our room and he gave her an anti sickness injection. Now we will never know what caused this but understandably, we were cautious about the food from here on out. The next evening, my girlfriend cut into a bit of what looked like chicken to see if still fleshy and raw inside. I picked up the meat and took it to reception, Nazir basically laughed at me and said it was fine. We eat a lot of meat and it was definitely undercooked. The customer relations woman then came out, I forget her name. She was great and very apologetic and agreed it wasn’t cooked, sorted us out a night at the seafood à la carte. The restaurant manager was the worst, visibly shouting at his staff who work extremely hard to clean and reset tables as well as get guests drinks, man in blue shirt. He was also rude to me when trying to organise à la carte so sorted with his colleague, he should be sacked. I feel as though all of the senior management could be replaced by their more junior counterparts who obviously care a lot more about the guests having a good time and are much more personable. On the food - for an all inclusive they do a great job in terms of variety but you could see the cuts of meat used for lamb dishes etc were very cheap, fatty and boney. The drinks are extremely watered down, I don’t know if this is done for longevity so people don’t get too drunk or because they’re watering booze (spirits and beer) down. I was served 80% “alcohol” mixer drinks and could barely taste the booze! Must hasten to add that the bar staff are all great. Please do tip generously as the wages they earn are awful and they work their socks off. The entertainment is absolutely awful and cringey in the evenings, children’s entertainment doesn’t start until 9 and to me it didn’t seem there were enough children to warrant hundreds of adults being forced to listen to baby shark every night. They play the same songs every night, the only evening we were looking forward (live music, where we left the great singer at Hard Rock Cafe to come back to) to was live music where a man just sung the same songs they’d been playing on the speakers every night! The animation team work very hard in the heat also with long days but it wasn’t our cup of tea. The water aerobics and awful techno music playing over the speakers whilst it’s on ruined the calm vibe round the pool every morning and afternoon for an hour or so. We did enjoy our week, the pool area is lovely as is the beach and the staff helped make it but probably weighing it all up, wouldn’t go back."